Motorcycles and scooters have been on different planets ever since the days of the Mods and Rockers four decades ago. No self-respecting biker would be seen dead on a single-speeder and the same parents who’ll happily buy their a daughter a scooter to commute to college would freak out if she wanted a motorcycle.
Now Yamaha, which led the way with the 250cc Majestic in 1994, has tried to combine the best features of the two genres in the 500cc T-Max by endowing it with a number of big-bike features.
It hasn’t worked; the result is still a scooter – but what a scooter!
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The T-Max is powered by a 499cc parallel flat twin four-stroke motor with its crank laid out at 360 degrees, British style, for a better idle and more bottom end grunt. The DOHC cylinder-head has four valves per cylinder and breathes through a pair of CV carbs with automatic chokes for hassle-free old starting.
It's still a scooter - but what a scooter! The motor’s inherent vibration has been tamed by a horizontally opposed reciprocating aluminium counterweight to allow the motor to be mounted rigidly in the tubular “diamond” frame as a stressed member.
The long-stroke motor is rated at 29.4kW, at the expense of a modest 7000rpm, while peak torque of 45.8Nm comes up at 5500. That’s enough to push the 197kg T-Max up to 173km/h and it’ll do the standing quarter in just over 13 seconds (which is better than any standard Harley-Davidson except the new V-Rod).
In this respect the CVT transmission is better than a conventional gearbox. You slam the throttle against the stop, the wet multiplate centrifugal clutch takes up early and the T-Max rapidly pulls up to its torque peak – then the motor stays there while the constantly variable belt mechanism adjusts to match road speed.
The big yellow scoot comes off the line deceptively gently but within seconds it’s exceeding the national speed limit.
This thing's faster than some middleweight street bikes.
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