While working for a dealership back in the ’80’s we took in a Yamaha Venture trade in. The owner had thought he wanted a touring bike but realized he was more of a sport bike kind of guy and off he went went with a new GPZ900, and we had the SS Venture. A boat…
This is one of the great motorcycles. But…. It had to compete with the mighty Z1 from Kawasaki, the CB750 from Honda and the GT750 from Suzuki. A pretty big hill to climb. Yamaha already had the very popular RD series of small two stroke twins, then came the “let’s beat the Brits at their…
OK, I’ve said this before…I need a bigger barn. And a bigger bank account. But I have to say this is one bike I would really like to have. I almost bought one back in 1981 but for some reason I bought a Honda CB750F. I don’t regret that at all, but somewhere in my…
This motorbike is an absolute blast to ride. It does everything almost perfect! Fast enough to keep you out of trouble, and fast enough to get you into trouble! What more could you ask for? In 1981 a couple of friends and I were going to Laguna Seca for the USGP as we had been…
The Yamaha ‘Tuning Fork’ logo is historically important because Yamaha has been in the piano business since 1887, motorcycles didn’t come along until 1954…The YA-1 ‘Red Dragonfly’, 125cc of two stroke fun. Post World War Two was a big time for small displacement motorcycles around the world and truthfully, other than here in America, they…
Is there a motorcycle in your past that you regret ‘not’ buying? Many of us have come home with a bike that once it is in our garage we asked ourselves “what was I thinking?” Worse yet is when your significant other asks you the same question, in a much different tone of voice. And…
The last of the air cooled two stroke Sportbikes in America. “Really great performance for not much money” is how Cycle Magazine described the Yamaha RD400. The RD series from Yamaha, no matter what size, was a motorcycle that I like to say has a ‘high giggle factor’. My first experience on a Yamaha RD…
One of my favorite bikes from years gone by is the Yamaha TT500. Yamaha did a great job with that bike, it worked well in the desert and on trail rides. It was easy to start (sort of), easy to ride (as long as you weren’t expecting it to act like a lighter European two-stroke),…
I have always been attracted to oddball motorcycles, yet another psychological flaw I can attribute my step-father. Bultaco, Greeves, any English bike and big thumpers. Sure, I’ve owned my fair share of UJM’s, my favorite being my 1980 Honda CB750F, but I like riding a bike that you don’t see a hundred of when you…
I see that look in your eyes; the look you get when you and your friends are talking about classic Grand Prix racing, the “don’t talk to me now, I’m watching the race” look, the way your ears perk up when you hear a classic 2 stroke on full song, the smile you get when…
