http://www.MotorcycleClassics.com 43
You see, I am prone to acting on impulse, most recently squander-
ing a perfectly good $50 bill to rescue the 1964 Yamaha 125 Santa
Barbara YA6 seen here, spending untold hours working on it with little
guarantee of any return, and then taking it on a nearly impossible ride.
The embarrassing thing is, I had the money for a better motorcycle.
I knew this castoff would be needier than a snubbed Yorkie. And I
assumed the ride would be long and painful. And yet, knowing all this
in advance, I did it anyway. To frame my admission, it seems fitting to
quote a line from a catchy Dierks Bentley tune: “I know what I was feel-
ing, but what was I thinking?” That about sums up this one-year saga.
So please, let me get it off my chest.Once upon a sweet ride
What I was feeling one innocent afternoon last year was that I just
needed a new spark plug or fuel line or something as I wandered
through the back door of Sport Cycle Pacific, my local Californian
mom-and-pop motorcycle shop. But what I saw shoved up against
a workbench was something else entirely — the forlorn, rusty, dingy
Yamaha YA6 Santa Barbara a patron had dropped off. Or more like,
abandoned. “Huh,” I thought. “A Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara,
California.”
Yamaha’s YA6 was actually a pretty sophisticated little bike for 1964.
It’s a 125cc 2-stroke with the first application of oil injection in lieu of
labor-intensive premix, a robust 12-volt electrical system instead of
6-volt, the luxury of both electric and kickstarting, and racy rotary-valve
induction, which maximized the small engine’s powerband and out-
put. Downsides to the model were small 16-inch wheels and frumpy
styling that, although typical for the day, has not aged particularly well.
The machine had apparently been used for just eight years, as evi-
denced by its 1971 registration sticker and just 761 miles showing on
the odometer. Although clearly worse for wear, for the money it did
seem like a compelling barn find. And I was the perfect dupe to adopt
it. The rust and crust, a broken front brake cable and multiple other
issues including a frozen engine didn’t faze me. Although they rightly
should have.
As for what I was thinking, it was this: Get it running and tackle a
challenging ride to prove that you don’t need a new $20,000 adventure
bike or a $150,000 Vincent Black Shadow to have a great motorcycle
experience. Instead, $50, properly applied, will do. Or so I told myself.
Might I be delusional?MOTORCYCLE
THERAPY
By John L. Stein
Photos by Bill Masho, John Fosmire and John L. SteinA $50 Yamaha and a
dream that wouldn’t quit
I
It’s possible that I may need a therapist, and I am
hoping someone can recommend one.