Ok that headlines is a slight exaggeration on the truth, as Yamaha Motor is actually offering a range of prototype motors that produce 35kW to 200kW of power, which works out to be a range of 47hp to 268hp. Still, that is a lot of juice.
The prototypes are a range of interior permanent magnet synchronous motors (IPMSM), which are scalable in design and suitable for a variety of uses.
Episode 127 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one covers this weeks’ whirlwind round of news from the Yamaha MotoGP team and its rider lineup for the 2020 season and beyond.
For these topics, we have Steve English, Neil Morrison, and David Emmett on the mics, as the trio discusses the announcements that Yamaha has made, and what the ramifications are for the grand prix paddock.
Yamaha’s MotoGP program continues to dominate the headlines this week, first by signing Maverick Viñales to an astounding three-year contract, and then by booting Valentino Rossi from the factory team in order to make way for Fabio Quartararo.
Now, the Japanese motorcycle maker is making another big announcement, though this one has been brewing for a bit: Jorge Lorenzo will take on the role as Yamaha’s MotoGP test rider.
The first penny has dropped in the long march toward the 2021 MotoGP grid. Yamaha has announced that they have signed Maverick Viñales to a two-year deal, for the 2021 and 2022 season.
The move marks a clear decision, both on the part of Yamaha and the part of Viñales. The Spaniard had offers on the table from two other manufacturers, with Ducati especially keen to sign Viñales for 2021.
But, assurances given to Viñales about his role in developing the Yamaha M1 helped him make his decision. Viñales is to determine the future direction of Yamaha, based on the strength of his performance in the second half of 2020.
The bike we never thought would make it to the United States is getting closer to actually landing on American soil, and today we have even more good news about the Yamaha Ténéré 700.
This is because Yamaha Motor USA has just shared with us pricing for the 2021 Yamaha Ténéré 700, and the Japanese brand has nailed things on the head with their $9,999 MSRP for this middleweight adventure-tourer.
You might be wondering why the words “sport” and “scooter” appear together in the headline of this story. And, you might be asking yourself why we are covering the launch of a new scooter here on Asphalt & Rubber. Those are fair questions.
No, we haven’t lost our minds, and the Yamaha TMAX is no normal scooter. While we may be into our flashy sport bikes here at A&R, there is a whole world that revolves around the TMAX, which gives way to a rich tuning culture and cult status in markets outside of the United States.
Try this on for size, now in its seventh generation of production, Yamaha has sold over 275,000 TMAX scooters in the last 20 years, and now for the 2020 model year, the Yamaha TMAX 560 counts itself as the most powerful version ever produced.
Debuting just before this year’s EICMA show in Milan, we see one of the Tuning Fork brand’s few exciting bikes for next year.
What will surely continue to be a European model only, the Yamaha Tracer 700 gets refreshed for the 2020 model year.
Based off the Yamaha MT-07 platform, this parallel-twin sports tourer boasts a new full-fairing design that is strangely eye-catching.
Beneath that fairing though is where the real changes reside, as the big highlight feature for 2020 is that the 689cc engine gets tweaked for Euro5 emission homologation.
For American fans of the WorldSBK Championship, there will once again be a fellow countryman to root for next season, as Garrett Gerloff is set to move from the MotoAmerica series to the World Superbike starting grid.
With an official announcement soon to come, our Bothan spies are tipping to us that Gerloff will take Marco Melandri’s seat at the GRT Yamaha squad.
In 2016, the Yamaha MT-03 debuted as the naked variant of the popular Yamaha YZF-R3 sport bike. And while the R3 came to American soil (with very positive results), its naked sibling never found its way across the pond.
Small and aggressive, the Yamaha MT-03 borrowed the R3’s twin-cylinder engine, and wrapped it in Yamaha’s “Dark Side of Japan” aesthetic. Like its full-fairing sibling, the Yamaha MT-03 was a strong offering for younger riders.
Now for the 2020 model year, the Yamaha MT-03 is finally coming to the United States, complete with a new aggressive look, with the hopes of offering new riders with an intriguing offer that won’t bust the bank.
For a brief moment, the Yamaha Factory Racing Team was a five-time winner (in a row, I might add) at the Suzuka 8-Hours endurance race.
That reality was eventually snatched away by the FIM Endurance World Championship race direction officials, who this weekend learned something new about their rulebook, but the race run by the factory-backed Yamaha team was no less impressive.
For nearly eight hours, the team’s three riders (Alex Lowes, Michael van der Mark, and Katsuyuki Nakasuga) kept in check the best efforts by the Kawasaki Racing Team and Red Bull Honda squads, and it wasn’t until the final stint that Alex Lowes lost track of a raging Jonathan Rea.
Another year and another Suzuka 8 Hours. This year’s edition promises to be unlike any another in recent years.
Honda and Kawasaki are ready to take a shot at Yamaha, and Suzuki is once again lurking in the background with a package that could spring a surprise.
Yamaha returns as the four-time defending champion, with an unchanged lineup on the #21 Yamaha Factory Racing Team machine.
Katsuyuki Nakasuga missed last year’s edition after a crash ruled him out of the race, but the Japanese star is back in action this year and feeling confident. Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark split the duties last year and return this year, but there’s been changes to the R1 for this year’s race.