VOLUME ISSUE APRIL , P157
of bicycle-cross (moto-
cross racing
with bicycles)."
Apparently, the acronym
of "BMX" was still down
the road a ways. But
he liked the Yamaha
and even scored it a
"Katzenjammer," a nifty
term that comes from a
mid-20th
century comic strip
called, "The Katzenjam
-
mer Kids." Puzzlingly,
the actual word comes
from Germany and
describes a sick, wailing
feline, but who cares,
the Moto-Bike certainly
made any kid feel like a
wildcat on two wheels!
There is no give,
however, without take,
and the Yamaha's
motorcycle-style sus
-
pension components
and beefed-up frame
brought with it a sig-
nificant amount of extra
weight. The Moto-Bike
was 44.5 porky pounds,
a full 10 pounds heavier
than a regular Sting-Ray
bicycle of that time.
Sprung, unsprung or
Wang Chung, that was
a lot of extra weight for
two skinny teenaged
legs to get moving,
though the tester said
that the bike "pedals
fast and easy once you
get going."
The Cycle News' gang
also didn't like the seat,
which, although appear-
ing to be comfy plush,
was apparently the
wrong style for "B-X."
CN thought the rubber
pedals should be metal
traps and the bike's
safety reflector was
vulnerable and likely to
break, especially "when
the bike is turned upside
down for servicing."
The components
also pushed the price
to $130, which must've
seemed like a lot of
money to parents who
could put their young
-
ster on a rigid-framed
chain store bicycle for
half the cost.
Yamaha didn't just
launch the Moto-Bike,
stand back and wait
for the sales to ring
up. The U.S. distribu
-
tor was sponsoring
a series called "The
Yamaha Bicycle Gold
Cup Races." Racers
aged 7-16 were going
to compete in their very
own version of pedal-
powered Supercross at
Shaw Stadium, on the
campus of the Universi
-
ty of Santa Clara. Entry
fee was just a buck, and
spectators under age 15
got in for just 50 cents.
The August 3 event was
advertised in the same
issue of Cycle News and
featured the incredibly
detailed artwork that Ya
-
maha employed in many
of their ads throughout
the mid-'70s.
The Yamaha Moto-
Bike didn't stay in the
lineup for long, but
it kick-started (even
though it didn't have a
kickstarter) a new age
for the sport of "bicycle
cross." Today, nearly
every bicycle features
suspension of some
sort. But in 1974, the
Moto-Bike stood alone.
It gave parents a chance
to delay the purchase of
real motorcycle for their
pleading youngsters.
And it provided kids a
couple of years' worth of
practice, as they pre
-
tended to be just like real
dirt bikers. They provid-
ed the human, internal
combustion power but
the Yamaha Moto-Bike,
with its honest-to-good-
ness motorcycle parts,
did the rest! Stand back,
Pierre, here comes the
Moto-Bike kids! Katzen-
jammer!
CN
Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives
Yamaha even made it so you could
race your new Moto-Bike.
