The Yamaha Nouvo

Below about Yamaha Nouvo.

The Yamaha Nouvo is a small CVT underbone bodied motorcycle manufactured by Yamaha Motor. It was introduced in April 2002 for Southeast Asia markets and In 2004, Brazil, where it was renamed the Yamaha Neo. Nouvo is from the French word Nouveau, which means new or fashionable.

Although Nouvos are not designed to be performance motorcycles nor hold any legitimate racing victories, they have been used for racing ever since their introduction. In 2003, several privateer and sponsored motorcycle teams in Malaysia entered the Nouvo for competition in the Malaysian Cub Prix Championship. In Thailand, the Nouvo is also being raced in underbone drag racing.

In recent years, the Nouvo has rapidly gained popularity as a platform for modification and customization (e.g: airbrushing or addition of onboard audio systems) by the enthusiast community, especially in Thailand and Malaysia. With a huge variety of aftermarket performance parts, including racing engine blocks, racing carburetors and fine tuning suspension kits to make the Nouvo quicker, it became popular in the legal and illegal street racing scene, to a point that it has become a subculture phenomenon, particularly in Southeast Asian countries.