This is something you don’t see every day: a bicycle from a motorcycle manufacturer. The seller has this rare and early BMX-type bike listed as a 1974 model, but those had a solo seat, and the lower forks were painted to match the frame color, either El Toro Orange or Competition Yellow in this case. This unusual and rare 1976 Yamaha Moto-Bike is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Rome, Georgia, and the seller is asking $2,000! Here is the original listing, and thanks to PRA4SNW for the tip!
The main dig against these otherwise incredibly interesting and cool bikes is that they were heavy, almost 45 pounds, in fact. The value is another bummer, at least for those of us who would normally jump on this bike for $500 or so, but $2,000?! And that’s cheap, a quick internet search brings up other examples of $4,000 and even more than that, wowie. I probably have $2,000+ into my 1966 Mattel Stallion, a smaller, earlier BMX-type bike with rear suspension, but it’s not even in the same league as this Yamaha Moto-Bike. This Yamaha has motorcycle-type front forks and rear shocks.
Yamaha made the Moto-Bike for only three years, 1974, 1975, and 1976, and there were changes between the years. I already mentioned a few of them, such as the first-year 1974 “A” models had a solo seat and frame-colored lower forks, and also chrome handlebars, chain guard, and rear fender. The ’75 “B” models had a banana seat (like this one has), and black-painted handlebars and chainguard. The 1976 “C” model had a plastic rear fender (as seen here), and also bare aluminum lower forks as on this bike, but also an aluminum chainguard, and this bike doesn’t even have a chainguard, so that’s a big piece to try to somehow track down. I’d bet on experiencing world peace before finding one of those. The ’76 models also had a one-piece crank and “rat trap” pedals.
The engine is… uhhhh… your legs, because this is a bike, as in bicycle. This example is far from perfect, as you can see, but I don’t know if you’ll find another one this good for too much under $2,000. These bikes were made to be serious dirt racers. I’d love to restore this one if it were in the $500 range, but you’ll never find one for that. Have any of you heard of the Yamaha Moto-Bike?
I didn’t even have to click on this one to know who wrote it!! I’ve never heard of one of these. I love the ads too Scotty, thank you for including those, just seeing the period ads brings back memories. I know you said its heavy, but look at that unique frame design. At least to me anyways, it looks like it was built to take a beating off road, and hold up to it and then do it again tomorrow. This is a neat find Scotty. I enjoyed it. Thank you
Eye watering price but very cool. The piano maker always delivers 👍
Bicycle MX,,,pfft, as macho motorized MX riders, we teased these kids, what, mommy won’t let you have a real MX bike? ( my parents didn’t either, but I didn’t listen to them)Truth was, one could get equally as hurt on these, and most, if not all eventually graduated to a motor. These did give a great introduction to the world of dirt bikes, and were excellent riders, thanks in part to these early on. Yamaha marketing genius at work here. They knew full well, to get a kid on a bike early on, meant soaring profits later on. And it worked, Yamaha was the #1 selling dirt bike for years, and probably still is.
Boy, and l thought the seat on my “chopper” was narrow. Rare piece here.
Chopper
Chopper
I’d rather be riding one of these than driving a Chevette! Better believe it Jim, LOL!
I was a bike mechanic for 30 years and never saw one of those…pretty cool !
The seller is going to have this awhile with a $2K ask…
When I saw this ad, the first thing I thought of was looking forward to Scotty’s take on it. Thank you for picking this up!
I’m a Yamaha fan and had never heard of these.
When I saw this ad, the first thing I thought of was looking forward to Scotty’s take on it. Thank you for picking this up!
I’m a Yamaha fan and had never heard of these.
Yep, I had one. Heavy as hell, and hard for a young person (as I was at the time) to pedal. I’ve followed the prices for several years, and 2k is about the going rate on these. I also had a Murray King Kat chopper bicycle with the springer front end. Those are now going for about the same price… Out of all the bikes of my youth, that one was my favorite.
Oh oh, the seller lowered their asking price to $1,500. It’s getting closer…
Gaaaa! It’s sold at $1,500! I was hoping it’d get down to $500… bummer.