A
gentle push.
Furious, arrhyth-
mic pedaling as
shaking hands send an
unsteady message to
a skinny front wheel.
Down in a heap goes
child and contraption.
Tears, skinned knees,
and elbows result, but
the determined young
-
ster is ready to try
again. Like a wild horse,
the two-wheeled beast
is eventually tamed: We
have learned how to
ride a bicycle!
Most motorcyclists
can point back to a
day like this because
it was the beginning of
their love affair with all
things two-wheeled.
The end game was, of
course, a real motor
-
cycle, but the bicycle
(especially the Sting-
Ray, ya know) was the
gateway drug. In the
1970s, Yamaha decided
that maybe there was a
need (and a market) for
a bridge between pedal
power and gasoline-
powered internal com
-
bustion. The Yamaha
Moto-Bike!
In July of 1974, Cycle
News founder Charles
Clayton himself gave
the Moto-Bike a couple
of pages in his news
-
paper. Titled "Yamaha's
Back-Yard Racer," the
story gave us a look at
what was at the time
truly a one-of-a-kind
machine. The Moto-
Bike was equipped with
nearly everything that
a real motorcycle had.
Telescopic front forks,
that appear to have
been borrowed from
Yamaha's Mini-Enduro,
grabbed your atten
-
tion immediately. High,
Sting-Ray-style handle-
bars even sported a real
crossbar and the rider
held on to the afore-
mentioned by grabbing
real waffle grips!
In the back, dual
shocks were connected
to a real swinging arm.
Travel length isn't listed,
but it appears as if the
rider had a least of cou
-
ple of inches of springy-
ness. The bright bumble-
bee yellow finish gave
the bike a real Team
Yamaha look; surely the
CNIIARCHIVES
P156
KATZENJAMMER!
BY KENT TAYLOR
YAMAHA'S MOTO-BIKE
only difference between
AMA National Champion
Pierre Karsmakers and
the gap-toothed teen
tough on his Moto-Bike
was a Dutch accent!
Clayton's explanation
takes the reader back
in time. "The bicycle,"
he writes, "was built for
the new children's sport
In 1974, Cycle News
tested the first "BMX"
bicycle, the Yamaha
Moto-Bike.
