maximNikenGT

Just wanted to start a thread on what potential competitors there are to the Niken. Looks like Aprilia filed a patent recently for a Niken competitor: Aprilia works on competitor for the Yamaha Niken › Motorcycles.News - Motorcycle-Magazine

Baja Designs does make a SAE street legal version of its Squadron series lights (Squadron SAE), but I'm planning on linking them to my high beams so the off road versions are fine. https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/Squadron-SAE.asp

Welcome to the group! Your bike is literally the first Niken I've seen with auxiliary lights mounted and I've been scouring the internet for months trying to find anyone with them. Ok - please provide pictures of how you mounted the lights to the mirror mounts without lights on please. Close ups of the mounting mechanism would be super helpful in addition to how you routed your power cables since I'm trying to keep a clean look. Also is your Niken gray colored? Would love to see full pix of the bike since I've not seen that color before.

Turbocharged Niken on a race track compared with an MT-09. Niken owned by SW Motech. In French with English subtitles.

Thanks for sharing. I've seen these thinking that Yamaha must have made handguards for the Niken but after calling Yamaha of America at their toll free number, they advised that neither these nor auxiliary lights were available for the Niken. Incidentally the guards shown in the photo are not thicker than the handlebar grips, and as such look like all they do is protect against big branches thwacking your hands or protect your levers from getting wrecked when you drop the bike going through some country terrain. Popular on offroad bikes but they don't do much in terms of shielding your hands from the elements. As cool of a YouTube video that might be, I'm not sure how many Niken owners actually intend to seriously offroad their machines, I just know that I'm not one of them.

Does your bike have two 12v sockets? The Niken GT does. Am trying to figure out what to do with them since I don't trust them enough to keep a strong connection with 12v connectors while in motion.

Alright, looking at a list of white LED driving/combo lights from Baja Designs (squadron R or Squadron SAE). diode dynamics (SS3), Hella Micro 70 LED, Denali D1,D2, DR2, Clearwater Krista, PIAA LP270 and Rigid D Series Pro. Problem is there's not a single standard that they use for measuring lighting objectively. Best I could find was charts like what Hella provides : problem is, not everyone provides these kinds of charts. Anyone know where to go to get a comprehensive list of these charts for Auxiliary lights?

Ok-just spent 3 hours taking apart and putting back on my fairings just to hide my power cable going to my new RAM Quick Grip Qi wireless charging mount. It's been awhile since I've had a bike with this much fairing on it. Last bike I had with lots of fairings was my first sports bike, a 1993 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6E. The Niken GT has about a third more bolts and quick fasteners on upper fairings than my old Ninja ZX-6E (and this was just disassembling the right side and top fairing on the Niken GT). Niken GT technical manual was super helpful in identifying locations of fasteners and bolts, but one part took a very long time to separate because there was one more bolt hidden behind the fuse protector shield that wasn't identified in the technical manual. Once I found it, then it was relatively smooth sailing. What was interesting was that after finally taking off the side cowling, I realized that I didn't have to take off the top section since there was enough clearance underneath to route my power cables. Oh well, now I have an idea of how much effort it will take to change out the air filter once I get closer to 24k miles. Only problem now is I have one machine bolt and one quick fastener that for the life of me I couldn't find where these were supposed to go - grrrr... OCD part of me won't let up until I find where the these go. Good thing I took video to document but I'll have to re-trace my steps to see what I might have missed. RAM wireless mount is powered by the USB port on my Arboreal Systems Neutrino+. I have to say, if you want to minimize the clutter of wires and eliminate a bunch of relays, fuses and switches, then this (or an equivalent electronic power distribution switch) is the way to go. Very pleased with how it's handling all my electrical needs on the Niken GT. So far I've got it powering the tail LEDs in my Givi trunk, single port for my heated vest, my RAM wireless phone mount, and once I get my SW Motech crash bars in and installed, it's also going to power my auxiliary lights that I'm planning on mounting to them, as well as an additional heated port to power heated pants.

Alright, Did a bunch of research, only option is to get a set of engine guards from SW Motech (27mm diameter) and mount the auxiliary lights to it. If I mount at the bottom front shocks, or the top shock tubes I'm too concerned with potential cornering clearance issues. by mounting to engine guards that will ensure a solid vibrating free connection with enough height to be useful. Crash guards at the time of writing are backordered by 3-4 weeks and have to be sourced from Germany. Gives me enough time to find a good auxiliary light bracket to attach to the crash guards.

Just took delivery of RAM wireless phone mount. Will be getting a separate USB splitter from Arboreal Systems to plug into my Neutrino Aurora's USB port to power the RAM wireless holder. Only downside is that this isn't really designed to hold the phone in a landscape position due to the clamping mechanism. The mount came with a rubber tether that should help keep it secure if mounting in landscape format (which is how the Arboreal Systems Neutrino displays it's menu for toggling electronic switches. Now just have to see how to route the USB cable under the seats and gas tank, to the handlebars while allowing enough play to turn the handlebars. Hopefully the included USB cable is long enough.

Written description helps - I can picture that. What did you mount the aluminum bracket to? Frame?

Dielectric grease on order from Amazon. Good tip!

And how long has it been doing this on your bike?

I've heard that the Tom Tom is better internationally (my lone experience with Tom Tom was in Taiwan where their Chinese character support appeared to be better for local roads) but for US, preference is strong on the Garmin. I'll need to do a more recent bake off between the two since my last experience with Tom Tom years ago was that they weren't quite to the level of software refinement and calculation speed as the Garmins.

I love the way you have that set up directly above the instruments. Very clean and protected. Had no idea about the EZ-Roll'r - am going to rethink the waterproof GPS.

How is that mounted like that? Didn't look like a RAM mount...

Going to get me a RAM wireless phone charger mount. I'm eating through my iPhone XR battery relatively quickly with google maps navigation, Napster music, in addition to the bluetooth wireless to my Black Box Aurora running full time. Am also going to need to get me a waterproof Garmin Zumo unit. What does everyone use these days for waterproof GPS?

So went on two recent rides. One with my lady to Kershaw, South Carolina, the other to Uwharrie National Park in NC. Kershaw was my first time riding the Niken GT on a very sandy access road, while Uwharrie was my first time riding in the rain on the Niken GT. Some thoughts : I was two up riding when we hit the dirt access road to Campbridge waterfall in Kershaw, SC. While the front end steering was very loose because of the sand I was able to get through about a quarter mile of sand more comfortably than I would ever attempt on a normal two wheeled street bike. Yes the bike wandered but my confidence level was much higher going through the sand - especially since my significant other watches The Long Way Round and has seen how often Ewan and Charlie drop their bikes in sand. She actually got a taste of this uncomfortable feeling on sand for the first time on the Niken GT and a new appreciation for the nervousness that kicks in when trying to ride in sand. While riding to Uwharrie National Park in full on stinging rain (Aerostich suit on but could feel the rain pelting) the Niken GT was solid. My SW Motech Kobra handguards did well in the rain and my hands were nowhere near as soaked as when I've ridden bikes unguarded. Water does fly off the trailing edge of the taller sunscreen and seems to perfectly hit my helmet screen but it was fine since the air pocket kept my non Zumo (not waterproof) Garmin GPS from getting soaked in the rain. My Aerostich rain gloves have a thumb squeegee that comes in super handy during wet rides. The only oddity was that the plastic covers on the top cowling above the front suspension did seem to pool a little bit of water under down pour conditions. Not a huge deal but a small detail. Givi monokey V47 top case did great and was completely dry despite all the rain. Also during my ride I missed an exit and had to do a uturn when the bike did something weird I hadn't seen before. The shift indicator actually went blank before the Uturn. Rest of the instrument panel was working fine (speedometer and tachometer). After I completed the uturn and tried to downshift to get a gear to display, the bike engine cut out. Luckily I had the clutch in when I did this so I was able to pull over safely and restart the bike. Has anyone rider encountered this scenario on their Yamaha?

That's a really good price on a Niken, for the right kind of buyer. But the cruise control and the higher windscreen on the GT is so worth it if you're planning on doing any kind of longer distance riding. In two months I've already put in 900 miles. As far as cult goes, I like to use the term persuasively passionate to describe most motorcyclists. The best bike is the one you love to ride, be it a Honda Super Cub, BMW K1600, or (insert your bike here). I took the Niken GT out today although forecast for storms was at 90%. While putting around town I got no less than three motorists who wanted to ask me questions at the stoplight e.g, what is that, is it a motorcycle, etc. It's an interesting conversation starter but I usually have my music going on in my helmet so i don't usually notice folks trying to get my attention.

Took the Niken out to road test the new SW Motech Kobra handguards. A couple of notes: Even though they utilize a single mounting point the handguards themselves do not vibrate at speed. Very well engineered and solidly built. The attachment screws even came pretreated with an orange colored Loctite equivalent compound. Nice attention to detail for customers to aid quality installation and minimize loose bolts. At speed these did keep my hands warmer. Ambient temperature was 60-62 degrees F / 16-17 degrees C, and I was wearing some relatively thin Dainese leather/Kevlar gloves. Riding at highway speeds of 70mph on the freeway with grip warmers set at 3 (of 10 settings where 10 = max heat setting), was the perfect combination of keeping my hands warm. The handguards basically reduce heat loss from air convection when unblocked air flows over your hands during ride and tries to mitigate some of the the effects from wind chill over your hands. According to Bike Bandit.com, if ambient temperature is 60 degrees F then at 75 mph / 120 kph the temperature can feel more like 53 degrees F / 12 degrees C. Now while my hands are definitely better off, I could still feel a temperature difference in my upper arms not protected by the handguards or my fairing, but primary goal of keeping hands warmer was successful. Only knock against them is that depending on the angle of installation, they actually can block about 25-75% of my view through the side view mirrors. Now, it should be noted that the Niken mirrors are ridiculously small and have minimal adjustment. That being said, I adjusted the angle of the handguards such that it provided a balance of hand protection and usability of my side view mirrors. Not the fault of SW Motech but a usability consideration given the geometries of the bike mirrors and variable user height when seated. Other item is that by switching out the beefy stock bar ends with the lighter hardware of the Kobra I did notice some more buzzing through the handlebars. Not a lot, but for 50 mile / 80 km rides my hands were more slightly more numb from vibration than before. For me, an acceptable tradeoff for warmer hands.

After install.

Just took delivery of a pair of SW Motech Kobra handguards. Last year I froze my hands riding during the winter. These handguards should help reduce the cold. Install was very simple only options during installation was which of two hole attachments to utilize. One hole brings the guards closer to the hands, the other a little further away. The Niken handguards only mount to a single point on the bar ends. It will be interesting to see if handlebar vibration is worse with swapping the hefty weighted stock bar ends. Additionally the SW Motech have am extension option as well as option to add LED lighting.

Thanks for the heads up. Only 2634 miles and 39 hours of riding required. Hmm....I was looking for a reason to qualify for Iron Butt membership.

Took the bike out for a short 50 mile ride tonight. Noticed a few other items. I'm 5'11" and while the stock position is comfortable, if I scooted back into my seat about an inch or so, the butt comfort went up another level while placing additional stress on my wrists. First thought was a set of Rox Speed handlebar risers to make the upright seating position even more so to take advantage of additional seat geometry comfort. the other thing I noticed is that even if I get engine guards, the position of any auxiliary lights mounted on them would probably throw a pretty big shadow onto the forks. When I attempted to figure out any kind of mounting position for auxiliary lights, it looked like the only places were either down low by the front wheel fender bolts for smallish auxiliary lights, or possibly up on the front pair of shock tubes. The concern with mounting on the shock tubes is that during hard cornering, there's a higher likelihood of bumping into the lights with the upper shroud. Ideally, if someone were to make a custom mount that would leverage the two bolts that secure the side view mirrors, then this would probably be the ideal location for a set of auxiliary lights if I could forge a specialized bracket of some sort.