Caution: this is a small motorcycle; not everyone will like it or take it seriously. I just wanted to get that disclaimer out of the way for those of you who think they’re only for kids or folks who aren’t serious about cross-country riding. This 1968 Yamaha AS1-C, sometimes seen as YAS1-C, 125 Scrambler can be found here on Facebook Marketplace in La Grange, Kentucky, and the seller is asking $3,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Pnuts for the tip!
Those of us who grew up with small motorcycles like this 125 Yamaha will typically have great memories of these little things, even if we’ve graduated to big street bikes that are capable of hopping on and riding to South America or Alaska. I guess a person could do that on this 125, and it might make for a profitable YouTube channel, but you’d have to be braver than I am. This Yamaha ad says, “Things happen when a cool operator, a warm chick, and a hot Yamaha get together.”
The “C” part of the model name refers to the Scrambler bits, such as the braced handlebars, upswept exhaust pipes, and boots on the front shocks. The regular AS1/YAS1 has lower pipes and doesn’t have the crossbar on the handlebars for extra strength for light off-road duty. Make mine a scrambler every single time. This example looks like an absolute gem, but the seller says it’s in original condition. Yamaha made this model between around 1967 and 1970, give or take.
This time capsule has just 1,647 miles on it, which is pretty amazing after almost six decades on the planet. It’s sad that it wasn’t used more, making memories for dozens of kids and adults alike, but then again, the next owner can say they have a motorcycle that looks almost like new and has fewer than 1,700 miles on it. If that’s anything to care about, and I know it is for some people. I can’t say too much, as I have a Honda CB200T with 650’ish miles and I don’t use it enough. I’d trade in a heartbeat for this 125 Yamaha, though. I’m a Yamaha guy first and foremost.
The super clean engine is Yamaha’s 124-cc two-stroke parallel twin with 15 horsepower and 10 lb-ft of torque. Power for this 216-pound bike is sent through a 5-speed manual to the rear wheel, of course, and it has Yamaha’s famous Autolube oil-injection system. The seller says it runs and drives fine, and I’d love to own this one. Are any of you into small motorcycles like this Yamaha? If so, what do you have, or what did you have?
Ladies and gentlemen, new writers take note, the master is back( round of applause) I mean no disrespect to the new writers, but Scotty has been here since the beginning, wait, so have I, and always refreshing when his posts appear.
Unless I missed it, the author has a Yamaha Twin 100, that I believe morphed into this bike. While I’m the person who mocks small bikes, we must remember, back then, there were no big bikes, except Harley. Motorcycling then was pretty confined to the city, and small bikes inundated cities that had a college. When the norm was 50cc step thru Hondas, or home made mini-bikes, the 125 twin here was actually quite a bike. Not sure about it’s “scrambler” abilities, although I’m positive many trashed these doing so, this bike could do a “claimed” 75mph, but 65 was more like it, but would leave a Honda S90, Hondas “big” bike at the time, in a cloud of smoke. And smoke they did. Mainly because oil wasn’t what it is today, and people ran these things on moms 3&1 oil in a pinch. I remember oil dripping out of the pipes. Once folks began venturing out of cities, it was clear, 2 strokes days were numbered. As a kid, you would have been king of the neighborhood with one of these. Great find, doesn’t appear to have been dumped, just wasn’t that much fun, I suppose.