1979 Yamaha YZ400

 

Yamaha likes big Bikes. It's clear there's a Connection between the People of Yamaha and the Idea of big Hubrocross bikes going back to when 360cc was considered great and a 500 was outrageous. Yamaha was the only Japanese Manufacturer to offer an open MX bike. 

 

But the Connection goes back even further. You have to go back to the first motocross motorcycle production in Japan. For Yamaha, that goes back to 1969. The 250cc DT1MX and 360cc RT1MX WERE official Models this Year. 

 

They were based on the Enduro wheels but came striped for the Race and had Yamaha GYT Kit installed at Factory Level. These first Wheels were the Raw Materials used for Racing Trials in Europe and the US. 

 

Overseas, Torsten Hallman Was the Subject of a Development Programme that World CUP GPs used as a Test bed. So Gary and Wayne Jones were the Runners, and their Father, Don Jones, was the Engineer. Both Sides sent their newly invented racing Bikes to Japan, and what arrived in 1973 were new Wheels at the Level of Works sold to the Public. That was the Beginning of the YZ line.

Yamaha was in the Mix from The Start of Motocross in America, winning three Championships in the first three Years. But the Book of Records does not reflect the Drama and Controversy involved at the time. The inaugural American 500cc Motocross Championship was awarded in 1971 to Husqvarna Mark Blackwell rider, who is based on Points in the TRANS-AM series. 

 

CZ Sylvain Geboers ' Belgian Equestrian Won the Series, and they had to scale back to 14th to clinch the first American. Gary Jones clinched a YZ prototype in the 500 standings and won the 250 Title. A Series of the American Championship was formed in 1972, with eight Races starting in Georgia and ending in Alabama. 

 

Jones won the 250 Title and finished Second in the 500-under after Brad Lakey. The Smell of Recording gives Kawasaki the Title  "Lakey ," although he won the last Race on this Mark. His other three Wins came on the CZs. The following Year, Jones left the Yamaha team and was replaced by Pierre Karsmakers, who quickly won the inaugural Yamaha 500 national Championship. 

 

He raised his Eyebrows at the Time. Karsmakers was Dutch, and given the recent History of Using American Citizenship as a Criterion, there were Whispers that his new Crown was not legitimate. But He stood and made Yamaha the most successful Brand in the Childhood of American Motocross.

The Karermacher were wounded in 1974, preventing him and Yamaha from defending the Title of 500. Jimmy Weinert won a Kawasaki that Year, and Yamaha quickly hired him for the 1975 Series, which he won on an exotic OW26 working wheel. 

 

Rookie unknown Bob Hannah then won every single Race in the Florida 1976 series on a similar Work wheel. Yamaha and Rick Burgett will win the 500 Crown again in 1978. During this Time, national motocross motorcycles were produced in Japan at no Cost. 

 

The Bikes the Pros ran were completely different from the Series Bikes. But a Yamaha YZ465 BASED on production would win the 1981 USGP in Carlsbad at the Hands of Marty Moates, all stun. In the United States, Labor Wheels have become increasingly expensive, but that would soon change. 

 

The 500cc Glover Broc Championships in ' 81, ' 83 and ' 85 were on Factory bikes, but his 1985 championship came aboard a Bike based on the then YZ490 production. The Bike was not easy to ride, but it was fast; Glover was the only Rider who even wanted to ride it at The state Level. 

 

That was reflected in the Sales. There was a Rank-and-file Hike away from the big Two-acts, which were just too big and powerful for the Average Runner. The Yamaha YZ490 was discontinued in 1991, and the 500cc championship itself was abandoned by WADA.

But, that wasn't the End of the big Saga Yamaha in the pro race. In 1998, the YZ400F changed everything. It was originally considered a Replacement for the YZ490 in the Yamaha line, but the Day's AMA rules allowed 560cc Four-frocks to compete with 250cc Two-stables. 

 

Doug Henry became the first Man to win a Supercross with a Four-stroke in 1997 when he led the Las Vegas Supercross on a YZM prototype. What followed was the 500-Class renaissance, but it didn't happen immediately, and they no longer called it the 500 class. In fact, between 1998 and 2004, we didn't know what to call

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