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Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:29 pm Post subject: Found my old YR-1 after 17 yrs! Need help with parts & r
When I was a teenager I began collecting old bikes. I'd put ads in the local free paper looking for free bikes and people would call me up believe it or not. I acquired this old 1967 YR-1 from a local guy that had it in his barn since 1968. I wound up with way too many bikes and needed some cash to fix up my truck, so I sold this bike and a few others for a hundred bucks apiece. It felt wrong almost immediately, and have regretted selling them ever since. I always thought this old YR1 was interesting and thoughts of it have been surfacing on an occasional basis since the bike and I parted ways.
About a year ago I decided I'd like to find another one, preferably in very nice or restored condition. Seems they are pretty hard to come by though. I posted up wanted ads on various forums to no avail. A week ago I decided to put a wanted ad on Craigslist. I mentioned in the ad that I'd like to find my old bike and gave some details on the sale and the guy who bought it from me (I still remembered his name). I never thought there was a chance in hell I'd see it again but just figured what the heck, can't hurt to try. A few days later, a guy calls me and tells me he thinks he has my bike! I thought it was too good to be true, but I took a ride out last night and sure enough, it was unmistakibly my old bike! The bike's last keeper disassembled it and tossed some of the parts (forks and wheels mainly), as he was planning to build a cafe bike out of it. He had also gathered a few spares off another parts bike.
I promptly forked over some cash and she came home with me, together again after a separation of about 17 years (sold it when I was 16 or 17 and I'm 33 now!).
So I have come here to seek help in gathering parts, sources, and info on restoring this bike. It's in rough condition and is missing parts. The bike was complete and did run when I sold it. I have a tank off an early YR2, looks about the same but I'm not sure if there are any subtle differences. I need wheels and forks. I think the carbs with it are incorrect. Chainguard is badly rusted and can't be saved. Those are my preliminary observations.
Any help or guidance from forum members would be greatly appreciated!
Joined: Nov 02, 2008 Posts: 1036 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:33 pm Post subject:
You sent me down memory lane. I had a very nice used year old T500J when they were one of the faster road bikes around.
I sold it in foolish pursuit of something better. Three years later and we'd been without a bike for a couple of years, having married,been short of dough,and bought a car.
Wasn't long before the itch took hold again and I went shopping for a bike and randomly found myself inspecting the very same T500J. I bought it again and it stayed with us for a year until imminent arrival of children and a need to upgrade the car saw us feel it had to go.
A few years later I was able to buy another T500J but it wasn't as good.
Joined: May 12, 2007 Posts: 264 Location: Ontario, Canada
Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 9:09 am Post subject:
That's a nice story. It's nice when someone can regain their original old bike. I recall the YR-1 having chrome panels on the gas tank and the YR-2 having white paint with a white stripe around the panel. Something different about these early Yamaha's is the adjustable Mitsubishi built DC generator. They are tricky to work with, and I have a factory YR-1 manual if you need help. Here is a pic of a YR-2 I restored in the mid 90's. To this day, it is the only bike I didn't ride after finishing it. I sold it right away and never got to enjoy this great two stroke. I should have rode it and got it out of my system, because for years I have an urge for a Titan or a Hustler.
Joined: Oct 26, 2008 Posts: 42 Location: Glens Falls, NY
Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:01 pm Post subject:
Rob, what luck! Now the fun begins. He is right, there are some differences in the YR series. i have a YR2 that is still waiting for attention.
You should check out http://classicyams.com you''ll find a lot of info and pics of the models. I have a few pdfs of manuals I can send if you PM me.
Joined: Nov 02, 2008 Posts: 1036 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:22 pm Post subject:
"For years I had an urge for a Titan or a Hustler". Me too...but I can tell you from experience that the best all-rounder of that era in the Suzy twins was actually the T350 Rebel. A bored 250 that displaced just 325 it was a very capable and quick(for it's time) machine.
Congratulations on finding your bike! Amazing how stuff like that happens.
I have uploaded these for another member here...maybe you would be interested as well...lots of specs and a basic guide to a full tune up. Hope it helps.
Thanks guys! Tag place says they can get a duplicate title for me, even after all these years ( the guy never switched it over, so it's still actually titled in my name!). Starting to gather parts and assess what I have. I have a feeling this is going to take a huge ammount of time and money to complete. It may be a long time before I ever see it run again, but run again it will. Anybody know if the original cables were black or silver? The ones on my DS7 are silver, but I think I remember these being black (P.O. discarded them).
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