Yamaha Niken 900 GT 2024 — Specifications

Who still remembers the first Niken test rides, when journalists were lifting the rear wheel despite a front end built like a locomotive? Those days seem to be over. With the 2024 vintage 900 GT, Yamaha makes a radical strategic shift and transforms its three-wheeled UFO into a touring machine. Gone is the twitchy roadster that turned passengers white-knuckled — in its place stands a fully committed tourer, panniers included.

The repositioning starts with the engine. The triple grows to 890 cc and produces 114.9 hp at 10,000 rpm with 90.2 Nm of torque available from 7,000 rpm — 1,500 rpm lower than the previous generation. A heavier crankshaft smooths power delivery and rounds out the character. The conversation is no longer about raw performance but about flexibility, about seamless roll-ons two-up with the panniers fully loaded. The bi-directional quickshifter arrives right on cue, because at 270 kg wet, the Yamaha Niken 900 GT demands careful management of its six-speed gearbox to maintain pace. Forty kilos more than a Tracer 9 GT+ is no small matter. Suffice to say the Yamaha Niken 900 GT's weight makes itself felt at a standstill and during low-speed manoeuvres.

On the chassis side, Yamaha has refined the steel diamond frame with lighter tubular sections and revised the rear shock, now mounted on aluminium linkages instead of the original steel ones. The spring is new and the progressivity gains in subtlety. Suspension travel remains modest — 110 mm at the front and 125 mm at the rear — but that's consistent with a motorcycle limited to 200 km/h that makes no claim to swallowing up broken tracks. The Ackermann front end with its dual inverted forks retains its 45-degree lean angle and twin 298 mm radially mounted Nissin discs. Cornering safety is precisely the killer argument Yamaha pushes hardest — the same one Piaggio leverages with its three-wheeled scooters, but transposed here into an altogether more serious size and performance bracket.

The equipment finally catches up with the price tag. A 7-inch TFT display replaces the old instrument cluster and integrates phone connectivity, music streaming and optional Garmin navigation at extra cost. A five-way joystick on the left switchgear controls everything without taking your eyes off the road. Four riding modes — Rain, Road, Sport and Custom — let you adjust traction control, slide control, anti-wheelie and ABS sensitivity to taste. Heated grips, cruise control, a USB port behind the fairing and a 12V socket under the seat round out the package. The redesigned seat offers better support and the windscreen becomes adjustable over 7 cm of height. The 30-litre panniers on each side open the door to long weekends, but watch the width when lane-splitting.

The price of a new Yamaha Niken 900 GT comes in at €17,999 — a steep entry fee against the German GTs that dominate the segment. On the used market, 2021 examples with 2,500 km on the clock can be found around €10,500, which puts the investment into perspective for the curious. The real question remains: who is the target audience? The Niken GT will likely convince neither the dedicated track rider nor the conservative tourer wedded to his Bavarian twin. It speaks to a different clientele — one that values front-end security and is willing to accept the bulk in exchange for extraordinary stability on wet roads or through blind corners. Yamaha is playing its last card with this touring transformation. If the gamble doesn't pay off, the Niken could well join the list of concepts too bold for their time. That would be a shame, because no other motorcycle on the market offers this unique combination of sensations.