Modern Vespa

Not sure if you all follow the Tour de France (I think Pogacar may win it in the Pyrenees, the time trial will be too close to make a difference), but never mind...

Of course Yamaha with the Niken is a major sponsor, but it is interesting to see how *many* of them there are. I thought I saw some MP3s a few years ago, but now it seems it is only Nikens and some big tourers.

I still have to yet see a live Niken on California roads.

I've seen a few around the San Jose area.

Was driving through Los Gatos when I saw one in one the stalls at the large car wash there. Wasn't able to pull around for another look but there is only one bike that looks like it.

Saw another at Alice's and got a photo of my Mp3 with it back in July 2021. Its a huge bike. Easily half again as big as the Mp3 and wider by a fair amount. Looks like an angry bug.

Have seen maybe two others but its a rare bike. Rarer still than the Mp3 in our area.

The Niken has been a HUGE flop for Yamaha, and hence the reason why it is no longer available new.

IIRC, 2021 was the last model year.

Oh I didn't know that. Still shows up on the US Yamaha website as a current model. Weird that Yamaha promotes it in the Tour De France.

Yes, it is true they still list it on their websites. However, what is listed has not been changed since 2019 and I did read somewhere that Yamaha is overstocked on Nikens with dealers not willing to take any more since they know it is a perennial slow seller.

In other words, if you buy a "brand new" Niken today dollars to donuts it is old inventory that was made in 2021 or prior.

When I looked at a Niken GT last year, it had been sitting on the dealer floor for 2 solid years with zero clicks on the meter. And I would have bought it, but the dealer wanted full list which pretty much killed the deal. And guess what, a year later it is still collecting dust at that same dealer with zero clicks.

In hindsight, I'm happy I didn't get the Niken since the tank is still a bit on the small side while the Honda's V4 I got is super frugal and gets 300 miles to a tank and has better storage.

This is the Japanese web site where I saw the Niken was no longer being made

https://www.batfa.com/new-motorcycle/yamaha/niken.htm

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/bike-reviews/yamaha/niken/2019/#:~:text=As%20Yamaha%20has%20discontinued%20the,%2415%2C000%20Cdn%20out%20the%20door.

With one more mountain stage to go I think it's Vingegaard's race to lose.

I had hopes on Geraint Thomas winning again. Although he is an exceptional time trialist, making up his defect on the race leader of 4m 56sec on Saturdays 40k circuit is going to be almost impossible.

It's still going to be an entertaining last 3 days.

Yeah Vingegaard has definitely proven his mettle and resilience. In his form no one will beat him in the remaining time trial by that much time, and we know that the last day is just for show. Pogacar's solo attacks against the yellow jersey have been epic to follow. Awesome tour!

Agreed. I'm loving this new Jumbo-Visma era. Wout van Aert is brilliant to watch, he just attacks for the hell of it. The dominant years of the Sky team got a bit predictable and boring, constantly shutting down the peloton to control the race. No wonder there was so much vitriol against them amongst the fans.