Tmax mk4 impressions

[MrGrumpy]

I thought I'd record my impressions of the mk4 Tmax - not that I've ridden it a huge amount given the dreadful weather - I've done a couple of hundred miles, but haven't done a long run yet.

Styling – although I thought the mk3 was designed to be rather more sporty than the mk2, the mk3 was actually quite elegantly designed, prettier than the mk1/2 with lots of intricate styling touches. Yamaha appear to have changed direction with the mk4 as it looks much more butch especially in black, and all the stylish details have vanished, though the rear lights are quite highly styled in a sort of sci-fi movie spaceship kind of way. I was worried that the more scanty fashion victim number plate bracket would let the rear end be covered in road mud, but it seems fine. Overall, Yamaha seem to have wanted more of a street fighter look. Quite impressive but not pretty. My Kawasaki ZX6R owning neighbour reckons it looks 'more like a bike' !

Performance – obviously most of Yamaha's efforts have been in the engine & transmission, and you can tell that most of the difference is in extra torque rather than outright power. The big difference comes when you go to overtake someone doing 40 – you twist the throttle and it surges forward. Yamaha say they have redesigned the variator, and I was half expecting it to be like an after market variator which lets the bike rev more. However, it doesn't work like that at all. When you twist the throttle, the revs don't rise much and it surges forward like a diesel engine, and feels very unlike a normal CVT. Only filled up with petrol once so far and got 53.4mpg which isn't bad for me and the very cold weather

Screen – Tmax screens have never been great, and I found the mk3 screen utterly appallingly noisy and turbulent. Fortunately the mk4 screen is somewhat better. Its actually quite protective (in the upper position at least) and tolerably quiet. Raising the screen to to its higher position gives you quite a lot of protection (and its warmer), though its no quieter. I haven't been on a M-way yet, but I think its more protective than the BMW C600 screen, but slightly noisier. Noise wise, its OK, but not as quiet as my mk3 screen with the Laminar Lip. Doesn't seem at at all turbulent though - maybe 'cos it has a slot for air to flow under the screen.

Mirrors – I loved the small but elegant mirrors on the mk3, but Yamaha threw them away for the mk4. They clearly decided to mount them lower down, but this means they stick out a long long way. Yamaha realised this and they cleverly fold away both forward and backward, but they still seem to get in the way when manhandling the bike in confined spaces. Vision out of them is OK, assuming you haven't knocked them out of position, or forgot to fold them back into position!

Riding position – subtle changes again here! I always found the mk3's riding position felt slightly odd everytime I got on (low bars, high foot board), but never uncomfortable, though I found there to be less legroom than on the mk1/2. However, they have done something clever to this model. They seem to have found the extra leg room again, so much so that I seem to have more legroom on the mk4 with the backrest fully forward than I did on the mk3 with the backrest further back! I think the bars are slightly closer to you than before, and maybe very slightly higher.

Instruments – the new instrument display works quite well, though most of the displays on the LCD multifunction display could be a bit bigger. Nice to have a rev counter you can read again, unlike tiny slot graphic on the mk3! Also nice to have an ambient temperature gauge now as well, and I must check the fuel consumption readings out as well!

Exhaust – they've changed the sound a bit I think – a bit deeper, a bit more like the mk2, and a less harsh sound than the mk3.

The riding experience – on my first ride, I was surprised how different it felt to the mk3, and that it felt quite like the BMW C600! However, on subsequent rides it does feel more like the mk3. There is still a hint of BMW though – it has the same nice taut feeling from the suspension that the BMW had. I think they've modded the rear shock as well – the ride is still firm, but it does seem to be a bit more compliant and less bouncy over bumps. Given the crap road conditions, I haven't explored the handling yet, but it still feels very fluid.

So overall, I likened the change from the mk2 to the mk3 to be like going from Sports-Touring to Sports. My overall impression of the mk4 is that whilst the styling has been toughened up, the general riding experience has actually gone back to a slightly softer mk2-like sports touring style, with more room and slightly better ride. Overall, I think it is a general improvement in most areas over the mk3. On the down side, the extra torque is very nice, but I'd still love more outright power....and the mirrors are silly!

btw do you think I'm the first person in the UK to have owned a mk1, mk2, mk3 AND mk4 Tmax??

[VOZZA]

Nice report Mr. G very interesting, thanks for that.

[R1K SU]

Thanks

[MjW]

That was a nice read, thanks for the impressions.


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[iang]

Nice review...thanks

[maxine500]

ALL mks!!! Impressive!! Can't wait Til the weather clears and we get your handling feedback. Cheers Mr.G!

[tmaxrobbo]

Nice write up , thanks for that . Still thinking of the change

[MrGrumpy]

Nice write up , thanks for that . Still thinking of the change

Well...there are improvements in most areas. I guess you could say that its a better Tmax, but still a Tmax...maybe Yamaha's marketing people were actually bang on to say 'More TMax than ever' !!

[Jedburgh]

Nice write up Mr Grumpy, I think I pretty much agree with all of that after about 1400 miles on mine. As for the handling, my mk3 and mk4 are very confidence inspiring but I found the mk3 understeered a lot when two up which meant a fair bit of weaving at slow speeds in town, but on my own it was fine. With the 530 the weight seems to have been brought forward thus improving the situation no end - deep joy. It's dead stable at very low speeds but picks up speed briskly till it starts to run out of legs at about 90 where there is about another 10mph to go, but more importantly the roll on speed is good anywhere in the rev range before that, just grab a load of throttle and away she goes. This is more evident out of town where you can really hustle it along, I'm more confident on the TMAX than probably any of my old bikes except my FZ1S Fazer which was particularly good. Finally the brakes, nice and progressive and well up the job as you would expect as I think their off the R6.

[maxine500]

That 530 sound good hey!