Britbike forum Forums General discussion The Rod and Tappet A blast from my past

Sometimes I kill time scanning Craig's List just to see what's out there. I ran across this listing tonight.
https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/mcy/d/atlanta-1964-yamaha-yj1-rare/7089578247.html
A real blast from my past. My first bike was a '66 model, different front end, and the fender sat lower, but essentially the same machine. I used it to deliver newspapers and removed the front fender for dirt riding on weekends.

Love those early Jap bikes.

That is cool. And only about 5 miles away. Resist the urge...

I still remember the shift pattern, four down. No premix, very early oil injection.

my first was 1965 Yamaha 80 I was 15 years old and rode it to my job as grocery bagboy I didn't even have a driver license it never let me down

I bought a really rough, barely running one of those (or very similar) from a buddy in the Navy when I was stationed in Corpus Christi (Texas seashore). I paid $25 for it.

Me and my friends TORE THAT THING UP, riding the sand dunes, INTO THE SURF, local MX track (what a joke THAT was), probably two years non-stop.

Sold it for $25, still running, none the worse for wear (I maintained it well)

(EDIT for a memory)
One friend of mine had just unloaded it from his truck at the beach, hopped on and popped into traffic, and got CLOBBERED by a motorist. Kinda bruised and bleeding a little, we picked him and the bike up, he chatted with the driver who then drove off, we tweaked the forks straight, and my buddy picked up right where he left off (as did the bike)

(EDIT for another memory)
That friend was Jack, a scrawny, freckle-faced, snaggle-tooth hillbilly, with a STUNNING wife. We had to wonder how on earth he managed to hook HER!

Bought this 1968 YCS1 180 about 6 years ago for $500. Rode it around for couple years and tripled my money. What a lot of fun. Notice the thin whitewall front tire.

Pretty cool. I see it has the one year only tape covered seat...very rare

Here it is before the posting gets deleted and we know what it was.


1964 Yamaha YJ1 rare ! - $875 (Doraville)

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/mcy/d/atlanta-1964-yamaha-yj1-rare/7089578247.html

That's the "off road" version, as noted by the rear tire...

Ring-a-ding! I had an RD200 from the next decade, the TLS front brake was a demon. Ace bars, rear sets, raised gearing and flat-on-the-tank to see 100mph on the speedo, with only slight assistance from gravity.

Cool bike

Mine met an ignoble death. A friend of mine was riding and ran out of petrol. He went into the shop and found a gas can with something in it. Ignored the big V painted on the can and filled the tank with Varsol. It didn't run for long after that.

Mine ended up in a tree due to the rider running out of talent.

Somewhere I might have a picture or two but my first real registered street ride was a 65 or 66 Honda CB160. I rode the wheels off it till I saved enough $$ to buy a truly clapped out Royal Enfield Interceptor. Probably a foolish move on my part but... I've seen a few of them at swapmeets and online and think "hey, maybe I should get another one.Then I remember that it was almost 50 years and 50 or 60 pounds ago and figure it just wouldn't be the same.

O.k. seeing how we are skipping, (Hobbling) down memory lane again and as we sometimes wander off on a tangent, it used to be said in Greenock in Scotland where I grew up (?), that the smart boys would buy and old bike from the scrapyard, an old Triumph, A10 Beeza etc, for ten bob and fill the tank with white spirit or what was know as white spirit and that the bikes would go really well until they exploded, dump it and buy another one, great fun for the weekend. The white spirit was, ...erm, free, "borrowed" from the which ever shipyard they worked at and used in large industrial quantities, nobody missed a gallon or two.