Yamaha’s Three New E-Bikes

Yamaha has been in the e-bike game since their first prototype e-bike in 1989. By 1993, they were selling a production electric bicycle in Japan. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, they kept innovating and refining the motors and systems. In 2013, they introduced the PWseries motors, which started showing up on OEM brands like Haibike.

Yamaha first launched their own e-bikes in the U.S. market in 2017, starting with four bikes: the Cross Core, the Cross Connect, the Urban Rush and the YDX-Torc. Most of these bikes are aimed at entry-level riders, with good value at good price points. They’ve since added a gravel bike, the Wabash.

For 2020, they’ve added three new bikes to their stable: the Civante road bike, and the YDX-Moro and YDX-Moro Pro full-suspension mountain bikes.

CIVANTE

The Civante is a drop-bar bike, but unlike their other models, this one provides pedal assist up to 28 mph. This is a trend we’re seeing in road e-bikes, and we like it! It makes so much sense to have a Class 3 motor for the road, as this is legal in most places with bike paths and allows riders to cruise at 25–26 mph easily. 

It uses a PWseries SE motor that’s set up to go to 28 mph, with 70 N/m of maximum torque and cadence support up to 110 rpm. The 500-Wh battery recharges using a high-speed charger to get from zero to 80 percent in an hour. It has an aluminum frame and fork, an integrated front headlight and wiring for Yamaha’s rear rack with an integrated taillight, as well as rack and fender mount kits. 

It comes in any color you want, as long as that color is Polar White. Price is a svelte $3399.

YDX-MORO

Yamaha has been teasing a full-suspension e-mountain bike for a while now, and finally they’ve announced the arrival of the YDX-Moro and YDX-Moro Pro. YDX stands for “Yamaha Dirt Experience,” and the “Moro” part of the name comes from a mountain range in Japan that has some really aggressive trails.

Both bikes feature a unique, patent-pending dual-twin frame that splits the top tube for mounting the rear suspension and the downtube for mounting the battery, allowing for a lower center of gravity, lower standover height and better traction throughout.

The motor is Yamaha’s latest PW-X2 which is mounted in-line with the downtube to provide a stiffer frame and shorter rear-center measurement. The motor itself has several improvements over the original PWX. The five power modes include Eco, Standard, High, a new MTB mode and EXPW (full power). All modes get you to 20 mph and provide assist up to 120 rpm, except EXPW has been tweaked to allow assistance at up to 170 rpm. It sounds ridiculous, because who would ever spin that fast? The truth is, they did this to provide better support at middle-to-high rpm (90–120) to help with really steep, technical climbs. The motor also has a new helical gear design to help reduce noise.

The PW-X2 system, which already had sensors for torque, cadence and wheel speed, now also has an angle sensor to provide more accurate output for given conditions. The new automatic mode will seamlessly switch assist levels from Eco to High to let riders concentrate on riding, which may have the side benefit of providing longer range.

The YDX-Moro is available in Desert Yellow and the YDX-Moro Pro is available in Podium Blue/Nickel.

The price for the YDX-Moro is $4499, and the price for the YDX-Moro Pro is $5499.

www.yamahabicycles.com

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