YAMAHA SCRAMBLER SERIES

Yamaha’s big news for 1964 was Autolube, a major advancement in oil injection technology.

YAMAHA SCRAMBLER SERIES

Soon, the company had a successful formula with its 2-stroke twins, and the YD series prospered with the YD-3 street bike and the sportier YDS-2 in 1962. In 1957, Yamaha yet again copied a German design - the Adler MB250 - to create the 250cc twin-cylinder YD-1. Plans for the DKW single were liberated postwar as a process of reparations, and many other manufacturers, including BSA (Bantam) and Harley-Davidson (Hummer), built DKW-like singles. Nicknamed the Red Dragonfly, the YA-1 was principally a copy of the 1939 German DKW RT125 featuring a unit-construction 2-stroke single with an aluminum case and cylinder head, and designed by Hermann Weber. The YA-1 signaled the founding of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., in 1955 and the construction of Yamaha’s first factory that same year. Kawakami settled on motorcycles, and the first bike, a 125cc 2-stroke single dubbed the YA-1, bore the name of one of Nippon Gakki’s founders, Torakusu Yamaha. The company produced musical instruments, and there was extra capacity for another line of products. In 1953, Genichi Kawakami was the president of Nippon Gakki in Japan.

The YDS-3C Big Bear Scrambler evolved from the legacy of Yamaha’s twin-cylinder 2-stroke supremacy. “It sounded very crisp and assertive.”Īnd it should. “It didn’t have baffles in it, and I’d ride it occasionally,” Al says. Al considered the motorcycle to be a project he would eventually get to, but it was titled, registered and insured, and it ran. The left side was sun faded, while the right side was in relatively good condition. “I offered him $425 and he accepted, so it came home with me.”Īlthough totally complete, the Big Bear looked like it had been sitting outside leaning up against a fence or outbuilding. “My brother and I went to look the next day, and when I asked him if he thought it was worth it, my brother said, ‘If you don’t buy it, I will,’” Al recalls. Al appreciates Dan’s knowledge of the brand. There were a couple of pull-tabs with the seller’s number, and Al followed up.Īl’s older brother Dan is an accomplished rider and worked for a time at the local Yamaha dealership. That was when he noticed a “For Sale” ad posted to the bulletin board: “Big Bear Scrambler 250 Twin, $450 OBO,” it read. Back in 2000, Al was at a local motorcycle accessory shop buying a helmet. Included among several other Yamahas in the garage are a 1975 RD250, a 1972 U7E (his mom’s first bike, and already something of a family heirloom), and a 1975 DT175 he just picked up.Īl’s favorite Yamaha might just be this 1968 Yamaha YDS-3C Big Bear Scrambler. One day, the boys will likely inherit Dad’s collection of vintage Yamahas, which continues to grow as Al can fund the purchases. His family continues to ride, including his wife, Erica, and their three sons.

Motorcycles remain almost a singular passion for Al, now a toolmaker working at Strohwig Industries in Richfield, Wis. “The older guys used to ride Big Bears around the dealership, and you knew they were special because they were loud and fast,” Al says.Īl went on to compete in motocross and stand-up jet ski racing, and his first street bike was a 1984 Yamaha FJ600. Although many other Yamahas surrounded Al, the model he clearly remembers the most is the 250cc Yamaha Big Bear, a motorcycle that had very few changes to its architecture during a short production run from 1965 to 1968. Born in 1969, Al was 8 when he got his first Yamaha, a 1976 GT80. “Motorcycling was a family affair,” Al explains. And - how cool is this? - Allen’s mom used to take him to school two-up on a 1973 Yamaha AT125. He grew up just 100 yards from the local Yamaha of Port Washington, Wis., dealership and his family - mom, dad, two sisters and brother - all rode trail bikes bearing the tuning fork badge. Yamaha motorcycles have indelibly marked Al Roller.

Yamaha scrambler