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!
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.
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. With
most scooters you crack the twist-grip wide open when the lights
change and hold it there until the next time you have to stop,
but this one has to be ridden on the throttle like a bike – or
you’ll get into a lot of trouble.
The T-Max is fitted with a curved, sports-style radiator and an
oil-cooler – Yamaha is obviously in earnest about this one.
The clutch has been set to release a little late so this iis the
first scooter IOL has reviewed with a modicum of engine braking.
Conventional scooter design has the engine and transmission
pivoting as a unit so they actually form the rear suspension, a
practice that leads to high unsprung weight and shortcomings in
handling.
The T-Max has its motor and belt drive rigidly mounted in the
frame; final drive is by an enclosed chain running inside one
arm of an otherwise standard cast-alloy motorcycle swing-arm.
The suspension is entrusted to a horizontal pull rod-operated
shock absorber, as used on Buells and other interesting
motorcycles.
The front suspension is also well up to motorcycle standards:
38mm conventional cartridge forks, wheels that are 14" in
diameter and shod with serious rubber - 120/70 in front and
150/70 in back, the same widths as my 750cc sport bike.
Braking is taken care of by a single disc at both ends, 282mm in
front and 267mm at the rear, both gripped by twin-piston
floating callipers.
They’re sharp enough to demand respect, especially in the wet;
the first half of this review was done in continuous rain and I
was constantly aware that if the quarter-ton T-Max got slidey I
wouldn’t be able to hold it.
It’s a tribute to the feel and feedback from the brakes that I
was able to proceed safely on streaming wet roads, apart from
one brief rear-wheel slide under hard braking. Just remember to
use both brakes together; scooters are designed to stop like
that.
The motor is mounted well forward, which is why the centre well
of the body is shallower than is really comfortable (after the
first day I gave up and just swung my leg over the seat like it
was a motorcycle) but this gives it a 47% front, 53% rear weight
distribution, far closer to the ideal 50/50 set-up for a hot
street-bike than the rear-biased balance of a conventional
scooter.
With a truck-like 1575mm wheel-base, it’s not going to turn in
like an R6 but the steering is reassuringly accurate and there’s
sufficient ground clearance to keep up surprising average
velocities through my favourite twisties.
The T-Max is surprisingly stable thanks to the bigger-than-usual
wheels. I managed to provoke a long slow wallow on one very fast
bend, mostly due to rear shock fade, but that was with the scoot
close to flat out on bumpy tarmac after a long hard run; on a
good surface the T-Max is rock steady up to its maximum.
The brightly coloured bodywork is remarkably wide, even for a
scooter, and the front end has clearly been styled to resemble
the R1/R6 series of sport bikes. The curved silver sections on
the sides are meant to resemble the twin-spar aluminium frames
of modern bikes but up close they are obviously plastic.
The rest of the appointments are luxurious and practical; the
seat is wide, flat and very comfortable, except that the sheer
bulk of the bike makes it difficult to get your feet flat on the
floor at a standstill unless you slide forward on the seat
before you stop, which looks a little undignified.
The fuel-tank filler cap is in the left legshield, as is the
little cubbyhole, just right for keys and toll-gate change. The
fuel tank holds 14 litres, good enough for a week’s commuting or
a 150km two-up ride on Sunday morning.
Turn the ignition key the wrong way (i.e. to the left) and the
seat latch is released; the seat sighs up gently on two gas
struts to reveal a lined, 33-litre storage compartment, complete
with courtesy light - big enough to take a full-face helmet and
a B4 size briefcase.
Yamaha says it is targeting three distinct markets with this
uberscooter: firstly it is designed to attract riders of current
large scooters who are looking for more performance than is
normally available in a single-speeder. Until now, that has
meant moving to an orthodox motorcycle; now they can access
serious power whilst retaining the convenience of inboard
storage and automatic transmission.
Secondly, the company is hoping to surprise and impress riders
of middleweight street bikes with the comfort, convenience and
weather protection offered by scooter bodywork without
compromising performance – this thing is faster than a lot of
midweight commuters.
Finally, Yamaha is looking to bring into the mix new riders, car
drivers and born-again bikers who demand a certain level of
competence and luxury no matter how many wheels their executive
carriage might have.
The T-Max has the luxury and the power package is competent
enough to have me grinning a lot of the time – that is how it
got it’s nickname: the high-voltage sofa.
