The 2025 Yamaha TMAX 560 | ROAD TEST

Yamaha’s TMAX set the benchmark for sports scooters when it was first released back in 2001 and is now into its 9th generation. 

Over the years, it has sold over 400,000 units worldwide; surprisingly, 85% of those sales have been in Europe.

Italy, France and Spain are the three biggest fans of Yamaha’s flagship SuperScooter, and if you visit any of these countries, you’ll see and hear them everywhere. Europeans really ‘get’ big scooters and would rather use one than a car.

Average sales

UK riders, sadly, don’t quite understand how useful and exciting a large capacity scooter can be. Nor do they like to part with a substantial wedge of cash to buy a new one. On average, the TMAX has sold 145 units per year in the UK since it was first introduced.

It’s about time our two-wheeled fans woke up and started getting on board scooters like this one… They don’t know what they’re missing.

Home soil

Earlier this year, we covered the launch of the 2025 TMAX Tech MAX, which was held in Barcelona. You can read Matt’s review here with all the specs and scooter details.

We always like to ride a scooter on home turf, though, as well whenever possible, so we recently had the Mighty MAX for a few weeks.

Sleek and compact

If you’ve been keeping your eye on ScooterLab, you’ll know that we had a Yamaha XMAX 300 for almost a year, and it was interesting to jump off the 300 and straight onto the TMAX.

Looking at it parked up for the first time, I was struck by just how compact it looked. Yamaha has redesigned the front end to give the impression of a sleeker beast; they’ve also worked on further centralising the mass to give the TMAX a shorter perceived length. These tweaks have worked, and it looks almost dainty in comparison to the TMAX of days gone by. The design is sleek, modern and sophisticated; it looks very cool, especially in the Ceramic Grey paintwork of our test scooter.

There are two options for paint: Ceramic Grey and Dark Magma Red and the Tech MAX version is the only model you can buy in the UK. 63% of TMAX buyers opt for the Tech MAX anyway.

Justification

Potential British riders often need to justify to themselves as to why a two-wheeled purchase is necessary, especially when it’s a substantial investment like this one. We still see scooters as a cheap form of transport to be used solely for commuting, rather than looking at the bigger picture.

Scooters like this one are much more usable and practical than most bikes, but sadly cost more than many of them as well. In a country where we may not ride year-round, a bike or scooter often becomes secondary, used for a few months of the year. In reality, a British winter isn’t half as bad as it used to be, and when your scooter has a heated seat and handlebar grips, as well as good weather protection, there’s no excuse not to ride it.

Low and light

Stepping on board the TMAX to ride it back from Peterborough, it felt low, well-balanced and easy to manage. That’s despite a wet weight of 221kg and a seat height of 800mm.

Of course, the TMAX has keyless ignition, and it works really well; some systems are overcomplicated or a bit clunky but not this one. Just press the centrally mounted on/off switch and watch the stunning dashboard come to life. I’d say this is the classiest-looking, most informative dashboard on any scooter I’ve ridden. The TMAX Tech MAX’s 7″ full-colour display is fully connected. It links to the Yamaha MyRide app and also uses Garmin Motorize to provide a fully functioning (and free) sat nav system.

If you want to personalise things, the screen has three themes to choose from, including the new ‘Authentic’ style, although I preferred the look of the ‘Intelligent’ theme.

Rider modes

You can scroll through, select and mess about with all the functions by using the left bar-mounted joystick and home button; you can also swap rider modes using the right bar-mounted Mode button. The two modes available are Sports and Touring, and they pretty much do what they say. The mapping in Sports mode is a little more aggressive, whilst Touring is a bit more sedate. I left the scooter in Sports for 98% of the time I had it.

Standard luxuries

When you’ve got a flagship scooter at this price point, you expect a few creature comforts; the Tech MAX has plenty of them.

One of the most important things for me is the electrically adjustable screen; the TMAX was always one of the noisiest scooters to ride. Well, not any more! Yamaha added the new screen to the 2022 model Tech MAX and the difference to rider comfort is amazing. You can tailor the screen to your height and the type of riding you’re doing at the push of a button. Thanks, Yamaha, it works a treat.

Keeping warm

The heated grips and seat come as standard on the Tech MAX and really do work well. If you’re used to having heated seats in your car, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without them on a scooter. I had this scooter during the very hot weather but still used this function for early morning rides.

The heated grips have also been updated on the latest model, power output has been increased, and the pattern of the heating elements has been modified to give greater heat distribution. The rubber grips have been redesigned to have thicker rubber around the palms and thumbs, but thinner in other areas to improve feel and warm-up speed. The grips are adjustable to three levels, as is the heated seat. Both will help make riding more pleasurable in those colder months and extend your riding seasons. Talking of the seat, it’s very comfortable, roomy for rider and pillion, and the rider’s backrest is also adjustable.

Cruise control

Another crossover from the car world is cruise control. This has also been refined for 2025 so you can increase/decrease speed using the joystick in 1 mph increments. Cruise control is well worth having if you frequently take longer trips; at least you can rest your throttle hand from time to time.

A nice touch is the backlit buttons, which make life much easier at night when you’re not having to fumble about for your various controls.

On the road

Of course, you all want to know how it rides, don’t you? Trust me, you won’t be disappointed. The TMAX has always been more akin to a motorcycle in the way it’s built. It has a die-cast aluminium frame, Monocross rear suspension and upside-down front forks with twin radial callipers.

The punchy 562cc twin-cylinder engine makes 46.9bhp and 55Nm of torque. That engine sits centrally in the frame, attached via a swinging arm, rather than hanging out the back end of the scooter. This gives the TMAX an almost perfect weight distribution of 49.3% front, 50.7% rear. This all adds up to a scooter that can really handle itself.

Acceleration

Twist and go scooters of this calibre are pretty rapid off the line; there isn’t much that will worry you off the lights in the traffic light Grand Prix.

The distinctive sound of a TMAX is something you can soon pick out, even without seeing it. That twin-cylinder engine has a certain tone that can’t really be mistaken, although the soundtrack has slowly been dumbed down thanks to recent Euro regs. Even so, they still sound mean, either from the rider’s seat or when watching them ride by in a busy European city.

Top speed

You can quickly find yourself on the wrong side of the national speed limit on a TMAX. Tiny throttle inputs in Sport mode can have you well into the 80s before you can say “Can I have my licence back please?” You’ll see three digits on the clock fairly easily, and it’ll top out at 110mph on a good day.

Even riding it flat out, the TMAX remains composed, stable and fairly quiet with the screen in its highest position.

Cornering ability

Sublime! If you enjoy riding and love corners, this is the scooter for you. Point and squirt, drop it into the bends like you would on a sports bike. It’ll hold a line and give the rider plenty of feel. Grip from the Bridgestone Battlax SC2 Scooter tyres is reassuring.

Traction control

The TMAX has a couple of other tricks up its sleeve, though. Traction control is one of them (only a few years ago, it was hardly heard of on scooters; now it’s pretty mainstream). The Yamaha system is handy to have around, though, not intrusive, just there to lend a hand in the background if needed. I left it switched on for my three weeks with the scooter; in comparison, on the Vespa GTS 310 I tested recently, I switched it off because it was spoiling my fun.

Cornering ABS

Of course, ABS is standard equipment on any machine over 125cc these days, and we more or less take it for granted. The TMAX has stonking brakes with dual-channel ABS. It also has another trick up its sleeve, though, ‘Cornering ABS.’

When you’re first learning to ride, you’ll usually be taught not to brake into a bend, as it can upset the machine, cause the front to tuck and have you off (when done incorrectly). In reality, trail braking into a corner is something that can enhance your ride and allow you to carry more corner speed. On a sports scooter, that’s something the rider is likely to enjoy.

Yamaha has taken this into account and now fits their Brake Control (BC) system on the TMAX. In simple terms, it’s cornering ABS. If the brain detects a slide mid corner, it will correct the problem for you. Brake Control collects info on both front and rear wheels and a 6-axis IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit). The data is relayed to the hydraulic unit, which makes some pretty fast real-time calculations and enables the BC system to modulate front and rear brake pressure when ABS is needed. Pretty clever, hey? It’s just another added safety measure, and it’s one that you may not even realise you have, but it might just save you from your own lack of talent one day.

Pillion’s view

During my time with the very impressive TMAX, I used it for everyday things like nipping to the Post Office, or riding to places for work and of course some pleasure.

I took the missus out for Sunday lunch and went the long way around, up into the Derbyshire Peak District and into Chatsworth. Linsey was a very content pillion as well; she loved the very roomy and comfortable rear seat. There are acres of space between rider and passenger. She also enjoyed feeling the acceleration and experiencing the cornering ability. Happy wife, happy life.

Our verdict

Just like my pillion, the Yamaha TMAX just gets better with age. Each generation improves and evolves, yet without compromising the original TMAX’s sporting philosophy. It is an out-and-out sports scooter, there’s no doubt about it, but it’s not just a one-trick pony. It’s more practical than any sportsbike or middleweight bike will ever be.

The carpeted underseat storage space is pretty roomy and is illuminated

On a TMAX, you can still fit some stuff beneath the seat when you take it out for a Sunday thrash (or do a bit of shopping on the way home from work). There are also two compartments up front, one with a USB port for your phone. You also get all those little luxuries mentioned earlier. It’s a refined sports scooter, that’s for sure. Easy to ride, easy to live with, fast, great fun and good looking.

There are also loads of official Yamaha accessories for it, so you can personalise your scooter, or make it even more practical (a 45-litre top box is a great addition). Nip down to your local Yamaha showroom and have a good look around one up close, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Words, photos and video: Iggy

Action shots: Linsey

Full Yamaha TMAX specs can be found at the end of the launch report here. 

Pricey?

The only slight fly in the ointment is the price; as of August 2025, the UK retail price for this scooter is £14,403. In comparison, a 1000cc Yamaha MT-10 can be had for £12,320, and you can own pretty much any middleweight bike for under £10,000.

In the scooter world, the Yamaha TMAX has Kymco’s AK550 Premium to contend with; both scooters have very similar specs and performance, but the Taiwanese Kymco can be yours for just less than £10,000, which is great value.

We put the 2018 Kymco and TMAX up against each other a while back; you can read that road test here.

The TMAX does beat it in some areas, though, so if you want the best of the best in terms of overall equipment, build quality and heritage, the TMAX is still the daddy.