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Is 2016 the Year of the Leaning Multi-Wheeler?

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Yamaha says it will have a new leaning multi-wheeler (LMW) concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, which is funny because Honda will have a leaning three-wheeler as well at the Japanese trade show as well.

Kawasaki has already shown us the Concept J three-wheeler, back in 2013, and the Yamaha Tesseract has been making the rounds on the internet since 2007.

Add into the mix the popularity of the on-road snowmobile that is the Can-Am Spyder, and the surprising surge of sales with the Polaris Slingshot, and clearly OEMs are considering making unique play toys for public streets.

Like the Spyder or Slingshot, they might not be motorcycles, but these leaning multi-wheelers tap into the same fun-factor that comes with riding a motorcycle.

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Bikes

Honda Neowing Concept – A Hybrid Leaning Trike

By 16 Comments

It seems that the Japanese are really exploring the idea of leaning multi-wheel concepts. First was the Yamaha Teseract, with its four wheels of leaning fury, which gave rise to the production of the Yamaha Tricity scooter, and the Yamaha 03GEN-f & Yamaha 03GEN-x concepts.

Team Green has explored this space with the Kawasaki J Concept, Piaggio has its MP3 500 maxi-scooter (and supposedly has the lockdown on patents for this innovative design), and now Honda has its Neowing – a gas/electric hybrid leaning three-wheeler.

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News

BRP Sells Its 100,000th Can-Am Spyder

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It might be hard to believe, but Can-Am has sold over 100,000 Spyder three-wheelers since the reverse trike first debuted in dealerships in 2008. Some off-the-cuff math here puts Can-Am Spyder sales as averaging 12,500 units a year — an impressive figure for the unique vehicle.

The 100,000th Can-Am Spyder was given to its new owner, a Missouri firefighter by the name of Brahm Wilson, at the Spyderfest 2015 gathering in Springfield, Missouri. Wilson is your typical Can-Am purchasers, an ex-motorcyclist returning to the sport/lifestyle after a hiatus, who wanted something a little different than the standard two-wheeled fare.

His bike is a 2015 Can-Am Spyder F3, which goes after America’s popular cruiser heritage, and mixes a bit of Harley-Davidson with on-road snowmobile to distinguish itself from the other Spyder models.

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Bikes

Not-A-Review: I Finally Understand the Polaris Slingshot

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All the way back in February, I got an email from a loyal A&R reader, Tone, who had just put a down payment on the Polaris Slingshot. He had just sold his Honda RC-51 to make room in the garage for his new three-wheeled toy…to put it shortly, he was excited for his soon-to-arrive “motorcycle”.

I love meeting enthusiastic readers because they remind me why I started Asphalt & Rubber in the first place: for the love of motorcycles.

But, I have to admit…I didn’t quite get the fuss about the new Slingshot — and to sell an RC-51 (a bike I wouldn’t having in mind two-wheeled collection) for one? That seemed sort of blasphemous — may the Gods of Motorcycling forgive this transgression.

Tone’s enthusiasm and offer to give me a ride in his scoot, once it arrived, won me over in the end though. After all, if you’re not having a good time in a motorcycle, even a three-wheeled one, you’re probably doing it wrong. Right?

Fast-forward several months, once Polaris finished up its wheel bearing recall, and Tone was meeting me in Portland for a quick after-work joyride. For the tl;dr crowd, I take back every word of doubt about the Slingshot I’ve ever uttered in public and in private.

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Bikes

Yamaha 03GEN-x Concept Is Ready to Get Dirty

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If the Yamaha 03GEN-f concept is supposed to be a sport-oriented three-wheeled leaning scooter, then consider the Yamaha 03GEN-x concept its dirty cousin. Based on Yamaha’s leaning multi-wheel (LVM) technology, the Yamaha 03GEN-x take the same idea, but applies it to off-road duty.

Laced with a spoke-wheel wheelset, a headlight guard, and tall handlebars, the Yamaha 03GEN-x concept is an interesting take on the dual-sport space.

The idea of course is to bring the stability of the LVM concept, as seen on the Yamaha Tricity, to the off-road segment. We’re not sure how the feet-forward scooter sitting position is going to play on rougher trails, but for gravel and fire roads, the 03GEN-x could be a unique style of fun. What do you think?

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Bikes

Yamaha 03GEN-f Concept

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Yamaha Motor released two concept trikes today, based on the company’s “refined dynamism design” philosophy. Both concepts build off the leaning multi-wheel (LMW) Yamaha Tricity, which is a trike that uses two wheels in the front and one wheel in the back.

Built like a scooter, with a feet-forward sitting position, Yamaha’s 03GEN-f concept expands on the Tricity’s on-road focus, but with sportier motion in mind.

Yamaha says that it will continue to explore concepts under the “GEN” name, meaning we could see some more LWM models from the tuning fork brand in the future.

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News

No Polaris Slingshot in Texas, For Now

By 22 Comments

Bad news if you live in Texas and want to grab the hottest trike on the market right now, the Polaris Slingshot, as the Lone Star State has rescinded its approval for Slingshot sales in Texas.

Despite initially approving the Polaris Slingshot for sales on November 4th, the State of Texas reversed its approval, leaving Polaris to notify dealerships on November 10th that they would be unable to sell the Slingshot, for the foreseeable future.

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Bikes

Yamaha “01GEN” Three-Wheeler Dual-Sport Concept

By 18 Comments

To wrap-up our INTERMOT coverage today, we bring you the Yamaha 01GEN three-wheeler concept. The Yamaha 01GEN is similar to the Yamaha Tesseract Concept, except that the Japanese brand envisions this motorcycle living both on and off-road.

With one wheel in the rear, and two in the front, the Yamaha 01Gen Concept is perhaps the most interesting trike we have ever seen. The front wheels certainly look like they have enough suspension travel to soak up some big hits, while the belt-driven single-tire in the rear sounds easy enough to maintain in off-road conditions.

The Yamaha 01Gen should be fun on-road as well, as the concept should be able to lean through turns, thus adding the sensation of a motorcycle, with a little bit more stability on the front-end.

Yamaha’s press release on the 01GEN is filled with hyperbole and pipe dreams, but we think there could be something here with the design. Maybe it’s not for everyone, but clearly the Japanese OEM is thinking outside the box on what to delivery powersport enthusiasts.

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Bikes

First Photos of the Polaris Slingshot

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Polaris is about to release a three-wheeler for the sporting public (UPDATE: it’s now officially out), named the Polaris Slingshot. We’ve already gotten a pretty good look at the Slingshot ahead of its debut, and now just a few hours before its official release we have our first actual photos.

Technically a motorcycle, along the same vein as the Campagna Motors T-REX, riders will need a motorcycle or trike license (where applicable) to operate the Slingshot, despite its car-like form factor, which includes seat belts.

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Bikes

Polaris Slingshot – A Side-by-Side Trike That’s Coming Soon

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Earlier this month, UBS Investment Research released their Top 10 Predictions for 2014, one of them being that Polaris would release the Slingshot, a three-wheeled vehicle, in the first half of 2014.

Although there has previously been much speculation as to whether Polaris Industries would officially be producing the Slingshot, a press release dated January 3, 2014 discusses the release of a slingshot product line.

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