How many Niken owners

[maximNikenGT]

On 12/17/2020 at 3:12 PM, pilninggas said:

In the UK Yamaha have registered about 100 Nikens and 100 GTs.

I doubt they've broke even given the marketing costs etc.

Ok, so  assuming proportionally holds between population vs number of Nikens, if the US is about five  times the population of the UK, this might suggest a ballpark of about 5x200 Nikens =1,000 Nikens in the US, of 1000/50 US states = ~20 Nikens per US state. 

Can't speak for other areas of the US but I'm the only Niken owner I'm aware of in Charlotte, and I've yet to have encountered another Niken outside of a motorcycle dealership. So this number of 20 Nikens per state seems high at first blush. 

[maximNikenGT]

From the Facebook Yamaha NIKEN Owners Club, highest owner confirmed Niken serial number so far is a Niken GT bought in May 2019 in France #1501. 

[maximNikenGT]

From the Facebook Niken owners forum, 2019 Niken GT in Vancouver Canada reported serial number 003.   

[maximNikenGT]

From the Facebook Niken Forum, number 65 currently touring in New Zealand, although owner seems to live in Austria. Appears to be a GT. 

 

[maximNikenGT]

If anyone does a Niken demo ride, would you mind taking down the year, model and last 6 digits of serial numbers?  I would have guessed a huge chunk of initial serial numbers would have been earmarked for press fleet / demo use but that does not appear to be the case. 

[maximNikenGT]

From the Facebook 2019 Yamaha Niken owners forum, number 668 Niken GT in Scotland. 

[maximNikenGT]

This just in from an owner in Montreal, Canada. Serial number 00001, 2019 Niken GT. 

Interestingly enough highest serial number responses by year are as follows:

• 2018 Niken highest serial number is #383
• 2019 highest is 1501 and
• 2020 is 699.

Assuming these are the highest numbers out there means a grand total of 2583 Nikens worldwide for model year 2018-2020. As a point of reference, there were only only 2049 Lamborghini Countach ever made.

I've never looked up the replacement part prices for a Lamborghini Countach but I'm sure it's  not cheap. At least the Niken shares a lot of its parts with the Tracer. 

[maximNikenGT]

Update from the Facebook Niken owners forum. According to a new Niken owner in Italy, she was told that there were 122 Nikens sold in Italy by her sales dealership. 

[Wintersdark]

Fascinating.

 

Honestly, I'd love a Niken.  Be a huge talking point everywhere!  And I've *never* seen one in the wild outside of bike shows and the odd dealership.

They're cool.

Though I bet tires get really spendy.

 

[maximNikenGT]

1 hour ago, Wintersdark said:

Fascinating.

 

Honestly, I'd love a Niken.  Be a huge talking point everywhere!  And I've *never* seen one in the wild outside of bike shows and the odd dealership.

They're cool.

Though I bet tires get really spendy.

 

I actually took my bike out this weekend with my lady for a ride to a new barbecue restaurant about 22 miles away. When we parked at the restaurant, I was approached twice by two different gentlemen who had questions about the bike. One was in his car on his way out the parking lot with his significant other in the passenger side, another gentleman was just fascinated. This doesn't include the older couple in the pickup truck who was picking up their carryout order. The older lady was taking a smoking break and was just fascinated with the Niken and told her significant other when he got back from picking up carryout where he immediately bust out his cell phone and started taking pictures. 

The gentleman with his significant other in the car literally stopped to ask whether the bike rode like a regular motorcycle (it absolutely does) and was fascinated by not having ever seen a two wheel front design like that. Same goes for the gentleman that approached me in the parking lot.

However the gentleman in the parking lot indicated that he always wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle but never got around to it. Even though it has 3 wheels, I don't know that I would ever recommend the Niken as a "beginners" bike. At 580 pounds there are lighter beginner bikes out there plus with the additional wheel on the front it take a bit more conscious effort to transition between turns. If you can ride a regular lighter motorcycle first, then the Niken won't scare you as much with the higher weight. 

The older couple in the pickup truck I imagined as probably being retired Harley riders who enjoyed long rides in the saddle and were maybe considering options to extend their riding years (normally a Harley or Goldwing trike). Which at that weight class means the Niken is no problem as far as being a potential consideration. 

While we were riding back home I had an older gentleman ask to take a photo while we were sitting at a stoplight. He was very nice in that he actually asked permission (which I appreciated his politeness in asking first greatly). Of course I gave him the thumbs up and he happily took his snapshots. 

This past weekend was oddly the most I've been approached with questions about the Niken even though I've taken much longer rides elsewhere. Not sure if it had to do with me having a pillion passenger and that somehow makes me more approachable with my significant other on the back?

At any rate, it was refreshing and nice to see people strike up conversation again and gives me hope for the near future. 

Regarding tires, so far I'm at 1947 miles on the odometer and haven't been too hard on the bike. So far so good on the stock Bridgestone Battleaxes. However I have heard of another forum member indicating that they were at 15k miles and are already on their fourth set of tires. I've messaged him for clarification because that does seem excessive since I rode my '04 BMW R1150R almost 21k miles on stock tires. 

At any rate the Niken is a stupidly fun bike to ride and although it's looks are polarizing to some, it's an amazing bike to ride. 

[knyte]

...was watching Hoovies Garage this morning and he had an interesting thought, something to the effect of:  "I love my 25th anniversary Countach, but every time I stop at the gas station - it's an event.  I mostly like it, but in driving one of these, you have to be prepared for the attention it will get."

I think the same is or will be true for your Niken.  It's unusual, it stands out.  It may not scream as loudly as a Countach, but it certainly yells enough to be audible, and you will get some attention

[maximNikenGT]

1 hour ago, knyte said:

...was watching Hoovies Garage this morning and he had an interesting thought, something to the effect of:  "I love my 25th anniversary Countach, but every time I stop at the gas station - it's an event.  I mostly like it, but in driving one of these, you have to be prepared for the attention it will get."

I think the same is or will be true for your Niken.  It's unusual, it stands out.  It may not scream as loudly as a Countach, but it certainly yells enough to be audible, and you will get some attention

For some reason all I could think about as how fun it would be to be Captain Chaos on a Niken. Definitely think you've hit the nail on the head. 

[biggo]

On 3/9/2021 at 6:52 AM, knyte said:

...was watching Hoovies Garage this morning and he had an interesting thought, something to the effect of:  "I love my 25th anniversary Countach, but every time I stop at the gas station - it's an event.  I mostly like it, but in driving one of these, you have to be prepared for the attention it will get."

I think the same is or will be true for your Niken.  It's unusual, it stands out.  It may not scream as loudly as a Countach, but it certainly yells enough to be audible, and you will get some attention

I do get asked all sorts at the gas station with my Niken .  NDF   ( Niken Delay Factor )  Always good to talk bike though  

[maximNikenGT]

On 3/7/2021 at 9:21 PM, maximNikenGT said:

This just in from an owner in Montreal, Canada. Serial number 00001, 2019 Niken GT. 

Interestingly enough highest serial number responses by year are as follows:

• 2018 Niken highest serial number is #383
• 2019 highest is 1501 and
• 2020 is 699.

Assuming these are the highest numbers out there means a grand total of 2583 Nikens worldwide for model year 2018-2020. As a point of reference, there were only only 2049 Lamborghini Countach ever made.

I've never looked up the replacement part prices for a Lamborghini Countach but I'm sure it's  not cheap. At least the Niken shares a lot of its parts with the Tracer. 

This just in from Facebook owners page. 2018 Niken #511. That puts the grand total at 2711 worldwide. 

• 2018 Niken highest self reported serial number is #511
• 2019 highest is 1501 and
• 2020 is 699.

For reference purposes there were only 2450 Fisker Karmas made worldwide. 

List of automobile sales by model - Wikipedia

 

[maximNikenGT]

This just in from Japan, 2018 Niken number #120. Highest 2018 Niken is at #511 out of Turkey. 2019 Niken #1501 out of France, and 2020 Niken #699 out of the UK. 

Looks like our Euro friends get the latest versions by model year... I wonder if that is because of strict emissions standards, or if that's just a coincidence? Niken confirmed country representation so far includes, UK, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, France, Italy, Spain, US, Canada, Japan, Philippines, Turkey, Thailand, Serbia, Wales, and Israel. Any I missed?