Yamaha 04GEN concept

9th April 2016

Concept scooter | Refined Dynamism | Vietnam

◄PREVIOUS STORY                     NEXT STORY►

Yamaha calls this new concept scooter 04GEN. It's part of the firm's current fascination with creating new ways of thinking about new materials coupled with re-inventing various transport modes. In Yamaha-speak, we're talking about its "Refined Dynamism" philosophy.

01GEN is a futuristic three-wheeler. 02GEN is a new take on the wheelchair. 03GEN-f and 03GEN-x are the Tricity-based three-wheelers, the former having been recently revealed at the Bangkok International Motorcycle Show in Thailand.

Meanwhile, the 04GEN concept featured here has just been unveiled at the first ever Vietnam Motorcycle Show which took place in Ho Chi Minh City.

There are very few technical details. Yamaha has instead stuffed its press release with hyperbole and meaningless designer gobbledegook. But we can tell you that the instrument cluster has been replaced by a smartphone, the handlebar grips are leather, ditto the saddle, and the semi-transparent rear side panels hinge up like fairy wings or something to gain access to storage space. Also, from studying other images from Yamaha, it looks suspiciously like the 125cc engine and drive train from the Nozza Grande scooter currently available in Vietnam.

It's not clear if this bike is headed for production. As with all concepts, it's primarily intended as a design exercise to gauge public and press reaction whilst showcasing Yamaha's thinking.

We think it looks pretty cool, in a kinda girly, sissy, fairy sort of way. And it could also be ideal for any guys out there hoping to show off their more feminine side. We wouldn't be in the buying queue for this scooter, and probably not any scooter. But new thinking is always interesting and welcome, even if looks like this is more show than go.

What's perhaps worth keeping in mind is that with the inexorable rise of far eastern markets coupled with increased disposable incomes in Indian, Thailand, Vietnam, etc, firms such as Yamaha will perhaps be increasingly focussed on satisfying more local needs and desires at the risk of sidelining the established and relatively small markets in the west.

In other words, the Yamahas (and other oriental bikes) that are coming this way, might look substantially more oriental than occidental, meaning that we might well have a lot of adjusting to do.

Think about it sometime.

◄PREVIOUS STORY                     NEXT STORY►