YAMAHA TRICITY 125
FIRST RIDE
P62
ered by 250/300cc and 600cc
engines and weigh upwards of
500 pounds dry. This contrasts
with the Tricity's 335-pound curb
weight (321 pounds dry) with a
full 1.7-gallon fuel tank that's posi-
tioned under the seat in the cen-
ter of the wheelbase, meaning
that as the level goes down it has
no effect on the bike's dynamics.
However, unlike the MP3,
Yamaha's new bike is not self-
supporting, so you can't just get
off it and walk away leaving the
suspension locked in place. First
you must first put down the sid-
estand or roll it onto the center
stand. That's because the MP3
has a much wider front track, with
its twin 12-inch front wheels (with
a 14-inch rear) spaced 18 inches
apart, which does, however,
qualify it to be ridden with a car
license in the EU.
The 60.9-inch wheelbase and
520-pound dry weight of the
smallest-engined variant make it
quite a different product than the
Tricity, which features twin 14-
inch front wheels just 15 inches
apart, with a 12-inch rear and a
51.5-inch wheelbase. This means
a motorcycle license is required
to ride it in the EU.
And the Tricity is very definitely
much closer to a bike than a car,
as the chance to spend a 55-mile
day of riding it round the bumpy,
cobbled, canal-side streets of
Amsterdam amply demonstrated.
We also took it on a swift scoot
along the dyke enclosing the
Zuider Zee, where the digital
speedo claimed it was propelling
me at 99kph (61 mph) – darn,
couldn't quite do the magic 'ton',
in kilometers at least.
But it swiftly became obvious
as I clocked up the miles that
what Yamaha has done here is
to re-invent the scooter - much
in the same way as it did in 1997
on the four-cylinder sportbike
paradigm by creating the R1, or
indeed invented the maxi-scooter
segment 15 years ago with the
first TMAX.
The R1 comparison is a worthy
one, for the leader of the team re-
sponsible for developing the 125
Tricity – and yes, Yamaha admits
to have "several other different
capacity versions under devel-
opment," including presumably
a 150cc variant as well as a twin-
cylinder TMAX maxi-version – is
The Tricity is smaller, lighter and
cheaper than Piaggio's MP3 three-
wheeled scooter.
