SCOOP Yamaha’s plans for an 850cc, 115bhp Adventure bike.
Yamaha is working on an all-new big 900cc triple cylinder off-roader to take on the likes of Triumph’s Tiger range, BMW’s GS and Honda’s new-for-2016 Africa Twin.
That’s the news from factory insiders who say that recent rumours about the 998cc triple cylinder engine (the motor used in the firm’s YXZ1000R side-by-side off-roader buggy thing that we scooped a couple of months ago) being used to power a big off-roader to replace the ageing Tenere in the model range are not true.
That motor in the sand buggy is a 110bhp, 998cc triple powering a belt-drive and revs to 10,500 and whilst it might make some sense to use that motor in a large capacity bike designed for the rough stuff, we’ve been told that Yamaha bosses ARE seriously looking at using the already popular 115bhp, 87.5Nm, 850cc triple that powers the MT-09 in a pukka off-roader that’s road legal.
If this is true then that’s a similar outlook on the class as Honda has with its new-for-next-year Africa Twin. That bike is a 98bhp motorcycle that favours a slim layout and big-clearance suspension over unusable power and lots of weight high up – something which has been commonplace in the big adventure bikes with off-road leanings over the past couple of years.