This cool website combines classified and auction listings from various sites around the internet and displays them chronologically with photos, location and price. In order to actually see anything, select a motorcycle from the text cloud or pull-down. Want something added? Email the administrator.
BTW there's one for cars too...
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
LUCKY BRAND Yamaha Zip Track Jacket

Check out this incredible LUCKY BRAND Yamaha Zip Track Jacket. Finally a place for all my vintage Yamaha patches!
There's also a killer Kawasaki motocross version as well as a more generic Motor City version. Very cool...
UPDATE - I picked up the Yamaha jacket, and my business partner Brian picked up the Kawasaki version (BTW he's the one who alerted me to these finds, having a Bonneville he picks up Triumph-branded stuff at Lucky all the time). These are officially licensed products too. The jackets are extremely well-made, and surprisingly heavy. Worn it a few times now and love it!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Brittown - A British Motorcycle Documentary
Brittown is a feature documentary featuring vintage Triumph motorcycle racer and master mechanic Jeff "Meatball" Tulinius from the Hell On Wheels bike shop in Anaheim, California:
The film chronicles several months in Meatball's life as he runs his old BSA in vintage motocross races, embraces the legacy of Steve McQueen on his vintage Triumph Cub desert sled with the No Gooders motorcycle club, flies down the Willow Springs raceway on his Norstar, and uses all his skill to rebuild an old 650 Triumph Bonneville motor into a blazing road-ready screamer ... all while juggling his responsibilities to his family and his rock band Smiling Face Down.
From Scott Di Lalla and Zack Coffman, directors of the award-winning custom motorcycle documentary Choppertown comes their second intimate inside look at biker culture, Brittown: a British motorcycle documentary film.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
FixTheBike.com

Came across FixTheBike.com while I was updating the links in my previous posts (manual downloads should work correctly now). It's a great idea, similar to this site but much broader in scope - bring together all sorts of documentation on all sorts of bikes in one place for free download. From their wiki:
The first place on the internet that will try to pull together a vast ocean of motorcycle information into one place for everyone to find and use completely free of charge or restrictions.
The site looks very empty until you log in. Once logged in you will gain access to everything. This is to help prevent spammers and other bots from wrecking the site.
So please enjoy yourself. Please strongly consider uploading any documents you may have as this is the only way we can grow. Donations are always more than welcome to help cover bandwidth costs.
I already saw some stuff from this site up there, and I'm in the process of uploading some more...
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Manual Madness!

Tom writes in with some great stuff he'd like to share:
I have been using your site for months now as I work on restoring my 72 R5C. I was kindly sent these files though from a fellow two stroker I met though Craigslist. He insisted that since this info is so hard to find that I should share it in any way possible. So I am sending it to you for if you want it on your site. I am not sure of the legality of this though. This info is very old and I doubt any publisher will say anything, but you never know. These files are quite large though and will take a while for people on dial-up. They have all been worth their weight in gold to get my R5C on the way to running again. Maybe in return if anyone knows of a killer deal on a pair of carbs for my bike they can drop me a line?
Here are links to the files. They're rather large, so be prepared for long download times:
Yamaha Service Manual for DS7, RD250, R5C & RD350 1972-1973
Yamaha Motor Corp, 1974
51.75MB, 113 pages
How to Fix your Yamaha Two Cylinder, Two Stroke Motorcycle
Intertec Publishing Corp, 1975
76.25MB , 86 pages
Yamaha 250-400cc 2-Stroke Twins - 1965 - 1978 - Service and Repair Manual
Clymer Publications, 1978
88.55MB, 190 pages
And please, let me know if you can help Tom out with a set of carbs!
Monday, August 13, 2007
R5C 350 Riders Manual

Seeing as it's extremely hard to come by these days, and seeing as how mine is slowly crumbling, I figured I'd scan and post the "Rider's Manual" that came with the R5 when it was new. Fair warning though, it's a fairly large file. Enjoy!
R5C 350 Riders Manual (25.5 MB PDF)
Monday, August 6, 2007
Martin's Gorgeous R5 on EBAY!

Martin wrote in this morning to inform me that his YR5 (featured previously on this site here an here) is currently up for auction on Ebay UK.
Here is his auction description:
Yamaha YR5 350cc 2-stroke twin also sometimes designated the R5
This is an original UK bike, it has some history to suggest that it was raced in the early 70s and then converted to road use. It has only had 3 owners. The 2nd owner died in 1980 after which his widow stored the bike until it was sold to a family friend in 1999, since then it has stood almost unused for 7 years until I bought it last year.
I recommisioned the bike from the ground up
New battery
Full service,
Mot,
Hagon rear Shocks
New screen & Nosecone,
Reground Fork Stanchions and seals
The frame has been powder coated
and many parts chromed.
It has been a great bike to ride and has always drawn crowds at places like Matlock Bath. But unfortunately I suffered a seized the engine when the right hand 2 stroke oil pipe came loose.
After searching all year I have managed to find some original NOS pistons, rings& gaskets from America and Japan and have had it rebored by PJ engineering (motorcycle engineering specialists of Wolverhampton).
So far it has been rebuilt and started, that’s it. It sounds ok and has not currently done any miles.
I realised this bike is too rare to use regularly. So I have bought myself an Aprilia 250 because I enjoyed the two stoke so much
This bike deserves a collector, or Yamaha Dealer as a show piece, it would be great to parade or show.
The bike is in a Phil Read replica colour scheme, It has original Mead speed sports fairing, race tank & seat. The wheels have been upgraded at some point to RD400 alloys.
The exhausts are 1970’s originals and are stamped into the metal “Codnor Light Fabrications” this is a Derbyshire company that we now know as Micron.
It is fitted with Piranha Electronic ignition and starts first or second kick every time.
Front brake is disc with braded hoses using a standard RD350 front calliper & disc, so parts are no problem
I have some correspondence that the last owner past on to me from Padgett’s of Batley, plus Classic Bike, Yamaha, and Len Manchester motorcycles. This seems to support the case that the bike was prepped for racing, as many where from new and then put on the road by the 2nd owner. This seems correct as the fairing tank seat exhausts etc are all period early 1970,s but the rear light is from an RD400 which was not made until 5 years into the 70,s
Also included are the original Yamaha workshop manual and several magazine articles from magazines of the time in the early seventies
This is probably the only surviving example of a Yamaha proddy racer put on the road in the uk. Grab a real pierce of nostalgia.
I am selling as I have 5 bikes and my daughter is about to turn 16. I need the space for her 1st bike!!!!
The bike is MOT,ed and Taxed to October. The tax is free as it is tax exempt! The bike is in immaculate condition and is ready to show
Please ring for extra photos and spec.
Martin 07988800194
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Update - Labels Added
Just added labels to all of my posts on this site. At the very bottom of each post you'll see a grouping of word(s) that categorize the post. Clicking on one of the words brings you to a single page with all of those posts. Useful if you want to see all the technical posts, posts with downloads, or say all posts about my R5 all at once, without searching or using the archive.
Colin's R5

Colin writes in to tell us about his recently acquired R5:
I have been looking for a nice two stroke for some time now. Something that was relatively cheap, but ran. I wasn’t looking for show quality or anything just something to get around DC on and tinker with. I came across this ’71 R5 owned by an older gentleman for over 30 years. Cosmetically it has seen some wear but the engine runs great and sounds great too. I sent along some pictures. This is exactly how I bought the bike. How about that sissy bar, amazing. Fortunately in about ten minutes the sissy and highway bar come right off. Short term I am going to put some clubman bars and some rearsets. Then slowly when the money comes in will start cleaning up the parts. It was a wedding present for myself. Great website about the only place I found good useful information on the bike.
Excellent find!
Sounds like you're on the same course as I am, with clubmans and rearsets. Funny, my bike came equipped with almost the exact same sissy bar! Weird scroll thing going on...
Thursday, July 5, 2007
California Classic Japanese Motorcycle Club Show and Swap Meet

When: 2007-07-20 through 2007-07-22, 8a.m. - 3p.m.
Location: Auburn County Fairgrounds, 1273 High Street
Cost: No charge for spectators
Largest exclusively classic Japanese motorcycle swap and show in the country, held in the beautiful Sierra Foothills at the Auburn Gold Country Fairgrounds! ONLY JAPANESE MOTORCYCLES. This is a must participate event! Hundreds of bikes, parts and more! Bring your bike to show and parts to sell! Show on Sunday only - Open to all! - Shaded area for swap meet - Shaded stage for show bikes! (with seating) - Food with drinks on premises - Camping overnight 10 dollars per car – No Fires - RV Overnight with hookup 20 dollars - AMA Speedway Races Friday night! - Swap 35 dollars per swapper / space - For Sale - Bike Corral 10 dollars - 15 dollars to show one, 20 dollars for two or more bikes - Peoples Choice Awards
Of particular interest to us fellow R5 enthusiasts is that this year the show is honoring the Yamaha 2-stroke twins: R5s, DS7s and RDs. Usually this means a lot of these bikes showing up at the show and an image of the bike on the show t-shirt.
Wish I could be going... but since I'm on the wrong coast, someone local will have to go and snap some pics for the site!
(Info gleaned from cjmc.org, Hemmings Motor News Calendar and r5yamaha Yahoo! message board)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)