Received a bike as a gift

[EJK]

The bike is an old 1987 Yamaha YB125, two stroke.

The previous owner was an old old friend of mine who I first met when I was in Christchurch about 8 years ago. Since he is now moving to USA next month, he decided to give his bike to a trusty mate who knows things about motorbikes (which happened to be me )

At first, the bike wasn't going. So he decided that if I can fix it and make it go, then I can have it. Well so eventually I tinkered it and made it go, and so the gift was mine.


For a 1987's bike, it's in a very good condition. I gave a good deep wash this morning and it looked stunning! Some little rust here and there however generally it was in a show room condition.

When I first took out on the drive way, I found out the gear system was totally different to the "modern" bikes. This bikes got a gear system of

N
1
2
3
4
5(?)

So I had some difficulty departing from the highest gear . Was very interesting

The bike is not as fast as my old FXR (The theory of 125 two strokes perform as well as a 250 four stroke doesn't work here) however it can go and maintain at 60kph at ease (which I only need when riding in town). I don't think I will tour on this one

[McDuck]

i see a bucet racer...

[JMemonic]

Keep it exactly as it is, clean up the rust bits and give it some oil love, but keep it original, that is one nice old timer.

Are you sure thats 87 not 78 ?

[R6_kid:Me]

If you put a proper two stroke expansion chamber on it and opened up the air flow it'd go much better! The RX125 bucket that i have has some good balls to it for a 1970's aircooled two stroke!

Looking really nice though! Thats the kind of thing I'd want as an around town commuter!

[samgab]

Wow, dude, that is a sik little bike. I hope you appreciate how cool those old bikes are. That is a pending classic, and will be appreciating in value, so long as you look after it.
Luckyyyyy!

[xwhatsit]

Keep it exactly as it is, clean up the rust bits and give it some oil love, but keep it original, that is one nice old timer.

Are you sure thats 87 not 78 ?

Yeah, it was a retro model (they did retro in the 80s!) meant to emulate their 1960s models like the YG-1.

Try not to crash it man!

[samgab]

Are you sure thats 87 not 78 ?

Frosty knows about these. The design is from the 70's, but they were still making them like this right up to near the end of the 80's.
Cool authentic 70's look though.

[JMemonic]

Yeah, it was a retro model (they did retro in the 80s!) meant to emulate their 1960s models like the YG-1.

Frosty knows about these. The design is from the 70's, but they were still making them like this right up to near the end of the 80's.
Cool authentic 70's look though.

Very nice odd that they even kept the retro gearbox arrangement, it is similar to the late 60's steptru things.

[samgab]

Oh, and:
Cable operated drums on the front!!!
You have to now tour the whole South Island on it, ya know... (despite saying you won't. Do it old school! Imagine you're in the '70's)

[oldguy]

It looks mint don't change it, keep it original , and for Christ sake don't crash it.

[gijoe1313]

Well EJ, as I have said, the Force works in mysterious ways - please do listen to the well wishes of others and look after it!

Remember the Biker Gods are always watching and seeing if you are worthy of the boon they have given you!

[Peril]

Hornby Yamaha had one of these as a loaner bike which I got use of a few times (back in about 1995/6).
Living in Rolleston at the time made for an interesting ride home from school in Hornby.Poor thing sounded like it was flat out at 80km/h,but you could get 110ish if you punished it .I did stuff up the shifting one day and went down a gear instead of up at around 60km/h,whoops

[ZK-Awesome]

Looks excellent, my A100 has a gear shift pattern like that. Only real difference to a normal bike is that neutral is easier to find.

[EJK]

Yeah, it was a retro model (they did retro in the 80s!) meant to emulate their 1960s models like the YG-1.

Try not to crash it man!

LOL ofcourse I wont crash it. As long as the tyre literally saying "Nylon" and made in China don't fail me!

Oh, and:
Cable operated drums on the front!!!
You have to now tour the whole South Island on it, ya know... (despite saying you won't. Do it old school! Imagine you're in the '70's)

You have noticed! Front and rear drums. They are OK. Oh have you also noticed the suspensions? They are very different, as if made out of coil springs...

Well EJ, as I have said, the Force works in mysterious ways - please do listen to the well wishes of others and look after it!

Remember the Biker Gods are always watching and seeing if you are worthy of the boon they have given you!

Heck! I said I wont crash it! I will clean it and ride it regularly!

Hornby Yamaha had one of these as a loaner bike which I got use of a few times (back in about 1995/6).
Living in Rolleston at the time made for an interesting ride home from school in Hornby.Poor thing sounded like it was flat out at 80km/h,but you could get 110ish if you punished it .I did stuff up the shifting one day and went down a gear instead of up at around 60km/h,whoops

Haha you are not the only one. But the thing is, I don't know where the red line is so I'm not sure if I am riding below the power band or riding over the redline..

And yes, I've seen 80kph but I don't think I will take it on the QEII Drive.

Keep it exactly as it is, clean up the rust bits and give it some oil love, but keep it original, that is one nice old timer.

Are you sure thats 87 not 78 ?

It is indeed 87. Please tell me more about the oil treatment.

P.S. Look at that shiny chrome!(?) Isn't that shiny? Man the bike is so tidy for it's age!

If you put a proper two stroke expansion chamber on it and opened up the air flow it'd go much better! The RX125 bucket that i have has some good balls to it for a 1970's aircooled two stroke!

Looking really nice though! Thats the kind of thing I'd want as an around town commuter!

LOL man I think I will remain it's performance level aye. Indeed I too seek for speed however this bike ain't built for it by any chance

[JMemonic]

It is indeed 87. Please tell me more about the oil treatment.

Simple sure its a 2 stroke but the gearbox oil needs changing as well, it might help with that shifting issue, get a decent mc oil or diesel engine oil designed for wet clutches in the and change it regularly, ie 6000 km or 12 months.

Oh 000 steel wool and 3 in 1 oil will be your friend