Yamaha Xmax 400 (2018 model)…an epic tale, and a review…
Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2020 5:36 pm
As I have finally got the necessary licence to ride this big beast (210 kg/462 lbs wet weight) this past Thursday, after buying it last May (!) I thought I'd give you all a review. But I’ll begin by telling you how and why I got it, and why it took that long after buying to get to ride it properly. Pull up a chair, it's a bit of a tale…
I'd been riding scoots with L-plates since November 2013- first a rather nasty Chinese-built 50cc I won in a competition, then once my job moved 20 miles from home (my reason for wanting to get a scoot in the first place) I got my PCX ASAP (nine days on the 50 with that daily mileage was plenty…). For those not familiar with the UK's bike rules, the Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) scheme allows riders to legally ride bikes up to 125cc and 14.75 bhp after completing a day's training on and off road. This is done by authorised motorcycle training schools, rather than by the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency centres that run full licence tests. CBT riders must have L-plates front and back, cannot carry a pillion or use motorways, and the certificate lasts two years, after which you can retake and renew (repeatedly if you wish). So, I renewed the CBT in late 2015, and then again in 2017.
By this stage I was thinking it was time I stepped up to a full licence, so I could get a more powerful bike and cut the commute time down. On that 2017 CBT course I had my first go on a geared bike, though I completed the road part on my PCX (unlike with full licences, you can at present legally ride a 125 manual with L-plates after having completed the CBT on an auto). I bought a mint Yamaha YBR 125, just like I’d ridden, to get experience with manual shifting. A great learner bike- clunky shifting, slow, sounds like a bit like a bunch of spanners in a washing machine, and tough. It'll never flatter any rider. But I still loved it. Unfortunately that bike got written off after a Land Rover Discovery pulled out in front of me on the commute the following August. I was OK apart from a bruised foot, thankfully. I then bought another Yam, a YZF R-125, which I still have at time of writing. Much nippier, much smoother shifting, sounds lovely (Akrapovic exhaust). It's lovely. Fun with a capital F.
March 2019 saw my first attempt at getting a full licence. It did not go well. Clutch control was seemingly beyond me- I'd have been dangerous on a big bike, and I couldn't complete the slow handling exercises on a YBR. I'd been OK on the road with my Yams, but 'getting by' rather than doing it correctly. All my riding went to pot, I kept making stupid and potentially dangerous mistakes because I was getting stressed, and after a couple of days my riding mojo was going AWOL. Rather than waste all the money, time and effort, I attempted the first part of the full licence test (Mod 1, off-road, which must be passed before Mod 2, the on-road test) on my PCX, and well and truly stuffed that up.
So: Manual bikes were out, at least for the foreseeable (I'd not get anywhere without an awful lot of practice time, perhaps never get the hang of it). If I wanted to ride anything bigger than a 125, I'd have to buy it because local riding schools just don't have big scooters. And the requirements for a test bike are more restrictive. A2 is anything more powerful than a 125, but less than 47 bhp (35 kW) and 0.2 kW/kg power to weight. However, for testing purposes, the bike must also be at least 395cc, and 20-35 kW. So, no 300cc bikes regardless of weight or power (even those with 40+ bhp). This is going to be changed, reports suggest, but not yet. Yes, I could have gone for one of the few suitable category A bikes (unrestricted power or power to weight) with auto or DCT, but an Africa Twin or VFR 1200, say, would have been way more awkward, much heavier, much more expensive, and I don't particularly want to go for anything that powerful, ever.
Rather than go for a cheaper, older, tattier, bike just for the course, I opted to go for something I'd keep long term. The Xmax 400 (in its 2017-on form) looked like the winner on paper. 395cc, the required power output, bit lighter than a Burgman (plus more power, and I preferred the looks). A local Yamaha dealer had a low mileage one at a good price. So I bought it, and managed to find an insurer prepared to cover me for a bike I couldn't ride without an instructor. Don't do this if you can avoid it, folks…
May 2019: first attempt at getting that A2 auto licence. Training goes swimmingly, I don't put a foot wrong, and then on the Mod 1 I touch a cone on the first exercise, the slalom. Instant fail. First of…quite a few fails. Second attempt in July. Third in August. September, I have a week off, so at the school's suggestion I do Mod 1 on the PCX, which would hopefully break the cycle and get the first step to a full licence for that bike. Because I'm legal for the PCX with L-plates, I can ride it to the test and back alone. Pass. There's a Mod 2 slot a couple of dates later. Pass. Yay! Got my commute down to half an hour or so.
However, that didn't break the cycle with the Xmax. Failed again in December. A couple of days more training in February (without being able to ride on my own, it really helped to get used to the bike again). Tried, finally, changing my riding position, sitting a bit forward. Now it was much easier for scrawny weak me to handle. Did about 30 dry runs on the Mod 1 slow manoeuvres and nailed it every time. Come test day, hit a cone on the slalom. Next attempt, I get the slalom done fine, then the figure-of-eight. On the U-turn, I go too wide, so fail. But I do the fast exercises (controlled stop, emergency stop, swerve) as practice and nail those. Failure, but the kind of failure you can feel good about. One more attempt, right at the end of February. I lose momentum and put a foot down on the figure of eight. But I get going again and complete the manoeuvre. Minor fault, not a fail. U-turn is wide again, but I end up right on the target line. A further minor. Fast exercises nailed again. I have, at long last, and after much expense, the Mod 1 (A2 automatic). All that time and money was so worth it. If I’d given up, I’d have regretted it a lot more.
On account of you know what, licence testing in the UK was of course suspended, before I could get the Mod 2 booked. In the window between the first and second national lockdowns, riding schools were mostly clearing the backlog of cancelled tests. But, a just over a week ago, I get a call. Can I do an early morning test on December 3, in Poole (50 miles away, the nearest centre with a free slot)? Hell yeah. So I’m up at 5am, on the road with my instructor at six, into the pouring rain (didn’t stop all day). And by 10.15, I have that precious bit of paper which means I can ride this bike whenever I like. Metaphorically singing in the rain. Back home and trying to dry out by 11.30, before heading off to work (2pm start) on the PCX.
All that time, money and effort was worth it, and so was the bike. I love it. Wish I could have got an Xmax 300 for the test (179 kg and much better MPG), but judging the 400 on its own merits…undoubtedly in my mind, great.
First the bad points: Principally, the weight, the weight, the weight, the MPG, and the weight. Pretty much every time I push this thing around, I need to catch my breath. Paddling it or pushing it, both are awkward and tiring. Pulling away and low speed manoeuvres are awkward for me. A PCX is so much less bother in these respects. The 400 engine is older tech than the Xmax 300’s, so it’s lower power/litre and 25-30% heavier on fuel. The 300 makes much more sense for most people, and I’d have got that but for the test bike restrictions. Lights are…OK. Headlights don’t seem as good as the PCX, they look like they illuminate the road better than the foreground. Not bad, but not great. Rear lights are superb, though.
The good stuff, OTOH…Goes like stink. On the Mod 2, I was thinking I might just fail on account of speeding, as even 30 mph feels like barely ticking over and acceleration is more than brisk. In training with other pupils on Kawasaki ER-6Fs with 75 bhp, I was easily keeping up. This thing doesn’t have the Tmax’s outright power, nor its fancy chassis…but it’s got most of the speed. 95 mph or so flat out in GPS-checked press testing.
It’s utterly stable and rock solid even in horrendous riding weather like Thursday’s. 60-70 mph sustained runs in strong winds and torrential rain, never flustered it. I had the Yamaha option tall screen fitted by the dealer (I have the original one as well), as some reviews suggested it would be a better idea for my height than the standard one. I look through it rather than over it, not always ideal, but I could ride at those speeds with the visor open for maximum visibility without discomfort.
With the bike being this heavy, the brakes have to be good. And they are. Double 267mm front discs, a single of the same size on the back. Even from 30 mph, I only need the rear brake. Very reassuring. And the ABS works rather well. On one of the Mod 1 practices my instructor wondered why I was pumping the brakes. I wasn’t- but I could hit them hard enough to trigger the anti-lock without upsetting the bike in the slightest.
Then there’s the practicality. I like the keyless system, though they should have had some lighting or florescent logos on the main switch that does all the jobs of a regular setup (ignition on/steering lock/fuel & seat opening). 43 litres under the seat, and enough room for two helmets, though mine will only fit in the rear of the two spaces. It would make a great tourer even without a top box or a rucksack for extra loads. It didn’t get any water ingress on Thursday…
MPG: Most tests suggest 65 mph or so, and after Thursday & Friday’s mileage my trip computer was showing that. However, the actual fuel usage seems to be better (180 or so miles, 10 litres to fill the tank would suggest 80 mpg) and I certainly wasn’t riding with economy in mind! If this is accurate- I’ll be more careful about noting the mileage for the next fill- then that is very good news indeed.
However, if you’re thinking of buying one…make it second hand, or wait for a bit. it’s disappeared from Yamaha UK’s product listings. The Tmax recently got bumped up to 560cc and 47 bhp. The Euro 5 regulations are currently resulting in a lot of bikes being updated, or cancelled if they can’t meet the regs. So, most likely, either here will be a new Euro5 400 with a bit more power (and hopefully less weight), or the 300 will get a bit of a CC boost and replace the 400 as well. In the meantime, this is less an overweight Xmax 300, more like a rather cheaper Tmax.
I’m rather pleased with my buy, but you guessed that already!
I'd been riding scoots with L-plates since November 2013- first a rather nasty Chinese-built 50cc I won in a competition, then once my job moved 20 miles from home (my reason for wanting to get a scoot in the first place) I got my PCX ASAP (nine days on the 50 with that daily mileage was plenty…). For those not familiar with the UK's bike rules, the Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) scheme allows riders to legally ride bikes up to 125cc and 14.75 bhp after completing a day's training on and off road. This is done by authorised motorcycle training schools, rather than by the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency centres that run full licence tests. CBT riders must have L-plates front and back, cannot carry a pillion or use motorways, and the certificate lasts two years, after which you can retake and renew (repeatedly if you wish). So, I renewed the CBT in late 2015, and then again in 2017.
By this stage I was thinking it was time I stepped up to a full licence, so I could get a more powerful bike and cut the commute time down. On that 2017 CBT course I had my first go on a geared bike, though I completed the road part on my PCX (unlike with full licences, you can at present legally ride a 125 manual with L-plates after having completed the CBT on an auto). I bought a mint Yamaha YBR 125, just like I’d ridden, to get experience with manual shifting. A great learner bike- clunky shifting, slow, sounds like a bit like a bunch of spanners in a washing machine, and tough. It'll never flatter any rider. But I still loved it. Unfortunately that bike got written off after a Land Rover Discovery pulled out in front of me on the commute the following August. I was OK apart from a bruised foot, thankfully. I then bought another Yam, a YZF R-125, which I still have at time of writing. Much nippier, much smoother shifting, sounds lovely (Akrapovic exhaust). It's lovely. Fun with a capital F.
March 2019 saw my first attempt at getting a full licence. It did not go well. Clutch control was seemingly beyond me- I'd have been dangerous on a big bike, and I couldn't complete the slow handling exercises on a YBR. I'd been OK on the road with my Yams, but 'getting by' rather than doing it correctly. All my riding went to pot, I kept making stupid and potentially dangerous mistakes because I was getting stressed, and after a couple of days my riding mojo was going AWOL. Rather than waste all the money, time and effort, I attempted the first part of the full licence test (Mod 1, off-road, which must be passed before Mod 2, the on-road test) on my PCX, and well and truly stuffed that up.
So: Manual bikes were out, at least for the foreseeable (I'd not get anywhere without an awful lot of practice time, perhaps never get the hang of it). If I wanted to ride anything bigger than a 125, I'd have to buy it because local riding schools just don't have big scooters. And the requirements for a test bike are more restrictive. A2 is anything more powerful than a 125, but less than 47 bhp (35 kW) and 0.2 kW/kg power to weight. However, for testing purposes, the bike must also be at least 395cc, and 20-35 kW. So, no 300cc bikes regardless of weight or power (even those with 40+ bhp). This is going to be changed, reports suggest, but not yet. Yes, I could have gone for one of the few suitable category A bikes (unrestricted power or power to weight) with auto or DCT, but an Africa Twin or VFR 1200, say, would have been way more awkward, much heavier, much more expensive, and I don't particularly want to go for anything that powerful, ever.
Rather than go for a cheaper, older, tattier, bike just for the course, I opted to go for something I'd keep long term. The Xmax 400 (in its 2017-on form) looked like the winner on paper. 395cc, the required power output, bit lighter than a Burgman (plus more power, and I preferred the looks). A local Yamaha dealer had a low mileage one at a good price. So I bought it, and managed to find an insurer prepared to cover me for a bike I couldn't ride without an instructor. Don't do this if you can avoid it, folks…
May 2019: first attempt at getting that A2 auto licence. Training goes swimmingly, I don't put a foot wrong, and then on the Mod 1 I touch a cone on the first exercise, the slalom. Instant fail. First of…quite a few fails. Second attempt in July. Third in August. September, I have a week off, so at the school's suggestion I do Mod 1 on the PCX, which would hopefully break the cycle and get the first step to a full licence for that bike. Because I'm legal for the PCX with L-plates, I can ride it to the test and back alone. Pass. There's a Mod 2 slot a couple of dates later. Pass. Yay! Got my commute down to half an hour or so.
However, that didn't break the cycle with the Xmax. Failed again in December. A couple of days more training in February (without being able to ride on my own, it really helped to get used to the bike again). Tried, finally, changing my riding position, sitting a bit forward. Now it was much easier for scrawny weak me to handle. Did about 30 dry runs on the Mod 1 slow manoeuvres and nailed it every time. Come test day, hit a cone on the slalom. Next attempt, I get the slalom done fine, then the figure-of-eight. On the U-turn, I go too wide, so fail. But I do the fast exercises (controlled stop, emergency stop, swerve) as practice and nail those. Failure, but the kind of failure you can feel good about. One more attempt, right at the end of February. I lose momentum and put a foot down on the figure of eight. But I get going again and complete the manoeuvre. Minor fault, not a fail. U-turn is wide again, but I end up right on the target line. A further minor. Fast exercises nailed again. I have, at long last, and after much expense, the Mod 1 (A2 automatic). All that time and money was so worth it. If I’d given up, I’d have regretted it a lot more.
On account of you know what, licence testing in the UK was of course suspended, before I could get the Mod 2 booked. In the window between the first and second national lockdowns, riding schools were mostly clearing the backlog of cancelled tests. But, a just over a week ago, I get a call. Can I do an early morning test on December 3, in Poole (50 miles away, the nearest centre with a free slot)? Hell yeah. So I’m up at 5am, on the road with my instructor at six, into the pouring rain (didn’t stop all day). And by 10.15, I have that precious bit of paper which means I can ride this bike whenever I like. Metaphorically singing in the rain. Back home and trying to dry out by 11.30, before heading off to work (2pm start) on the PCX.
All that time, money and effort was worth it, and so was the bike. I love it. Wish I could have got an Xmax 300 for the test (179 kg and much better MPG), but judging the 400 on its own merits…undoubtedly in my mind, great.
First the bad points: Principally, the weight, the weight, the weight, the MPG, and the weight. Pretty much every time I push this thing around, I need to catch my breath. Paddling it or pushing it, both are awkward and tiring. Pulling away and low speed manoeuvres are awkward for me. A PCX is so much less bother in these respects. The 400 engine is older tech than the Xmax 300’s, so it’s lower power/litre and 25-30% heavier on fuel. The 300 makes much more sense for most people, and I’d have got that but for the test bike restrictions. Lights are…OK. Headlights don’t seem as good as the PCX, they look like they illuminate the road better than the foreground. Not bad, but not great. Rear lights are superb, though.
The good stuff, OTOH…Goes like stink. On the Mod 2, I was thinking I might just fail on account of speeding, as even 30 mph feels like barely ticking over and acceleration is more than brisk. In training with other pupils on Kawasaki ER-6Fs with 75 bhp, I was easily keeping up. This thing doesn’t have the Tmax’s outright power, nor its fancy chassis…but it’s got most of the speed. 95 mph or so flat out in GPS-checked press testing.
It’s utterly stable and rock solid even in horrendous riding weather like Thursday’s. 60-70 mph sustained runs in strong winds and torrential rain, never flustered it. I had the Yamaha option tall screen fitted by the dealer (I have the original one as well), as some reviews suggested it would be a better idea for my height than the standard one. I look through it rather than over it, not always ideal, but I could ride at those speeds with the visor open for maximum visibility without discomfort.
With the bike being this heavy, the brakes have to be good. And they are. Double 267mm front discs, a single of the same size on the back. Even from 30 mph, I only need the rear brake. Very reassuring. And the ABS works rather well. On one of the Mod 1 practices my instructor wondered why I was pumping the brakes. I wasn’t- but I could hit them hard enough to trigger the anti-lock without upsetting the bike in the slightest.
Then there’s the practicality. I like the keyless system, though they should have had some lighting or florescent logos on the main switch that does all the jobs of a regular setup (ignition on/steering lock/fuel & seat opening). 43 litres under the seat, and enough room for two helmets, though mine will only fit in the rear of the two spaces. It would make a great tourer even without a top box or a rucksack for extra loads. It didn’t get any water ingress on Thursday…
MPG: Most tests suggest 65 mph or so, and after Thursday & Friday’s mileage my trip computer was showing that. However, the actual fuel usage seems to be better (180 or so miles, 10 litres to fill the tank would suggest 80 mpg) and I certainly wasn’t riding with economy in mind! If this is accurate- I’ll be more careful about noting the mileage for the next fill- then that is very good news indeed.
However, if you’re thinking of buying one…make it second hand, or wait for a bit. it’s disappeared from Yamaha UK’s product listings. The Tmax recently got bumped up to 560cc and 47 bhp. The Euro 5 regulations are currently resulting in a lot of bikes being updated, or cancelled if they can’t meet the regs. So, most likely, either here will be a new Euro5 400 with a bit more power (and hopefully less weight), or the 300 will get a bit of a CC boost and replace the 400 as well. In the meantime, this is less an overweight Xmax 300, more like a rather cheaper Tmax.
I’m rather pleased with my buy, but you guessed that already!