Yamaha Motor Co has announced today that it has developed the TY-E electric trial bike and will be competing for the first time in the 2018 FIM Trial-E Cup with scheduled appearances at the Auron in France (July 14-15), and the Comblain au Pont in Belgium (July 21-22). 

Kenichi Kuroyama — who is currently competing in the IA Super class of the All Japan Trial Championship — will represent the Yamaha Factory Racing Team. The TY-E will also be on display at the Yamaha Motor booth in this year’s Tokyo Motorcycle Show, being held at the Tokyo Big Sight from today.  

The TY-E is an advanced development which has come about from the company’s ‘Evolving R&D’ activities. The ‘Evolving R&D’ uses 5 percent of its working hours at the research and development division, and at the discretion of its staff, is used as an opportunity to provide voluntary and autonomous activities for creating innovation while not being bound by conventional frameworks. Yamaha staffers focused on a trial model for competition and worked on its development to help overcome EV development problems such as high output from small sized and lightweight components, and the ease of riding that responds as the rider would intend. 

The TY-E’s key features include:

- A high rotation type compact high-power motor that achieves high off-road performance with both powerful low speed torque and extended acceleration,

- Motor control technology that achieves an excellent response and a power feeling from extremely low to high speed ranges,

- A power unit equipped with a mechanical clutch that secures instantaneous power and control, and an electric motor and optimized flywheel that realizes excellent traction performance,

- High-output of a newly designed compact high-output battery pack with compact and lightweight components,

- A CFRP monocoque frame that is at the lightest possible weight, while securing optimal rigidity and battery storage space, and

- Extreme slim styling that does not interfere with dynamic rider action.