Strange Story of How Yamaha Made Motorcycles! | Did You Know?

Why does every new channel with potential add overly-loud background music? We don't need music, it's not a commercial.

The guy narrating seems to be just reading a script and doesn’t understand motorcycles. I stopped watching when a BSA was putting on screen describing it as a Yamaha model!

I am 74 years old and have ridden motorcycled since the age of 16. I am what you might call hardcore about always having motorcycles in my life, and I do mean always. Bottom line: best bikes I have ever owned were Yamaha. I've owned everything under the sun, including Honda, Suzuki, Harley, and Triumph. But the best has always been Yamaha. I realize this may sound crazy, but I think the fact that Yamaha began as a musical instrument company (and still is) instilled a drive for perfection in the bikes. Anyhow, never hesitate to buy a Yamaha ... they're still magnificent with a huge dedication to perfection. Yours truly, an ardent life-time Yamaha rider and lover of same.

I own 3 Yamahas - a 79 XS650-2F0, an 83 XJ1100, and a 14 Bolt. LOVE them all!

You never mentioned the Yamaha RD and RZ models. I lothe to have a 1984 Kenny Roberts limited edition 350cc water cooled 2-stroke. If Yamaha built a fuel injected 2-stroke with emissions compliant engine I would buy one TODAY!

You totally missed the very popular RD 350 LC series

I own the greatest motorcycle in the world. 2015 Yamaha Vmax! A legend….. enough said.

One of the best bikes i ever rode was the xs 250 . It good power and comfortable and wasn t too thirsty on fuel

My main bike is a Super Tenere 1200. It's the perfect balance between globe-trotting power and features and simple maintenance. As a recovering BMW owner having and adventure tourer that is both reliable and easy to care for us refreshing.

Yamaha is an awesome company, be it engines, bikes, audio and musical instruments. As a bass player I own and cherish my 12 Yamaha basses and still think back fondly to my first Yamaha bike that could not let be, always polishing and maintaining with much love. I am a diehard Yamaha client.

I’ve owned and ridden the enduro and YZ models from the early ‘70’s . Some of the best memories from my childhood !

My 1978 Yamaha DT250 Enduro (equally street & dirt oriented) was the finest performing motorcycle, overall, all aspects considered I've ever owned ! Just fabulous execution it all felt greater than the sum of its parts. I rode it for my Sophomore & Junior year in High School all over San Diego - about 20,000 miles worth. One ride & it's brilliant combination of utterly solid handling, braking & seamless seemingly limitless powerband won you over. Though only 250cc single air cooled 2 stroke it would ramp up to 75 mph in a blink - and back then we STILL had the 55 mph Freeway speed limit so you didnt dare do it for long lol - ! I used to say it felt more nimble & useful on the street than any street bike I had ridden & yet had better off road manners & feel than many pure dirt bikes. I later had the much larger Yamaha XS750 Special 3 cylinder shaft drive street bike - a heavy beast that though powerful didn't feel anywhere near as well developed as its DT250 cousin. Truly Yamaha had genuine expertise at making small displacement 2 stroke trail dirt & dual sport bikes, and this proved it. Great memories Yamaha !

I’m a luthier by trade and Yamaha makes fine guitars, violins, violas, cellos, bass and grand pianos. They also make great motorcycles. I’m a fan of vintage Yamaha dirt bikes. I also love Yamaha snowmobiles especially those from the early 70’s to the mid 90’s. I still want an xs 650 which was the finest street bike Yamaha ever made

You should also mention how Yamaha designs intakes, exhausts, and entire engines as a subcontractor to major auto manufacturers like BMW and Toyota. Yamahs designed much of the engine for the famous Taurus SHO, the Lexus LFA, and the new BMW Z4 and its Toyota Supra cousin.

Worth mentioning the 125 and 250 racing bikes of the late 1960s which, with an extremely sophisticated 4-cylinder two-stroke design produced 44bhp and 73bhp respectively. This gave Yamaha complete dominance, and with riders of the calibre of Phil Read and Bill Ivy onboard they took all the world titles. In 1968, on the extremely long Isle of Man mountain circuit, using the 9-speed gearbox to keep his engine buzzing at 18,000rpm Bill Ivy shattered the previous record with a truly incredible 100mph lap (i.e. average speed over the 37-mile course.) And that was on the little 125 version…

Did not see the famous and uncomparable TDM 900, not mentioning the powerhorse XT 600, Diversion, MT Series etc. Not much of research, sorry, but there is much more to present.

I loved my 1981 Enduro 100 that got me around in Malawi Africa., and I still have a 2003 Kodiak 400 atv. This narrator makes it sound like Yamaha switched to making motorcycles, but they still make the musical instruments, and a whole gamut of recreational vehicles, that are very competitive with Honda for reliability.

Factoid: If you tap the spokes in an anti-clockwise direction on ANY Yamaha, you get the Japanese National anthem in perfect harmony. Some even reveal Beethoven's 9th when you blow down the exhaust pipe (I am not at liberty to to say which bikes do this because idiots are getting their lips burned)!

My history with Yamaha products: -trombone in elementary school band -learned to ski behind a 150hp outboard -pro-audio mixers, amps, & speakers -my first cruiser vStar 1300 Tourer bike -FJR1300 Sport Touring bike -XT1200 Super Tenere All of these are fine products.

My 'big-bike' is a tastefully-modded 1982 Yamaha XV1000 , Roadster (chain-drive, TR1 in Europe ) It's still capable of a 12.4 quarter-mile and sounds amazing on full-throttle heading-past 160....I have an XS-2 Cafe'-bike as well . These bikes are bullet-proof once they are 'set-up' right . I've had XT's , TT's, TX's, SR's and more , 40-+ bikes over more than 50-yrs of riding . Riding any-bike keeps you young . Dave nz