Awesome! Its about time the n1k and the vfr800 get some competition. Just hope it doesnt sport a fugly transformer alien ninja design, like certain newer jap models.
My son is very intrigued by this development. He rides a farkled 2011 Yamaha Fazer8, the semi-faired version of the naked FZ-8. Among other things, he's added Givi panniers and topcase to make it appear similar to a scaled-down version of my FJR 1300. I believe that a fully functional sport tourer built around this new Yamaha trlple would be a terrific sport tourer for those who don't want or need the power, weight and fuel consumption of a liter-plus bike. Ian
Interesting stuff. That Yamaha triple is a gem of a unit. With the refreshed VFR 800, the proposed BMW S1000F and now this, i do wonder if the sports tourer may be making a comeback.
Look back 15-20 years. Concours was 1000cc, ST1100, R1100RS... Now we have C14, FJR13, ST13, R12000, Trophy 1200 - and they are in the high teens USD with lots of technical foolery. Finally a little breathing room in the marketing/pricing structure.
I did hear that there was supposed to be a raft of new kit from Yamaha based on the new motors. Looks like they may be sooner rather than later. I hope someone at Suzuki is paying attention too..
Had all the big ones. No more extra weight for me, whenever I can avoid it. I hope they'll set up the basic bike as a street sport bike. I want light and comfortable, w/good performance and real world wind and weather protection, but I don't want hard bags, extra weight, or muted performance. A lighter, more fuel efficient, higher-end N1K would do very nicely as a standard.
Hopefully, it will have shaft drive. I believe they still make the Sprint GT. They're just not bringing it to the US.
well I can't resolve the link here at the office, but judging by the comments, it doesn't say much. I think if Yamaha is going to base a new model off the MT-09, and keep the price down, it will have chain drive. Luggage will be an option.
The N1K is a very nice bike. Don't take me wrong. I don't care about the electronic, high-tech gadgets. I have bikes w/them and never use them. I would like to see higher-spec gear. It's nitpicking but it's in my head after all these years. A $12K bike should have fully adjustable suspension, better fuel economy, a better wind screen, and I'd like to see it at 475# wet, max. Yes, I'm picky and opinionated. So it is...
I agree that shaft would be nice, but even if not, it's like like there are any shaft sport tourers under 1000cc or $10,000 anyway. I wouldn't care if it's the fastest thing on the block, as long as it's torquey and refined. It's totally overneeded at this point. Especially with the high-end bikes going super high-tech and costly. So as long as they keep it simple and affordable it will sell, especially being light. At under $10K, it would be a bargain and a half. And adios VFR. And BMW 800GT.
I agree but it can be done, I would think. The S10, MG Stelvio and Norge all have just a bit over 100 HP and they all have shafts. I know they are 1200cc bikes but this triple has more about 8-10% more power. Maybe they will bore it out to closer to 900cc. I also don't care if it's the fastest in class. I would like it to be sporty, yet still comfortable with good handling and a good range, say 200+ miles to the tank. Cruise would be nice. They already have the technology. An adjustable windscreen would be cool and I'm okay if it's manual like on the 2014 S10. I really don't think this is too much to ask or that it would raise the cost up too much, but what do I know. I'm not an engineer.