I predict this automatic to be the prototypical motorbike that will soon obsolete such manual transmission bikes as the Honda Wave much like digital photography did to film.  But whereas the up and coming Nouvo SX is destined to be Yamaha's flagship model in the small underbone class of Motorbikes that are often called motorscooters it's going to be this utilitarian 2 wheeled vehicle for the masses that's going to seal the demise of the chain driven Honda Waves and Yamaha Sparks as we know them today.  If you are going to ask me why this hasn't happened already, the two reasons I can come up with are 1.  Perceived superior reliability for the manual versus the automatics, 2.  Lower  initial purchase cost of the manuals versus the autos, and 3.  Clearly superior fuel economy of the manuals

Enough years have gone by to settle the reliability issue in favor of the automatics which have no chains to keep in adjustment, oil or replace every 10,000 kilometers or so.  Both Yamaha and Honda recommend drive belt replacements at 25,000 kilometers and it costs just 900 baht to replace one.  I've still got under 10,000 kilometers on my Yamaha Nouvo Elegance and I've had it over 3 years now.  A good friend of mine drives his much more often than me, and he's got over 27,000 kilometers on his 4 year old Nouvo Elegance.  He's finally thinking of either replacing his drive belt or trading for the new fuel injected Nouvo.  Let's see, that comes down to about $7.50 per year cost in drive belts.  That's peanuts, especially considering that you never have to adjust the belt or even look at it.  As for me, I've finally put some really serious money into my Nouvo Elegance.  I've replaced the spark plug, a rear brake pad for around 200 baht, and the battery for another 400 baht or so which is about $13.20 U.S.  Down the road a bit I expect to replace both the front and rear tire and that should run around $30.00 total.  Then again, I'd have to be doing the same on a Honda Wave or the equivalent.  

The TTX does not begin to compare to a Yamaha Nouvo for under the seat storage. 

But I suppose something has to give here.After all, the Elegance weights all of 111 kilograms which comes out to around 244 pounds to the TTX's 99 kilograms or 218 pounds.

 kilometers to the liter compared to 55.75) so it's going to fall quite a bit behind the TTX when it comes down to how far you can travel between tank refills.  The SX is going to have a much more comfortable seat and with its larger 16 inch diameter tires is going to be much more stable at higher speeds.  But for the smaller framed Asian driver who is not so much preoccupied with style (the Fiore and Nouvo SX get the nod here, this model's going to offer the most bang for the buck. 

But the TTX has the same gasoline tank capacity of the Elegance which is 4.8 liters.  Yamaha claims 55.75 kilometers per liter for the TTX and that means a whopping 268 kilometers to the tank which comes out to 131 miles to the gallon.  Now, I don't know what a Honda Wave is going to get but I seriously doubt it's going to beat this figure by much if at all.

This bike offers 14 inch wheels 14 inch 70/90 tires in the front and 14 inch 100/70 in the rear while lagging seriously behind the Nouvo Elegance for under the seat storage.  The Italian inspired Fiore offers a great deal more storage than this model under the seat but it lacks the fuel tank capacity of the TTX while suffering from a 10 percentage fuel economy hit (51