Yamaha reveals Tokyo concepts

Yamaha has unveiled several of the concept bikes that will be shown at this month's Tokyo Motor Show (27 October) and the overwhelming theme is hybrid or alternative powerplants.

Without doubt the wildest looking effort is the four-wheeled Tesseract, which boasts a V-twin engine mated to electric powerplants in the rear hubs. 

It leans like a motorcycle and can be locked upright for parking.

Another model employing a mix of petrol and electric power is the low-slung LuxAIR (shown in yellow), which seems to be a follow-up on the Gen-Ryu concept shown two years ago.

It's more or less a cross between a bike and a scooter. The company explains: "Yamaha's super-thin YIPU (Yamaha Intelligent Power Unit) is built into the rear hub to provide the electric power assist during acceleration and when wheeling the vehicle by hand, and it also provides a reverse function. In a collaboration with Yamaha Corp (music) this model also mounts a special audio system."

Expect to see the YIPU in a lot of development models over coming years.

The firm is also showing numerous scooter concepts, including a fold-up effort for city dwellers, a hydrogen fuel-cell equipped machine and another employing a methanol-water solution as a fuel.

In what we suspect is a first, Yamaha is doing a preview of its Tokyo  stand via the website Second Life (www.secondlife.com)

There it has built a virtual show stand in the Tokyo sector, featuring 17 models, to be unveiled on 24 October.