Yamaha Niken

Mossy is still enjoying the Niken. But seeing it as others do has tainted his love.

If there’s one thing a bike must do to win my affections over a longer-term, it’s serve me well as a mode of transport. Ok, it’s got to offer a means of getting me to where I want to go in a class appreciably higher than ‘standard’. But unless I can head off to a relatively distant destination at short notice, able to rely on all journeys being reasonably speedy, comfortable, stress-free and enjoyable, then I’m not going to find a machine too endearing. I might well love the thrills of riding bikes such as the incredible new Ducati Panigale V4. Yet as any real admiration for them can only occur when and if everything fits into place, a bond with them over a longer-term just isn’t likely. The Niken, on the other hand, is a bike I’m approving of more and more often for everyday duties.

This was underlined when I recently arranged attending to some business over the course of three days and rides totalling 580 miles. The fact that I knew I could depend on the Yamaha to fulfil the role said everything I needed to know about it.