LET IT LEAN

The Niken does a lot of things, but perhaps what it does best is defy expectations. Contrary to what you might be thinking, the Niken is not for beginners. It doesn’t balance on its own. It is surprisingly conventional, natural-feeling, and fun to ride. And rather than being the answer to a question that nobody asked, it’s the product of a decade-long quest to build a motorcycle with “unprecedented front-end grip.”

Yamaha didn’t necessarily expect to end up with a three-wheeler. “It was never Yamaha’s plan to come out with this design,” remarked Yamaha Europe’s motorcycle product manager Leon Oosterhof at the Niken press launch in Kitzbuhel, Austria. “We were simply pursuing the goal of increasing cornering performance by increasing front grip, to improve the riding experience when conditions are imperfect.” As a guy who feels a little anxious bending a bike into a wet corner, that sounds appealing.

Adding another front wheel was how