Okay, so back in the day, my dad bought a brand new 76 yz125 from Kassons Yamaha in Austin. Raced it a season or two, graduated highschool, met my mom and lost interest. Well he let my moms little brother borrow it for a weekend and got back a siezed up bike. So into the corner of the garage it went. For years. Then my parents built their house, and in that time it went to my aunts house, where it sat for years. One day my dad gets a call from a friend of his sisters (aunt who housed the bike) wanting to know if he'd sell it. He said yes. Good bye bike. Fast forward like 15 years. I'm an adult, and into vintage dirt bikes. My dad remarks that it'd be cool to find his old bike and restore it. Like that'll ever happen. Well my parents are at some flea market with my Aunt, (the one who kept the bike for so many years) and they run into the guy that bought it from my dad. (He'd never met the guy, just got the money from my aunt when he saw her). She introduces them, and established that connection - "oh he's the guy that bought that yellow dirt bike from you, years ago". So my dad asks what ever happened to the old bike and this guy tells my dad he never got around to fixing it, and sold it in a garage sale to some guy in driftwood Texas, that makes fishing rods. My dad happens to know a guy that meets that description, and calls him the next day. Turns out, my dads old friend Todd did indeed purchase said bike in a garage sale for $25 with the intention of restoring it. Before he could, his woodshop caught fire, and the bike got burned up pretty bad, but he still had it. He told my dad he could have it if he came and got it. No fucking way! A little about the 76 yz 125- first bike with an aluminum gas tank. First bike with a CDI ignition. First bike with a mono rear shock. First bike with a chrome lined cylinder bore. Basically Yamahas answer to the Elsinore. And it was the shit back in 76. So I start the project. Its been in a fire, been kryloned, etc etc. When I got it- Frame painted with 2-part automotive paint, shock rebuilt, etc etc Old crankcase with back rod bearing, vs new one already split, cleaned, inspected, and reassambled. Top end. Fresh bore, and powder coat Forks done. Boots salvaged Motor back together. Prior to powder coating the clutch cover Swingarm and goodies. Keep in mind that tank is actually kryloned. Not be me. I will say it was a pretty good rattle can job though, but will be striped soon Motor back in frame. New plastics are just kinda set there to see what its gonna look like. Also got a new seat cover. From Japan. Took a month Freshly ceramic coated pipe. Same krylon tank. Fresh paint job. The graphics are underneath the 2-part clear. The base coat is duplicolor paint shop 'chrome yellow' which happens to be a PERFECT match to Yamaha hurricane yellow. JSYK All done, minus new tires With the new tires. The old Metzler tires were so dry and hard they had to be cut off Hope y'all enjoy. My dad obviously knew I was working on it, but never saw progress pictures. When I got it done, I showed up at their house one Friday afternoon, and had it waiting on him. It was also his 53rd birthday that day. I'm a good son. Lol
nice bike and story, i'm a big fan of early yamahas... not to be a dick, but:... lotsa british scramblers with aluminum tanks in the late 60's and quite a few others... cdi was on bikes around 1971 or earlier. first rear mono was 1975 (1974 production). chrome cylinders long before 76 i have several 1971 motors with chrome bores.
You're probably right. I left out a valuable piece of the puzzle- first in the 125 MX class (to my knowledge)
What a great time that was to be a kid. I lusted after everyone of the MX bikes but the YZ 125 & the Tm 125 were my favs. Nothing wrong with the Elsinores either but a GYT kitted YZ ?
Thanks, didn't know that. Everyone around me rode RM's or XR's. My 1st true motocross bike was a 77 RM125. Also the 1st bike that I owned that had a "light switch" power band, either on or off. It sure would kick the crap out of the couple Honda 250R three wheelers that use to ride with us every now and again thou.
air chambers , ONLY on this Bike ,which iirc was considered 76.5 model year . Miles ahead of any other Japanese 125 for that short period , more suspension than cr125, more motor and suspension than tm,rm 125 . Stock kx's were awful till later . Super cool , even if I am older than your father :eek1 and had one. Regards,Ed
Very nice! I'm restoring a 76 yz100 and am curious what your new crankcase cover (clutch side) is from. The stock ones are hard to find on nice condition for a resonance price. I've seen them as high as $200 for a used powder coated one.
