Old Motorcycles Never Die

Old Motorcycles Never Die

by Andy McGechan | www.BikesportNZ.com
June 19, 2012

Just like old soldiers, it seems it’s also old Yamaha motorcycles that never die.

More than 38 years after it first rolled off the production line, Stan Jones’ old Yamaha MX360 two-stroke still starts up first kick and pumps out a prodigious amount of horsepower right until it’s time to pack up and go home at the end of the day.

The 1974-model Yamaha bike and 1968-model Taranaki man are a great combination, Jones riding his beloved MX360 every chance he gets, mostly at vintage motocross events around the lower North Island.

“A friend sold it to me in parts ... it cost me about $2000 and just needed finishing off. It’s probably valued at about $6000 now and worth every penny,” said the 43-year-old Jones, a machine operator at Fonterra.

“I’m winning races on this bike and all it needs is to change the gearbox oil, clean the air filter and change the spark plug once in a while. It’s pretty maintenance-free actually.

“You really don’t need to do anything fancy with them. They don’t need much work.

“I always wanted one of these bikes because they were the machines to have back in the 1970s, either an MX360 or a YZ360A. The MX model is more of a trail bike version, while the YZ was the racing variety.

“These bikes were from the era that really spawned modern motocross. That was the appeal for me. This was the era when everything was happening in the evolution of the sport,” he explained.

“You can take these old bikes and update the suspension to make them handle better but you don’t need to do anything to the motor. These bikes are bullet-proof. There is horsepower to burn.”

Jones is part of a growing vintage motocross fraternity in New Zealand, the bike owners lavishing time on their bikes to such a degree that many look as good as the day they were first wheeled out of the factory.

And while these bikes are still going strong after nearly 40 years, the signs are good that today’s superior motorcycles will also still be going strong in another 40 years.

The modern Yamaha YZ250F or WR250F models are currently used in a variety of sporting codes, from motocross to cross-country and enduro events, as well as being operated day-to-day by the country’s thousands of hard-working farmers.

ENDS

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