Having two front wheels
leaning into corners
enables more stability
while retaining the nimble
handling characteristics
of a motorcycle
IS IT A MOTORCYCLE?
t s a definitely a motorcycle in all its
dynamics. ne that s
cc-fast and gri s
the road like its front tyres are made out
of blue-tack. amaha
did the right thing
when it re uested that the ew ealand
rans ort gency classify the iken as
a motorcycle, instead of mounting front
number lates on it so that it could be
registered as a car as with the ricity
scooter-commuter .
lthough we were given the choice of
classifying the iken as a car, we chose to
have it listed by the
as a motorcycle
because it was the res onsible thing to do,
says amaha ew ealand general manager,
lan etrie.
amaha first began e erimenting with
eaning ulti- heel designs back in
the
s, says akahashi aieda, the
lead engineer in the develo ment of the
iken and now the managing director of
amaha otor ustralia. hen an early
44 KIWI RIDER
su ers ort-based rototy e validated the
advantages of the technology, the amaha
board a roved more investment in the
develo ment of
s. t was a brave
decision given that the
lobal
inancial risis was taking bear-si ed bites
out of the world economy at the time.
Having two front wheels leaning into
corners enables more stability while
retaining the nimble handling characteristics
of a motorcycle.
cannot confirm that a
is safer than
a motorcycle in all situations, but it definitely
is safer in several situations.
he ricity
was the long-awaited
blossom that first resulted from the
ro ect and it has been a huge success,
es ecially in uro e. aieda s team then
looked at other
a lications besides
commuting. nter the iken to take
s in
a more athletic and s orty direction.