VOL. 39 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 9, 2018 P117
production bike but, again, this
isn't the aim of the TY-E.
The high-powered lithium bat-
tery walks the fine line between
size, weight and power and
doesn't aim to meet any pro-
duction demands. The highly
responsive motor draws from a
battery inside a small trials bike
frame on a bike which must
weigh no less than 154 pounds
for FIM rules.
If this was a MotoGP bike or
even an F1 car you wouldn't be
expecting a production ver-
sion of it. You would, however,
expect the technology and
learnings from this prototype to
develop and arrive further down
the line on a bike you will ride.
That is exactly what we get
from Yamaha MotoGP technol-
ogy in street bikes—the cross-
plane crank engine being a
perfect example. The TY-E is
operating at that same pinnacle
of a motorsport where proto-
types are pushing development
of technology.
This kind of batter y life is
not currently practical on a
different dirt bike, at least not
to achieve the same perfor-
mance, Yamaha says. When
will we see this technology on
any bike? "I don't know, no-
body knows," says Tsuji-san.
" We do not know how long it
will take to find the majority
of motorcycles using batter y
power. We do know it will hap-
pen though, so this is why we
develop this bike to progress
development."
And there's the truth of it:
this is where future Yamaha
e-bikes is will develop from and
if Yamaha is pushing this e-bike
revolution like it says it is, then
we are looking at the future.
The T Y-E is a development pro-
totype equally built to explore
technology, take the next step
in e-bikes and at the same time
be a very specific tool to win
a world championship. And it
looks damn fine, too. CN
YAMAHA'S E-BIKE
HISTORY
Yamaha is no stranger to electric-pow-
ered vehicles with over 25 years experience
developing electric models for different
markets. The very recent explosion of power,
or pedal-assist, bicycles can be traced back
to 1993 when Yamaha was leading the way
developing the PAS systems.
Shortly after the Millennium, Yamaha pro-
gressed to developing e-bikes in moped form
and it remains an area where they have a
surprisingly strong record producing electric
motors for many applications.
The keen followers of e-bikes may also
recall the PED concept trail bikes and PES
road race concept bikes displayed at the To-
kyo Show, as well as the futuristic Motoroid.
It is on the back of this ongoing development
of electric bikes that we find the TY-E standing
as the most impressive and latest showcase
from the Fukuroi-based manufacturer.
(left) The TY-E, ridden by Kenichi
Kuroyama, recently competed in
the 2018 Trial-E World Cup round in
France and came away with the win.
It also had good success in Belgium
where this photo was taken.
