Yamaha

This year marks 30 years since Yamaha Motor launched the "world's first electrically power-assisted bicycle." The company celebrated in style last month with a special-edition eMTB, and is now keeping the party going with its lightest drive unit.

Yamaha is marking the 30th anniversary of the first bicycle to offer riders assistance from a battery powered electric motor with the launch of a limited special edition of the premium YDX-Moro 07 eMTB.

Yamaha has tapped into the spirit of its low-power combustion-engine scooters for the funky design of a pair of U-framed urban electric rides called the Booster Easy ebike and Booster S-pedelec electric moped.

Following the development and rollout of a "big hole" hybrid three-wheeled scooter for police and emergency services, UK-based R&D outfit White Motorcycle Concepts has teamed up with Mahle Powertrain to produce a fully electric version.

Yamaha has been making ebikes since 1993, but didn't launch its first dual-suspension eMTB until mid-2020. Now the company has added a couple of new models to the premium YDX-Moro range, each powered by its latest "game-changing power plant."

Yamaha has introduced an upgraded version of its Fazer R G2 unmanned helicopter, or drone, equipping it with more thrust and greater payload capacity to make it more suitable for carrying out aerial deliveries.

As well as producing motorcycles and audio gear, Yamaha is also home to a think tank where design ideas from across the company can be shared, and the latest concept is aimed at making smartphone-based music listening a little more interesting.

Yamaha is sending a motocross racing team into battle this year equipped with prototype power steering systems that also act as steering dampers. It might look crazy at first glance, but there's fascinating implications for future motorcycle design.

Yamaha has now followed the launch of the TY-E electric trials bike in 2018 with a 2nd-gen prototype, which has been designed to offer riders more fun than they can have on the two-stroke machines typically seen – and heard – in trials events.

Electric scooters offer an economical, eco-friendly way for city folk to zip through the streets without having to pump away at ebike pedals, and Yamaha has just launched its first "50-cc equivalent" model for the European market – the 2022 Neo's, complete with annoying apostrophe.

After notching up over two million ebike sales in Japan, the Yamaha Motor Group finally rode into the US market in 2017. Now the company is launching two new Class 3 ebikes in the US, a drop-bar gravel bike and a hybrid fitness/commuter model.

Each January the Las Vegas motorcycle auctions set the tone for the entire auction year. This year there was only one – Mecum – but it will be the biggest and most important motorcycle auction of 2022, with the most evident trends. Here's what we learned.