maximNikenGT

Looks like Hit Air just released new versions of its vests as well as some jackets. https://www.hit-air.com/en/motorcycle/lineup/jacket_vest/jacket_vest_type01/vest-ys.html

Now you got me curious as to what this red key looks like. First time I've even heard of this. Anyone have pictures?

Welcome to the group. Entire discussion thread on turn signal cancelation here. Also not sure what you mean by the red key. Please clarify since the only red key I'm familiar with is specific to the Dodge Demon/Hellcats?

It should be noted that NO formal announcement that the Niken has ceased production has been published by Yamaha.

Video of Nikens on the manufacturing for in Iwata Japan. Can see the double suspension tubes right at 1:11.

Was looking up to see whether there was any news on 2022 Nikens when Google gave me one of the following research link results. https://www.batfa.com/new-motorcycle/yamaha/niken.htm The site appears to be a Japan based motorcycle exporting company and displayed the following status for 2022 Yamaha Nikens out of the Japanese market. Now I know that there are 2022 Nikens being sold in Europe. What I don't know if these are leftover 2020-2021s being titled as 2022s or if they actually have VINs with a corresponding 2022 model year code. In the US there are only 2018-2019 Nikens (280 total in the entire US as confirmed with recall evidence), with any leftover stock being sold/titled as 2020/2021s. What I don't know is if Europe and Asia get a final "limited edition" 2022 production batch and then Yamaha has effectively ceased all further production of Nikens after the 2022 model year with little fanfare. Thoughts?

Updating country totals as follows with new Switzerland confirmation. Will update worldwide estimate once I've confirmed model year. 2018 Nikens =1532, 2019 Nikens=1553, and 2020 Nikens =2258 Still no serial numbers confirmed for 2021 Nikens. Current worldwide total of 5343! Country representation so far includes: Australia 55 (as of March 29, 2021, recall data) Canada China (estimated at 23-24) Czechoslovakia France Hong Kong (estimated at ~20-30), Hungary (1), Italy (estimated at <120), Israel, Japan = 537 as of November 2020, recall data) New Zealand (estimated at 14) Philippines (1) Portugal Serbia South Africa (1 2019 non-GT, #38) Spain Switzerland (1) Taiwan Thailand (estimated at 10) Turkey UK (England/Northern Ireland/Scotland/Wales = 302, as of December 8,2020, recall data). US 280 (all model year 2019, recall data.

So 2019 GT #106. Awesome! Thanks.

Saw these aftermarket handguards on Facebook. Not sure who makes these.

My GT has the heated grips, but not the heated seat option. I have been looking at these aftermarket heating elements that one can add to their existing seats but I'm not too confident in my ability to reupholster the seat back to normal after putting it on. https://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-Carbon-Heater-Warmer-High-Low/dp/B084YXXM2P/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1KV19GP6AWOVN&keywords=heated+seat+for+motorcycle&qid=1641735725&sprefix=heated+seat+for+motorcycle%2Caps%2C74&sr=8-2 At any rate, my bottom half is not cold with the heated vest doing its thing and the windblocking capabilities of my Aerostich suit. I can't believe I had rode motorcycles for as many years as I did without a heated vest. Definitely worth it as a game changer for extending your riding season.

1/9/22 update on Givi windscreen. Temperatures have dropped into the low 40s degree F / ~4 degrees Celsius and took the GT out for a spin. With heated vest on was nice and comfy with the wind protection of the Givi. Have to say I'm super glad I got it when it's this cold out. Only weakness is that while my hands are protected from the wind by SW Motech Kobra handguards with extensions that the section between my lower arm to shoulders is feeling heat loss from the wind at speed. Am getting some fleece windblocking sleeves that will zip to my Aerostich Kanetsu heated vest to address this.

100 mile update with new ProOiler: So far chain is looking pretty good after 100 miles of riding. Chain looks lubricated at setting = 3 (out of 10 with 10 being the highest setting). Have moved it up to setting 4 and will continue to incrementally go up to see at what point it looks like the chain is getting too much lubrication and then back off a step under normal dry riding conditions.

Any pictures of your Tricity? We don't get to see the Tricity here in the US since it's not sold here.

Incidentally, the only ones that officially make hard cases for the Niken GT are out of Spain by SHAD. Oddly, Givi makes a mounting kit for the non-GT Nikens but does NOT make one that officially fits the Niken GT (I even confirmed this by calling Givi of North America located in South Carolina). The mounting kit for the non-GT supposedly does not fit the GT version because of the larger passenger grab handles. However I have seen on Facebook an owner out of Italy who was able to mount Givi V37 saddlebags to their GT but I'm not entirely clear whether it was with modifications to the Givi non-GT mounting kit or if it was custom fabricated for them (since that owner has quite a bit of customization to his GT).

VERY interesting... if memory serves, specs for US 2018-2019s non-GTs do NOT have cruise control, but then I looked up the images from this Australian article and you can see that their 2019 Niken DOES have cruise control. One of the key reasons I bought my GT was because a non-GT version supposedly did NOT have cruise control or heated grips. Review: 2019 Yamaha Niken and Niken GT - Bike Review This article also showcases a Euro version 2019 Niken and confirms that theirs did indeed have cruise control. 2019 Yamaha Niken | First Ride Review | Rider Magazine Revzilla's first ride of the Niken also shows a Niken with cruise control, HOWEVER, it was during a Europe demo ride: 2018 Yamaha NIKEN first ride - RevZilla Makes me wonder if US specifications for 2018-2019 Nikens are deliberately downgraded without cruise control in comparison to Europe/Asia markets? Or if I was told/remembered this incorrectly? Can anyone with a US non-GT Niken confirm whether you have cruise control?

Thanks for posting - surprisingly few dyno results to be found on Nikens on the web.

Good to know. Motorcycle leather repair experts are a rare breed indeed.

Royal Jordanian I've seen, will have to check out the other two. Love the sound of his Husqvarna.

I almost got a Yamaha FJR because of how many of them were used in Iron Butt rallies. That to me said it was a perfect long distance riding machine more than anything else.

Was inspecting my Niken GT to make sure I was current with any required maintenance servicing and what not. I received an email reminder from Revzilla that my helmet was now three years old and that it suggested a look at all the new stuff. This reminder led me to evaluate the state of my motorcycle gear overall for any repairs / retiring needed since I'm the kind of person that needs a push/reminder to retire underwear with more than 4 holes. 😁 I realized that my Aerostich suit had some seam tape waterproofing separation around the collar , velcro loop fastener separation in the shoulder armor area, and could use some light repairs around the wrists and ankle areas due to chafing with my gloves and boots. Luckily Aerostich can provide repairs on most of their gear so long as crash damage isn't too severe and if the suit is not more than 15 years old (mine happens to be 9 years old so still in good shape). Do other riding gear manufacturers offer repairs like this or is it largely like cell phones and most other electronics today where replace is the name of the game and less so repairs? I've got some Dainese gloves and jacket that could use some care.

Had to look up what the Radian 600 was. Wasn't familiar with that Yamaha model at all. Very cool.

As we start off the new year, I was reflecting upon the past year and learned that one of my old buddies from college almost 25+ years ago got a motorcycle because he saw me roll up on a Ninja back in college and thought that that was the coolest thing ever. He learned to ride and has participated in many track days since then and continues to be an avid rider today. When I learned just this past year that he credits me for inspiring him to learn to ride someday I was very pleasantly surprised and flattered in that I was able to inspire at least one other person to pursue motorcycling. In addition, I am struck by how the basic act of riding a motorcycle with a traditional shifter (1 down, 5 up) is actually a rare skill in the US. "Motorcycle households rose from 6.94 percent in 2014 (the last full survey) to a record 8.02 percent in 2018, an increase of more than 1.5 million homes. The United States Census Bureau's most recent estimate put the number of U.S. households at 126,224,000. The MIC Owner Survey found that 10,124,400 of those homes had a motorcycle." Source: U.S. Households with a Motorcycle Climbs to Record 8 Percent in 2018 (prnewswire.com) So using some very broad assumptions / back of the envelope math: Assumptions: a. If one assumes that there are on average ~3 people per household (~2.633 people per household = 332403650 / 126224000), Source: Population Clock (census.gov) (USA population as of 1/1/2022 = 332,403,650) b. Assuming only one rider per household then there are at least 10,124,400/332,403,650 = ~3.05% of the US population that rides motorcycles. For reference purposes, when you consider that in the USA that less than 1% of the population have a private pilot's license! then motorcycle riders are a small community in relation to the entire population. Curious as to whom others have inspired to take up motorcycling and would like to hear your stories.

No word on new US models. To my knowledge there are zero 2020, 2021 Nikens of any kind in the US. All of the Nikens you see in the US are either 2018 or 2019 vintage only, and there are only approximately 293 of them in the US.

Welcome to the forum. Niken rides exactly like a regular motorcycle, not at all like the Can Am.

that’s -15.8 degrees F for the Americans. Way too cold for me. Actually when I was asking at what point the LCD display no longer works because of the cold I was thinking of an interview where Leonardo Dicaprio was giving after he filmed the movie the Revenant. They were discussing how the authentic and very challenging camera shooting conditions due to the severe winter Canadian cold affected production and Leonardo made the comment that at one point it was so cold that the cameras couldn't even operate correctly e.g. Power on... I was assuming at some point the LCD hits a freezing point and refuses to display numbers...not that the temperature sensor lower limit would be exceeded but this is fascinating to know.