Are you one of those many people that have trouble meeting other folk? There can be a multitude of reasons for this depressing trait – only have three bad teeth, breath of a dinosaur, body that looks like an octopus wearing Speedos, more aggressive than a chimpanzee coming off heroin, riddled with a foul and uncontrollable disease, as miserable as a back-pack bomber without a back-pack, and the list goes on.
But do not fret if you fall into the above categories because help is now at hand courtesy of Yamaha and their brilliant Tricity scooter. Oh yes, if you buy one of these, and believe me you should, you’ll suddenly meet and have more friends than Brad Pitt and Angelina ‘I’ll adopt this one as well’ having a naked swim on a crowded beach.
I’m none of the above, according to me, but I have to say that I’ve never received so much attention with any form of two-wheeled machine no matter how expensive or exclusive it was, and this enviable attention is due to nothing more than the Tricity’s three-wheeled stance and Mr. Kazuhisa Takano. I was followed into petrol garage forecourts, questioned outside Checkers, heavily interviewed at the pub, and propositioned by gorgeous teenage girls (made that last bit up actually, but it sounds good on my CV). So you see where I’m coming from if you’re a lost soul and need to find mates, but who the hell is Mr. Takano I hear you shout? Well, he’s one of Rossi’s race bike development team who was given the task to make this curious chariot and, judging from the end result, he probably enjoyed every minute of it, well sort of…
I say that because guess who his development rider was, and no, it’s most certainly not Rossi. Well you’ll never guess so I’ll put your mind as rest, it was his wife! Yes, can you believe that? She wanted a novice friendly machine to get her to the sushi shop and back and this is the end result. But can you imagine the arguments with testing and developing a new platform with your ‘loved one’? I’d imagine that there was more ‘flook yoo yu plik’ flying around the garage than, ‘I ruvv yoo too’, don’t yoo fink, sorry I meant, you think?
Anyway, job done Kaz’, and he’s responsible for the first ever twin-front-wheeled bike to come out of Japan. Or to be more specific the Tricity’s front end is called LMW (Leaning Multi Wheel), which from the images you can cleverly see that it most certainly does – sweet!
The Tricity is designed for urban commuting and therefore it has a small liquid-cooled, with oil-cooler, 125cc, fuel-injected, OHC, 2-valve, single cylinder motor. Because of its frugal nature the 6.6-litre fuel tank will easily take you over 200km, which is handy. This engine produces 11bhp and 10Nm that doesn’t sound like much but the little Tri’ will buzz around to an indicated 110km/h and it’s brisk enough to leave all but the fastest of cars away from the lights – a perfect little and hyper-cute commuter.
But the engine isn’t really the talking point here; it’s all about that stunning front end. Two wheels, twin discs, four shocks, yes, four, two for each wheel apparently for stiffness and the ‘space-face’ fairing, cool looking or what? Even with the extra wheel Kaz’ dude has somehow managed to get the Tricity to only weigh 152kg with fuel, which is 17kg lighter than Yamaha’s 125 X-Max conventional scooter!
The whole idea behind the Tricity is to make the bike more stable and forgiving compared to a single front wheel. It’s worked because the Tricity has a feeling of being planted to the road instead of bouncing around on it, like cheap scooters tend to do. This is one quality piece of kit and the suspension at the front feels plush and controlled beyond any, and I mean any, 125 scooter by a country mile. The rear twin shocks are a bit harsh though, so Kaz’s wife must have become predictably bored by the time they got to that and she needed to wash her hair, which was said to be far more important to her than damping rates and spring-preload – shame and bless.
She did get the riding position perfect though and of course the thickly padded seat. Even a big chubby burger stuffed American, male or female, can fit into the Tricity and enjoy the element protection. There’s tons of legroom as you move around absorbing and enjoying the smoothness of the engine and, to put the icing on the cake, or Wasabi on the tuna, if you live in Japan, the digital clock spread also adds a large dose of visual nirvana.
While you’re revelling in the delights of the Tricity you might have to brake hard and that’s another tick in the right box because this thing has superb stopping power. The twin 220mm discs up front inside the 14-inch wheels are part of the UBS (Unified Braking System), which means the rear brake lever operates both rear and front and the front brake lever adds more front, if that makes senses, but squeeze both together and it certainly does. Stable and safe is the best way to describe that feeling, just like his dear wife asked for.
So how much is this masterpiece of Japanese scooter technology you ask? R47,995 is my answer. Now to some pure and lost in the past motorcyclists they say that’s a lot of dosh for a mere125 scooter. To the general public who instantly want one, they say it’s worth it, and I’ll have to agree with them. I desperately one of these in my garage, not because I have no mates or need more, but just because I totally fell I love with it, and when I returned it back to Yamaha I felt as unhappy as an asthmatic ant carrying heavy shopping that’s lost its inhaler, which says it all regarding Yamaha’s Nice Tri.
