In 1973, already living in Brasilia - DF and attending
the University of Brasilia (UnB), doing Economics, I decided to buy a Yamaha 250 cc, 1971
make (model YDS7). This motorcycle hadn't been well cared for and I bought
it without noticing a problem that wasn't apparent: the cylinder head was
cracked. During one of my constant weekend trips, travelling from Brasilia
to Goiania, due to the hot weather the crack became wider and the action of
outside air coming into the combustion chamber produced a hole in the piston
head. The two-stroke engine immediately lost power and because of that I spent
hours that day to complete my trip, counting on one cylinder only.
Historic perspective:
Consequently my destination wasn't a surprise: I went
straight to MIL workshop (MIL - Mecanica Importadora Limitada - a very famous Yamaha dealer at that time) in
Goiania; there Paulistinha gave me the "verdict" - only a complete engine
overhaul would fix my bike's problem. He would have to order all parts
from Yamaha Japan, and I would have to wait - as simple as that.
Unfortunately the ship that was carrying a huge stock of parts from Japan to
Santos (the main Brazilian port close to Sao Paulo) caught fire, and because of
that I had to wait three months to have my bike fixed. In spite of this
delay the service was done by "seu Andre" and
Arildo (one of the best Yamaha mechanics in Goiania that time). They used
parts (pistons and piston rings) of the Yamaha RD 250 recently unveiled by then,
and my bike became much better than before.
Historic perspective:
In this motorcycle I did many trips (Goiania - Brasilia -
Goiania). This bike was very fast indeed, and at that time it was an up-to-date
and very sought after motorcycle.
For me it was a far trek from my little 50cc - the Yamaha YF5 that I had owned
previously.
When this page was first published in Portuguese,
in 1999, I couldn't find any picture of this bike. Then I left a note,
where those lines are being written, asking for help. I asked for help
even from Yamaha Japan, and they replied to me saying that they would do an
extra effort in order to digitalize photos of their early bikes.
Unfortunately that didn't happen. Despite my initiative of contacting even
Yamaha collectors in the USA, New Zealand and England I couldn't on that
occasion to get a photo of a bike like mine. However my message was seen
by a young man from Belo Horizonte - MG - Brazil, and due to his initiative I
got the photo below. Many years later I could find another photo - this
time a photo showing a bike exactly like mine - through my own research at
Google; this photo is the second shown below.
"With a little help from my
friends":
This photo was kindly sent
to us by Robinson Matos from Belo Horizonte - MG, in 04/04/2001. My bike was
similar to that, except for the "drop" painted on the fuel tank: in my bike the
drop was white in colour. But my bike was identical to that shown below.
Alternatively you can access the following link in order to see many models of
this bike - a classic and quite rare Yamaha nowadays, according to my humble
opinion:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/motocollection/photos_yds7.html#
