Yamaha is taking one of the most interesting developments from the past couple of decades of dirt bike development, and moving it to the world of ebikes. At this month’s Japan Mobility Show (see previous coveragehere), Yamaha will exhibit the Y-01W AWD—a gravel ebike with a two-wheel-drive system.

A helpful technology—for some

The idea of a 2WD bike, with both the front and rear wheels under power, is not a new one. Yamaha was working on this tech as far back as the 1990s, in conjunction with Ohlins. In the early 2000s, Yamaha actually brought a 2WD dirt bike to market, the WR450F 2TRAC. On this bike, the front wheel was hydraulically-driven, with the front wheel “pulling” the bike along with the standard rear wheel “push” power. Yamaha only made 250 of these bikes for production (reportedlynonewere sent to the US!), and then shut it down. Very few people ended up owning one, and very few people ever rode one. A lot of riders felt the 2WD system made them much faster off-road, stabilizing the bike in corners and on uphills while barely adding any weight. This wasn’t a universal sentiment, but perhaps the best demonstration of the tech was the Dakar Rally. In 2004, David Frétigné rode a 2TRAC-equipped 450 to seventh overall at Dakar, beating out many bikes with bigger engines and many riders with more experience (Frétigné was a rookie).

Since those machines, we’ve seen the 2WD tech surface with occasional custom builds, but Yamaha never re-introduced the tech beyond some skunk works projects. US-based Christini picked up where Yamaha left off, though, and has been selling 2WD dual-sports and dirt bikes to consumers for about 15 years. It sells a lot of these bikes to military customers, where it’s felt that the machines are easier for soldiers to ride off-road.

The ebike take

Many dirt riders are no doubt interested to see 2WD tech returning to Yamaha, but an ebike is far, far from the old WR450F-based bike of 20 years ago. Here’s how Yamaha describes the new concept vehicle:

This adventure eBike combines a center-mounted electric motor and a hub motor at the front for two-wheel drive. Coordinated electronic control of the two motors, twin batteries enabling long-distance rides, wide tires, and more give the Y-01W AWD excellent off-road performance and it is a concept model that points to the many potential spheres of riding open to eBike.

So, the hydraulic system is gone, replaced by battery power. As you can see in the photo above, this ebike is set up in a modern gravel bike style, with drop bars, but also note the luggage rack—definitely not a race-ready machine! Whatever the case, you can bet that this machine will not be cheap if it ever makes it to market—and the way Yamaha isheading towards ebikes, we would be surprised if something like thisdidn’tmake it to market in coming years.