Yamaha is one of the four big Japanese motorcycle companies along with Honda, Kawasaki, and Suzuki. The Yamaha Motor Company, which is the division of Yamaha Corporation that handles all vehicles, first entered the field in July of 1955. While some other vehicle companies enter the field with relatively little background or advantage, Yamaha Motors drew on the experience and research of the other branches of the corporation to get a leg up. In particular, designers used the research and innovative developments into metal alloys from the acoustic pianos Yamaha produced to create lightweight but incredibly durable metal frames and parts for their motorcycles and other vehicles (Yamaha also produces all-terrain vehicles, automobile engines, and watercraft).
Yamaha Motor Company was created by Yamaha Corporation founder Torakusu Yamaha, a watchmaker who rose to become president of Nippon Gakki Co., which would later become Yamaha Corporation. While the company began as a manufacturer of musical instruments, Yamaha was keen on branching out. The first Yamaha motorcycle, which was launched in February of 1955, was the 1 YA-1. It had a single-cylinder two-stroke 125 cc engine. It quickly gained fame when it was the winning motorcycle in the 1955 Mount Fuki Ascent Race, the first race in which it was used. This basic engine model would be used for over ten years.
Yamaha has continued to produce a number of amazing motorcycles, including the XT500, which won the first Paris-Dakar Rally, and the YZ400F, the first mass produced four-stroke motocross bike. In 1994, they created the Star Motorcycles brand to market their cruiser bikes in America.
The company offers a wide variety of motorcycles and similar vehicles such as scooters. They have everything from 50 cc to 1,900 cc engines and produce lines of cruisers, sport bikes, off-road bikes, and sport touring motorcycles.
If you love Yamaha, show your support by wearing a Yamaha motorcycle patch or two on your riding jacket.
