T135 Development Story(Chassis Design)

Traditionally, what we call "Yamaha Handling" is outstanding handling stability that makes it easy for anyone to enjoy riding with full assurance and also, the kind of handling that responds faithfully to the will of the rider. And, of course the T135 is part of this tradition. So the T135 had a lot to live up to in the area of chassis design and lot of effort went into building a chassis for this model that met Yamaha's high standards. The adoption of liquid cooling meant that the layout had to accommodate resulting components like the radiator, and this was a first for a Yamaha moped. What's more, it had to be done without compromising the "Yamaha Handling." That set the bar very high for Mr. Toshimasa Miyabe, chassis design project chief working on the T135.

"In order to build a frame that gets a high level of rigidity while accommodating all the various functions a frame must, the easiest thing is to make it broad-boned and rugged," says Mr. Miyabe. "But, if you are a Yamaha frame designer, you want to build the lightest, slimmest frame you can. Personally, I have a very strong inclination to make everything as light as possible."A light frame is one of the essential elements of a light-handling machine. That's why the passion for lightness is in the blood of every Yamaha engineer.

It was on the T135 project that Mr. Miyabe was given the position of Project Chief for the first time. There were a lot of important decisions for him to make, like the engine position and the shape of the frame. And there were some high hurdles to clear in areas like frame weight and production cost. There was also the tough final hurdle to be cleared on the test track. Things that seemed to work well in computer simulations were shot down by Kamimura and his test riders. In the early stages of the project that was especially true.

"Sometimes the demands from the test team seemed almost impossible to satisfy," recalls Miyabe. "But we never wanted to say something couldn't be done. It is tough demands that ignite the passion of a design engineer: to tackle problems that at first seem impossible."