Electric Pete
New Member
I find it rather strange that nobody else has done this yet, and the last post was 10 July!!
The truck with all the present Yamaha goodness showed up on 12 July. Of course I was excited to get them. I had been anticipating this moment since last fall at Interbike, and figured Yamaha lost interest when I didn't get any contact until April, and then nothing more until June!
Myself and two others took out the three models to do some photos and get an idea about the ride. The bikes looked incredible and they rode as expected.
Cross Connect- well done and easy to assemble with no surprise leftover parts. The sneaky packers at Yamaha do their best to hide the headlight bolt. I found all but one in my assembling. Putting the three sizes side by side shows real differences. Its easy to pick out each size easily even if they arent together. SO far I already had a customer needing an XL. He sat on the L bike and found it too small. The bike switches on quickly and is ready to go almost immediately, unlike other brands where you have to wait for a boot-up sequence. The bike ALWAYS boots up in no assist mode. Pressing the up button you get two eco settings that illuminate a green light bar at the top of the display. The two higher settings have a blue light. The up-down buttons are large and easy to use and wont be a problem when the weather gets colder and you are wearing gloves.
The ride is smooth. You almost cant tell you are under assist, its THAT smooth. As you shift through the gears and gain speed you soon find out a quirk- Assist only goes to 19 and not 20! The bike feels light and manueverable and not like its almost 50 pounds.
The headlight has a good beam that is useful when it gets dark. The taillight is in the back edge of the rack and not on the lower fender where the reflector sits. An easy button press lights up these lights as well as the display.
Cross Core- Same as the connect, only it has cable disk brakes instead of hydraulic. No rack means you dont get a taillight either, but I'm sure many people will just get a rack when they are available, as well as a kickstand that also gets left off for your $2300 price.
Urban Rush- I'm not a big drop bar fan, but I had to see just what this bike was like so I took it on a critical mass ride just to test it on some crappy roads and ride more than a few miles. No surprises. It also performed well and the brifters were easy to use and worked with precision. When I did the short test ride earlier, I had brushed my leg against the rear caliper and almost got a nice burn, so be careful of that. It wasnt until later that I realized a BIG plus about this bike that I didnt notice while riding. Most aluminum drop bar bikes are very jarring over bumps and my arms get a lot of abuse because of that. I'm not sure if its the tires/fork/frame, or a combination of all of them that make this bike a surprisingly compliant ride even though it has a solid front fork! My arms had no after effects despite navigating through the potholed streets of Cleveland, OH.
Like the Core, the rush also has a headlight, and no taillight.... and you guessed it, no kickstand either! Luckily Yamaha does have the bosses on the frame for the stand, and of course all the dealers want them, but they arent available yet. I'm going to get some from another manufacturer who will have them before Yamaha just so these bikes can stand by themselves. I'm sure customers wont mind an small extra fee for a kickstand.
I'll add some pics later if you folks want them.
Later is also the answer for "when is the TORC coming?"
-Pete
The truck with all the present Yamaha goodness showed up on 12 July. Of course I was excited to get them. I had been anticipating this moment since last fall at Interbike, and figured Yamaha lost interest when I didn't get any contact until April, and then nothing more until June!
Myself and two others took out the three models to do some photos and get an idea about the ride. The bikes looked incredible and they rode as expected.
Cross Connect- well done and easy to assemble with no surprise leftover parts. The sneaky packers at Yamaha do their best to hide the headlight bolt. I found all but one in my assembling. Putting the three sizes side by side shows real differences. Its easy to pick out each size easily even if they arent together. SO far I already had a customer needing an XL. He sat on the L bike and found it too small. The bike switches on quickly and is ready to go almost immediately, unlike other brands where you have to wait for a boot-up sequence. The bike ALWAYS boots up in no assist mode. Pressing the up button you get two eco settings that illuminate a green light bar at the top of the display. The two higher settings have a blue light. The up-down buttons are large and easy to use and wont be a problem when the weather gets colder and you are wearing gloves.
The ride is smooth. You almost cant tell you are under assist, its THAT smooth. As you shift through the gears and gain speed you soon find out a quirk- Assist only goes to 19 and not 20! The bike feels light and manueverable and not like its almost 50 pounds.
The headlight has a good beam that is useful when it gets dark. The taillight is in the back edge of the rack and not on the lower fender where the reflector sits. An easy button press lights up these lights as well as the display.
Cross Core- Same as the connect, only it has cable disk brakes instead of hydraulic. No rack means you dont get a taillight either, but I'm sure many people will just get a rack when they are available, as well as a kickstand that also gets left off for your $2300 price.
Urban Rush- I'm not a big drop bar fan, but I had to see just what this bike was like so I took it on a critical mass ride just to test it on some crappy roads and ride more than a few miles. No surprises. It also performed well and the brifters were easy to use and worked with precision. When I did the short test ride earlier, I had brushed my leg against the rear caliper and almost got a nice burn, so be careful of that. It wasnt until later that I realized a BIG plus about this bike that I didnt notice while riding. Most aluminum drop bar bikes are very jarring over bumps and my arms get a lot of abuse because of that. I'm not sure if its the tires/fork/frame, or a combination of all of them that make this bike a surprisingly compliant ride even though it has a solid front fork! My arms had no after effects despite navigating through the potholed streets of Cleveland, OH.
Like the Core, the rush also has a headlight, and no taillight.... and you guessed it, no kickstand either! Luckily Yamaha does have the bosses on the frame for the stand, and of course all the dealers want them, but they arent available yet. I'm going to get some from another manufacturer who will have them before Yamaha just so these bikes can stand by themselves. I'm sure customers wont mind an small extra fee for a kickstand.
I'll add some pics later if you folks want them.
Later is also the answer for "when is the TORC coming?"
-Pete
