After everyone else at work masterfully dodged testing the TMax for the weekend, I now know why scooter riders wear openface helmets. It’s so that they can aptly and loudly inform the operators of cars what they think of their driving skills. It’s so they can snarl at them and try to ascertain why they insist on trying to kill the rider every time they take to the road.
No more than three minutes after I had set out on a five-minute journey to move the scooter up the road in Sydney’s CBD did I find this out when a cab driver decided that he needed the space I was in more than I did. With a full-face, I found it quite difficult to explain to him that he was incorrect in his assumption that I didn’t need that space.
As motorcyclists, we all know that you’re somewhat emasculated as soon as you are on a scooter and the TMax is no different. With a 500cc engine in it, though, it does a pretty decent job of hauling you from the traffic lights but is still small enough to fit between almost everything else. And by God it’s comfortable — you could sit on the thing for all eternity and only need to shift your weight every now and again. Plus, for 2008, Yamaha has updated the brakes to monobloc calipers which did a fine job of hauling it to a stop in a prompt fashion.
I was particularly unimpressed with the screen mounted to the TMax. Up to 50km/h it was fine, so dawdling around the city is no concern. However, take it up to 60km/h and over and it’s as if someone has attached big rockets to the side of your helmet which don’t make you go any faster. I’m over 180cm tall and it was loud to the point of hurting.
Moving my head up and down a foot or so fixed the problem but I was either stretched or cramped in an uncomfortable position after 30 seconds.
All in all, the TMax is a perfectly sufficient mode of transport. It will not move your soul or make you stand up on the seat and scream at the top of your lungs, but it will get you to where you want to go cheaply, reliably and comfortably — only if you’re a foot taller or shorter than I am.
