maximNikenGT

This would probably explain why my motorcycle oil is super black in color after not too much distance e.g. About 200 miles of riding is all it takes to turn from golden yellow to dark black oil.

Was going to perform oil change in the Niken GT today and as I was refreshing my memory on any other service checks before winter settles in when I noticed the specs for the Niken specify Yamalube 10w40 or 10w50. I then ran across an article where it indicated that motorcycle oil and engine oil are not the same by virtue of the fact that in a car you have separate oils for engine and transmission with different viscosity characteristics for each. https://bikerestart.com/motorcycle-and-car-oil/ This is corroborated by separate articles for Mobil1, Motul, Castrol and other oil manufacturers. Although there may be bias involved, they're at least all saying the same thing. In addition motorcycle engines also have to act as coolant for the clutch and gearbox and have low ash content and less detergents than one formulated for a car. Can't believe I've been riding all these years doing motorcycle oil changes all wrong using automotive oil. At least they've always been Mobil1 or Castrol Syntec but not the motorcycle versions. 😖😫😩 Do folks have a preferred regular or synthetic motorcycle oil? I'm leaning towards Yamalube since it's about $7.50 USD per quart.

Just did a 369 mile round trip to the Rattler in NC starting at Hot Springs, NC down to Lake Junaluska, NC on Route 206. While it was rainy, cold and wet on the ride out there, by the time I got to Hot Springs to start the Rattler run, the route had dried up somewhat and visibility cleared up to give me a decent look at the changing leaves. Turned out to be a beautiful afternoon ride. First time getting caught in a downpour in the Niken GT and have to say that I now understand what folks mean when they said that the spray from the front two tires throws all kinds of stuff up on your legs. Now I see why some folks went to the trouble of getting fender extenders since the roostertails from the rain and mud coming up from the front and the rear (as evidenced by all the mud on the underside of my Givi trunk) is pretty surprising given how big the factory mudguards are. Niken GT handled the semi-wet roads and the moist leaves very well. The rear end did get slightly loose from wet leaves in one of the turns but the fronts were nice and stable enough that I was able to catch it without too much drama. Although I did initially have cold sweat flashbacks to what that felt like on a regular two-wheel bike. Riding in low 50 degree F weather was actually alright with my heated vest, heated grips, big Givi screen as well as SW Motech Kobra handguards with extensions. This is the first time I was able to ride in that kind of temperatures with the majority of it raining and still feel relatively safe riding. Could never do that on my old BMW R1150R because I would get too cold from the lack of protection from the elements on head/chest/hands, on top of the rain just making the ride not as much fun since you couldn't see anything.

And after install. The two screws positioned at the middle and at the outside of the bike mounting points were easy enough to use a long phillips head screwdriver, however the one closest to the interior of the bike had to use a small ratchet with phillips head attachment due to the tight clearance between the handlebars and the handguards. SW Motech instructions were very specific to be careful not to overtighten more than 2 Nm.

With the drop in North Carolina temperatures to the 45 degrees F / ~7 degrees C, I went ahead and installed my SW Motech Kobra handguard extensions to keep my hands a bit warmer as we head into winter. One thing I did have to do was mount my Rottweiler fold in mirrors to the outside since they interfered with the Kobra extensions when installed.

Also the sheer cost of gas in Japan and Europe is way higher (~20% to ~100%) than in the US, so running costs become much more significant than what you see in the US. According to CNN, the cost of a gallon of gas in Tokyo = $4.24 USD per gallon while in Milan, Italy the cost per gallon = $5.96 USD. https://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/ So a RZR 1000 has a 9.5 gallon tank, and according to RZR forums general consensus seems to be about 13mpg per gallon. So you're maybe getting a little under 130 miles per tank on a RZR 1000 per ~$40USD fill up in Tokyo or ~$57 in Milan. The Tricity 125 has a fuel tank size of 1.9 gallons and a fuel economy average of 76.1 MPG according to Fuelly https://www.fuelly.com/motorcycle/yamaha/tricity/2014 Meaning a range of ~144 miles per tank at a cost of ~$8.06USD per fill up in Tokyo or $11.32 USD in Milan. Meaning a Tricity 125 fuel cost of about ~1/5 that of a RZR 1000.

Good question. Generally speaking, the city roads in Japan and Italy are much narrower and more congested than US roads and the Tricity scooter (125cc) version is significantly smaller than a traditional ATV/side by side e.g, Polaris RZR side by side. Many roads in Japan were built with pedestrian and small motorcycles <125cc in mind after World War II and many Italian cities were designed with horse and carriage in mind vs the automobile sizes you see today. Driving in Italy is an exercise in inches of clearance on roadways in more urban areas as evidenced by all cars and scooters showing scrape damage on all side view mirrors. When you have the population density of major urban areas like Tokyo and Rome, sheer traffic density also makes it difficult to get to areas in need after a major disaster. Hence a smaller vehicle in theory should get there faster under challenging conditions. The photo attached is actually a weekday in Tokyo during the recent Olympics. Odds are emergency services will have a better chance of reaching their destination in a smaller vehicle. Granted this Tricity is marketed as being off-road but I believe that's just enhancing its capabilities for disaster recovery purposes after a major earthquake or flooding in urban areas where transportation infrastructure has been severely compromised. Think buildings having collapsed, blocked/collapsed roads/bridges,in addition to trying to get to remote rural areas in the mountains where towns might be blocked off due to landslides, or even the blockage due to abandoned cars/vehicles as folks are trying to flee from an area. Additionally, in some countries I've heard that the Tricity does not require a motorcycling license to operate because of its three wheels and automatic transmission - potentially enlarging the available pool of first responders who can get on scene faster.

Stumbled across this article looking at a Tricity concept targeted with disaster recovery efforts in mind. Possible future use for a specialized Niken if they utilize an automatic transmission in future versions. https://www.autoblog.com/2021/11/02/yamaha-off-road-scooter/#slide-2359515

Hey Biggo, How did you drill such clean holes in the aluminum? Bench vise and hand drill?

Looks like Kawasaki hasn't entirely given up on their J-Concept version of a three wheel leaning motorcycle whose first prototype debut was back in 2013: Kawasaki's Radical Three Wheeled Superbike | Top Speed

Video that was uploaded recently with Yamaha Nikens supporting the Tour de France.

Appears to be a video out of the Philippines where the shop is installing gold dipped wheels and fork mounted auxiliary lights.

Updating country totals as follows with new South Africa confirmation of a lone non GT. 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 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.

2019 Niken GT on dyno test with Cycle World. 104.5 hp at 9930RPM and 60.2 ft lbs at 8320 RPM. https://www.cycleworld.com/how-much-power-does-2019-yamaha-niken-gt-make/ Anyone else got charts they can post along with any modifications done?

Welcome to the group! If you're in Dallas Fort Worth you should meet up with Member JayG.

My very modest list.

Saw this post in the Facebook Niken forum where a gentleman had asked an owner what the Niken was like to ride and the owner responded that it is probably the best bike he's every owned. The gentleman then made the comment that he probably hadn't ridden that many bikes before. The owner then posted 30 bikes that he had owned over the years...😀 Thought it would be fun to see what everyone else owned before landing on the Niken.

10/19/21 update on Givi windscreen. Took the GT out for its first chilly ride where temperatures are below 60 degrees F / 16 degrees Celsius. My body stayed pretty warm behind the Givi compared to stock screen and I was surprised that even as temperatures dipped to 55 degrees F / 13 degrees C that I was still ok behind this screen while wearing full Aerostich suit and with a small fleece jacket and shorts as an inner layer. The Givi screen will be too hot for North Carolina summers because of its massive wind protection but when temperatures drop it's fantastic for extending the riding time during colder days. You'll stay warmer longer, may not need to bulk up on warmer clothing with your riding kit and I would highly recommend this screen when temperatures drop below 60 degrees F / 16 degrees C.

Hasn't gotten around to doing that final step. Work has been really busy and travel had been picking up.

Welcome to the group Jay. Hope you're enjoying your ride as much as we are.

Has anyone run across an article or data on what the coefficient of drag Cd is in the Yamaha Niken? Never seen a data point like this and am curious as to what might be with the front end. According to Airshaper the Cd of a motorcycle is anywhere from 0.5-1.0, almost double that of a modern car. https://airshaper.com/videos/motorcycle-aerodynamics/qrH_QBOrqbw For reference purposes Car and Driver tested a Tesla Model S with a coefficient of drag =0.24. https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/blog_attachments/the-slipperiest-car-on-the-road.pdf Better yet, do any Niken owners have access our friends with access to a wide tunnel to run some tests?

Heading in to the colder weather, am looking ahead to performing required maintenance. Stumbled across this excellent maintenance table online: Yamaha Niken and Niken GT maintenance schedule

Couldn't imagine trying to negotiate Florence roads with a notebook PC. Be straight out of a horror movie that one. Incidentally, Italy makes a hell of a lot a sense to see via motorcycle / scooter vs. 4 wheels, especially in places where the roads are just not that wide which applies to most cities along the Southern Italian / Amalfi coast e.g. Sorrento, Positano all the way to Minori, or the interior sections of major cities e.g. Rome, Florence, Naples, Siena, or even the entire Tuscan countryside since the roads connecting most of the central Italian farms are surprisingly narrow when passing through the various local towns and have significant curbside dropoffs on both sides of the road that can do massive damage to a vehicle if you go off road. I was surprised that central Italy between Florence and Siena was surprisingly hilly with some areas having elevation grades as high as 10-12%.

Didn't know whether to look down or up at first for these ZTL notifications. Basically forces you to stop to confirm what you're seeing.

How some of the "do not enter" signs in Italy were decorated. I thought someone vandalized them at first or they were fake signs until I saw these in more than just Florence.