Most peoples’ basements are filled with boxes of moldering old magazines, holiday ornaments, clothes destined for Goodwill, and maybe the odd dry well for storing kidnapping victims, but at least one individual has a nice vintage Yamaha TA125 racebike hiding in theirs. A relatively inexpensive production racebike, the TA filled a gap in Yamaha’s racing lineup and paved the way for the TZ series that followed.
Prior to the TA125, if you wanted to go racing on a small Yamaha, you were kind of stuck. You had to start with a roadbike, either a YAS1 or AS2 and then add some Genuine Yamaha Tuning parts: heads, clutch, expansion chambers, and a wide variety of sprockets to suit next weekend’s racetrack. Unlike the 250 and 350cc machines, the TA125 wasn’t a pure racing machine and used many parts from the AS3 and RD125 models, meaning lower performance and higher weight than might have been possible with a dedicated track weapon. The upside was easier parts availability and lower running costs, a big bonus for privateers, and the bike proved to be popular among budget racers.
From the original eBay listing: 1974 Yamaha TA125 for Sale
You are bidding on a 1973 Yamaha TA125 production roadracer. This bike currently has a Yamaha RD125 bottom end installed. This was done for vintage racing purposes where the 6 speed transmission of the RD125 is allowed. The matching numbers TA125 bottom end is included as well as the RD125 top end. This bike has the original, uncut exhaust stingers for a sound that transports you right back to the 70’s. There is also a set of muffled expansion chambers for vintage racing. The bike has the original, undamaged, baffled alloy tank and the original tail section. Since the US version of the bike was usually delivered without a fairing, this bike was fitted with an early 1980’s fiberglass fairing. There is some documentation and some pictures from the previous owner. This bike has the original owner’s manual, a copied parts manual as well as a Clymer repair manual. The most important feature of this bike is the extensive spare parts kit including cylinders, heads, pistons, rings, seals and gaskets.
This bike was last used at the Loudon / Belknap Cup vintage weekend in 2001 at which point a new clutch was installed by Crowns Racing. The bike has been stored in a climate controlled basement since then and is now offered for sale.
There hasn’t been much interest so far and there are just a couple days left on the auction. With a starting bid of $8,999.00 and no takers as yet, is the bike priced a bit too high, or has it just not found the right buyer? It’s obviously not completely original, but period-appropriate racing modifications shouldn’t really hurt the value too much. It’s not mentioned whether or not the bike currently runs, but certainly this example is in excellent cosmetic shape, considering the age. And the extensive spares package would mean less time scrounging eBay for parts and more time racing.
-tad
It rubs the lotion on it’s skin.
It does this when it’s told to.