Having grown up with Yamahas, we haven’t really seen that many of them here on Barn Finds over the years, at least compared to Hondas. This 1972 Yamaha CT175 CT2 can be found here on Facebook Marketplace in beautiful Lexington, Kentucky, and the seller is asking basically nothing at all for this sweet two-wheeler: $850. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Pnuts for the tip!
Yamaha referred to this color as Brilliant Red, and we saw a somewhat similar one less than a month ago here on Barn Finds, but that’s it for this model. We’ve only seen one other Yamaha 175, and it was a later DT175, which we saw, oddly enough, just two months ago here on Barn Finds! After saying we haven’t seen many Yamahas, I uncovered two 175s in the last two months, dang. Thanks to the eagle-eyed readers for finding these sweet machines.
Yamaha made the CT series of 175s between 1969 and 1973, and despite having been parked for 15 years, this one is a killer deal. It’s hard to find almost any nice-looking motorcycle of any size for $850 these days. Cycle World called this bike “A nimble street-legal mount for the casual dirt rider. Versatile. Maneuverable. Quiet.” There are a few cosmetic things to do here, but it’s worth a gamble at this price.
Trying a few different methods to clean and polish the original chrome is a must, rather than trying to find a chrome shop in 2026 that’s still in business; there are fewer and fewer each year. And if there is one, they’re typically backed up months, if not longer. I’ve mentioned too many times that I really like a 175 on/off bike for its medium-is-good-enough size for most folks. We all know this isn’t a freeway bike, it’s for taking regular streets to where the trails are and then having fun off-road.
The engine is Yamaha’s 171-cc single-cylinder, a two-stroke, 16-horsepower, oil-injected honey of a powerplant that sends its power through a 5-speed manual. The seller says it hasn’t run in 15 years, and there is no title, but neither of those things should be an insurmountable issue to overcome. The seat cover looks a little wonky, and I’ve never seen the added buddy seat on the back; that’s pretty cool for bike show duty. Any thoughts on this one? Could you bring it back to life again?
This is so nice it’s already sold! Another 175 that punched above its weight. With a seat pad on the luggage rack you could get 3 skinny kids to town.
In some countries, you can bring the whole extended family to town on your motorcycle!
As the ole sayin goes, “$20K and 200 miles don’t make you a biker.” I love these old bikes from the 60’s and 70’s. First ride was a Honda 50 at 6 years old and I never looked back. YZ 125, XL250 Honda 360 Bultaco and then into HD’s. At 64 I still get out and take a putt on the Roadglide that I purchased new in 09. The Bultaco was the only one that ever scared me! It is not as safe out there as it once was, but the call of the wind never stops.
“We don’t quit riding because we got old,
We got old because we quit riding..”
The best therapy for all that ails one, sir. Well said.
Someone got a screaming deal!!
No, not again,meh, that was 40 years ago,,,I simply can’t refuse a SG post. Even though this was exactly like the guys bike that, um, never returned, the bike itself is certainly worthy of note. I still maintain my stance on the 250 the least, in a single, the 175 Honda twin was an entirely different bike. A heck of a lot more civil than a one lung ring ding dirt bike, shown here. The Honda was a viable choice for a “do-it-all” bike, these were meant to be trashed, and trash we did. Headlight, tail light, gauges, turn signals, foot pegs, all went missing, or torn off, then little brother or sister took their turn at trying to kill it, none successful. Which makes these so hard to find, usually after the “mishap”, ( note bent right foot peg and possible right mirror missing) few got back on, with 2,000 miles, what I suspect here. Good find, just stay off the road. If you can find a gal that will ride on that pee-pad back seat, I suggest you marry her,,
Thru a family connection I got a job at the Yamaha dealership as a cleanup, gopher, apprentice when these first came out. I was about 13yrs old so it was really cool!
One day I thought everyone was in the back so got on the bike acting like I’m riding and making bike sounds. Got caught red handed and they never let me live it down. That’s when I developed a wicked sense of humor…and revenge!
You could put the CT cylinder and piston on a AT and make it a beast but don’t get caught in competition doing so lol
Many moons ago a customer gave me one of these for his bar bill. (I owned a bar and got more than a few jewels for bar bills)
I love the living daylights out of it until I somehow managed to flip it over backwards on top of me. Wife said it had to go.
Got 600 bucks for it from some crazy dude. (and that was in the early 80’s)