Can you identify this bike??

[Tri Power]

Bought lastnight, but will not pick up till Sunday, sorry no frame #'s yet. The owner thought it was a '73-ish yz250, but not sure?!

[The Artist]

Pretty sure it is a Yamaha

[Nick 50]

Yamaha YZ250

74'ish model??

https://www.bikepics.com/yamaha/yz250/74/pics.asp

[Tri Power]

Thank you for the help!!!!!Im picking it up Sunday, did the come in different colors for that year? Or were they all yellow? Before I put any money into ths bike....do they have any value? Thank you.

[Teflon-Mike]

1971 Yamaha YZ250

https://www.mxworksbike.com/Hallman_1971_YZ250_Rside_800.jpg

1972 Yamaha YZ250

https://www.mxworksbike.com/1972_YZ360_750.jpg
1973 Yamaha YZ250

https://p2m.mbike.com/000/003/334/76989308_d.jpg

1973 Yamaha YZ250 Hakan Andersson Monoshock

https://www.mxworksbike.com/YZ637_bonus_e_750.jpg

1974 Yamaha YZ250

https://motorbike-search-engine.co.uk/classic-bikes-2/1974-yamaha-yz250a.jpg

https://p1.bikepics.com/2004/04/14/bikepics-135240-320.jpg

1975 Yamaha YZ250

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OqwKsmVUOO8/TMON2wRX6VI/AAAAAAAAAAM/TXbbXtgxnBo/S760/75_yz250_600.jpg

RIGHT: YZ250's through the years!

1973, Hakan Anderson, demo'd the monoshock in the World Championship, after securing enough points in the early rounds to be sure of championship victory. Often claimed to be the championship bike, but in fact he would have done it without the Mono-Suspension.

Having demo'd the mono in '73, was the full works bike for '74, mono-migrating to the 'production' YZ's for 75.

So IF its a YZ then it's pre 75.... BUT, note the ground clerance on the T-Shock YZ's of that era AND the tank mounting... all have VERY small, slim tanks, for short cuiruit races, and they are held on with external rubber straps; a YZ 'trademark' feature of the era...

There is ONE image, credited as a 74, YZ250, that looks a LOT like your bike; it has the FIM side-Panels, and the larger bolt down tank, and less ground clerance.... I think this has been wrongly titled... I DONT think your bike is a YZ....

1973 Yamaha DT250

https://classic-motorbikes.net/images/gallery/1973-dt250.jpg

1974 Yamaha DT250

https://www.bikez.com/pictures/yamaha/1974/9570_0_1_2_dt%20250_Submitted%20by%20anonymous%20user..jpg

1975 Yamaha DT250

https://p2m.mbike.com/000/002/877/57409278_d.jpg

1976 Yamaha DT250

https://www.smiffy.com/gary/images/IMG_5006.jpg

1977 Yamaha DT250 Monoshock

https://abergavennymotorcycles.co.uk/images/DT250%20001.jpg

Well, cant be a 77 DT250, becouse its a twin-shock, nor 75 or 76 model, becouse it doesn't have radial finned heads.... but COULD be 73 or 74 model.... in fact looks remarkeably similar, apart from side panels....

Is it a stripped down DT250?

There is a googlie; Septics on Yam-Forum & classic Dirt Wheels bulatin boards talk of a Yamaha 'MX' model; aprently NOT a full competition bike, like a YZ motocross machine, or IT Enduro bike; but stripped down, LIKE a Scrambler, without lights or equipment sold as a 'Farm' bike.... and descriptions offered, suggest it was basically a DT, without equipment, given some YZ panels.....

Without lights, I dont think its an IT, and twin shock, I think its too early anyway. I dont think its a YZ, it just doesn't look 'right', BUT we;re talking forty year old dirt donk; heaven knows how original it might be. Possibly stripped down DT, or possibly American 'MX' Farm bike, or home brew concoction of models, and after market plastic.

Those side panels are intreguing; up until 1974, the YZ's had triangular plates, often removed and replaced with oval race places, or having oval race plates rivoted over them.

In short very hard to tell from one blurry photo..... so really cant say, be interesting to find out more.

One thing is for sure; probably as many early Yam dirt wheels have entered this country THIS century imported from the USA as barn finds, than were ever imported 'new' in the 1970's.......

It is VERY likely to be a US model import.

And will be a frame and engine number listing job to nail down the major ingredients.

Value?

DK spares are bringing in old US Dirt Donks, and flogging them off, unrestored as barn finds, to feed the 'project' market, where there are more hopefuls looking for stuff in need of renovation than decent bikes for them to mess around with.... and where there are more people looking for bikes IN that state to play mechanics on, than there are people looking for old 'classics' to stick on pedastals and admire or hack about in very limited 'classic competition'.

I haven't looked at what's going on in the Classic Scrambles world seriousely for possibly fifteen years; when in the UK, the main classes had a 1972 cut off for to exclude the mono-shocks, and a pre-65 cut off to exclude the two strokes.

In recent years, 'Evo-Era' scramles, or whatever name they give it, has become more popular, but mainly in USA and Oz, where I'm not entirely familiar with the rules, but basically no disc brakes, no water-cooling, no 'multi-link' rear suspension; I think it allows the cantilever Yamaha Mono-Shock, and they convert multi-link Uni-Track air cooled Kwaks 'and stuff' to cantilever make them eligible....

The 'big-stink-wheels' by way of 426 Yams, 440 Kwaks and the like, seem to fetch fairly hefty prices; but the 250's dont seem to command anything like.

Early Evo-Era Yam T-Shock, I suspect would be deemed rather uninspiring, and not that sought after for that class, with so much more advanced machines eligible to race.... and possibly just a tad too young to go head to head against older more 'equivilent' Euro Rivals. (And possibly still not that competative; things like the Greeves, were as powerful, and lighter, and better suspended; The T-Shock Yams were not very competative; motors were good, but to put them on the rostrum, I understand they stuck them in things like Cheney frames)

DY's barn finds start at a couple of hundred quid, and go up to perhaps a grand, depending on model, how complete it is, and what condition. They had a beutiful '76 YZ125, first of the Mono's up not long back, think it made just over a grand in near showable 'original' unrestored condition; ready to polish and parade or stick into Evo-Era and thrash...... SORT of gives you an idea of finished bike values....

If its a DT; rediculousely, not as good a bike; but rediculousely possibly worth MORE than a YZ.....

Even more rediculousely, the early T-Shock Yam Enduro;s were considered rather uninspiring in thier day. No real wonder; the DT250 made barely 17bhp, the DT400 hardly 21.... and they were HEAVY bikes, at 155Kg, they weighed in almost the same weight as a Moto-Guzzi V50.... which had over 40bhp to play with!

The 77-on mono's were a complete revalation; the bigger models still as heavy and under powered, BUT the first to exploit long travel mono-shock suspension, they really handled... and it took a good five years or more for the competition to catch up and offer multi-link mono-shock back ends on production road bikes to beat them.....

As the 'revolutionary' models, you would expect the early mono-s to command better prices, but ironically the T-Shocks, because of rarity.....

In the UK particularly; the 250, which was learner legal, actually was robbed of sales by its 175 sibling by a large margin.... the 157 boasted almost as much power, but 2/3 the weight, and I think 2/3 the show-room price, as well as lower tax and insurance brackets AND being the better bike on teh rough-stuff!

So they do command more 'sensible' prices restored. Always hard to set a value on an old 'classic' what one might or might not sell for depends so much on whether any-one at the time really wants it, and how desperate the seller is to be rid....

They CAN fetch around £1500ish, and some bikes in really stunning condition, and with providence as to what they are and thier former history can push prices up well over £2K.... but not so often.

More 'rideable' examples, with less providence and less contientiouse restorations; I have seen struggle to reach unrealistic reserves, usually set somewhere around the build cost, often as low as £800.... or sell for that kind of price.

Its a STRANGE market.....

ONLY think you can count on, is that it will most LIKELY cost you more to restore it, than it would sell for 'restored'...... UNLESS you have something particularly special or unique, and providence for it, like it turns out to be Hakan Andersson's 'Forgotten' 73 season T-shock championship bike!

Ad on Edd: PS very few were 'yellow' especially before 1975! And even then; depends on the actual model; as to what colours it was offered in. And even where yellow was an option; usually wasn't the more popular. VERY common after-market colour though.

ADD ADD on Ed!: Been staring into the shadows of the back of the bike; impressions there were nagging at me: I THOUGHT it looked like footpegs behind the rear shocks..... whioch would definitely be DT not YZ.... but closer inspoection, MAY be remote res dampers, fitted backwards! I was pondering the seat; it looks too long to be YZ, certainly not 72, a bit more 73..

Its's looking a bit more YZ'ish but I still wouldn't stake anything on it... but we are in the 1973/74/75 ish era....
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[sickpup]

1974 YZ250, the give away is the silencer on the left side of the bike and the tank + fill point.

[Nexus Icon]

It's whichever this one is on Tef's list...

https://p1.bikepics.com/2004/04/14/bikepics-135240-320.jpg
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Greetings from Shitsville!

[Mrjoolz]

Xt100 perhaps

[Teflon-Mike]

[yambabe]

it's a 1973 SC500
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Sod falling in love, I wanna fall in chocolate.

[yambabe]

https://vintagemx.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/sc500_73.jpg

It's a US import. When it came out it was supposed to be the quickest 2-stroke available at the time, the adverts said "earth-shattering acceleration"
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Sod falling in love, I wanna fall in chocolate.

[Tri Power]

Ok...I got the bike home today...it's a '73 MX 250. Sucker wont start, has power going to the CDI box from the Mag., but nothing going to the coil, so no spark! Any quick fixes for this?? Any help is appreciated! And any used parts out there, I also need the plastic right side cover, air cleaner assembly,right side engine alum. cover. Thank you all.

[Teflon-Mike]

[Tri Power]

Well, I am planning on doing a semi resto. Trying to get my kids into my job field, if nothing less, give them some mechanical exp. I got a faint spark from the plug, but now....none again?! Maybe do some ohm testing and see if theirs a broke circuit ect..... If all else fails, part the bike, or sell whole. It is a matching # bike.

[Teflon-Mike]

[Tri Power]

Well easier said then done..this modle has the CDI Ign.?!?! The box is like $350.......yikessssssss.

[stinkwheel]

[stinkwheel]

Might be worth bodging a CDI off some other stroker onto it? I doubt it'll have an advance curve. TZR or similar?
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Teflon-Mike]