# What was this motorcycle I saw?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-motorcycle-i-saw/840950
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 28, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-motorcycle-i-saw/840950 "2019-09-28T14:20:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-motorcycle-i-saw/840950/1 "2019-09-28T14:20:04Z")
While I was out and about a few days ago, I saw an odd-looking motorcycle. I didn’t get a really good look at it, as it was coming towards me, and by the time I realized there was something different about it and took a second look, it was past me.
It was a “trike”, two wheels in front and one in the rear. But the wheels in front were not set widely apart like you would expect, they were only about six inches apart.
Is anything like this being made in production? Or did I likely see something custom-made? What’s the benefit in having two front wheels that close together?
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-motorcycle-i-saw/840950/2 "2019-09-28T14:24:30Z")
Yamaha Niken, maybe?
[https://www.yamahamotorsports.com/sport-touring/models/niken](https://www.yamahamotorsports.com/sport-touring/models/niken)
They advertise better cornering stability. I’ve never ridden one so I can’t say how they perform.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-motorcycle-i-saw/840950/3 "2019-09-28T14:46:19Z")
Yep, that was probably it. Cool! Maybe I’ll find a Yamaha dealer nearby and take one for a test drive! (Although I’m more of a cruiser guy than sport bike.)
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-motorcycle-i-saw/840950/4 "2019-09-28T15:57:58Z")
Saw one of those the other day. Very strange looking from the front.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-motorcycle-i-saw/840950/5 "2019-09-28T16:44:27Z")
Oh, Yamaha! :smack: When will you learn?
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-motorcycle-i-saw/840950/6 "2019-09-28T19:27:14Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#):
>
> Oh, Yamaha! :smack: When will you learn?
You mock Yamaha? The company that named a motorcycle [Tedium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_TDM)?
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### Author:  [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-motorcycle-i-saw/840950/7 "2019-09-28T19:32:22Z")
They have been using them extensively as support vehicles for the Giro, Tour de France and the Vuelta so they will be pretty familiar to most Euros
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### Author:  [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2019, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-motorcycle-i-saw/840950/8 "2019-09-28T20:07:43Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#):
>
> Yamaha Niken, maybe?
> [https://www.yamahamotorsports.com/sport-touring/models/niken](https://www.yamahamotorsports.com/sport-touring/models/niken)
>
> They advertise better cornering stability. I’ve never ridden one so I can’t say how they perform.
As a technically minded guy, my first reaction was “well that’s needlessly complex, twice the number of failure points”, then “boy is it UGLY!” (And I own a Yamaha myself, ‘99 V-Star 650 Classic ) and finally “how can it possibly corner “better” with a wider front track, a single tire would be more precise
It may have slightly more stability and grip in the corners, but it won’t be as crisp or precise, they basically bolted a tire to each fork tube
It’ll be a heck of a lot more expensive at tire change time…
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2019, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-motorcycle-i-saw/840950/9 "2019-09-28T22:25:41Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> You mock Yamaha? The company that named a motorcycle [Tedium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_TDM)?
I was thinking the GTS1000, but the Tedium works, too. And the Virago. Unchanged since Carter was in office, I think.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-motorcycle-i-saw/840950/10 "2019-09-28T22:52:16Z")
When I was a kid and rode a Honda 50 Sportster, a buddy had a Yamaha 80. I lost him at an intersection, and smelled which way he had turned.
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### Author:  [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2019, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-motorcycle-i-saw/840950/11 "2019-09-29T02:00:38Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> You mock Yamaha? The company that named a motorcycle [Tedium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_TDM)?
I don’t know; I loved the Yamaha Virago I bought for my personal virago.
And I pray the Old Wench never sees this post 😃
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### Author:  [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-motorcycle-i-saw/840950/12 "2019-09-29T02:39:08Z")
I find this fascinating. Unnecessary, but so are many of the great vehicles. And many more of the failed ones. Time to go find someone who has tried it for an opinion. (FWIW, I don’t ride myself due to a sometimes severe vertigo problem. But I used to do so.)