Auto Show Coverage y125_main

Published on December 4th, 2011 | by Jo Borrás

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Yamaha Y125 Concept Bike Gets 220 MPG (!)

When Yamaha announced it had stopped developing Japanese-market motorcycles over 250 cc back in August, everyone (myself included) thought it was the beginning of the end for the company’s sexy motorcycle designers. We needn’t have worried; Yamaha’s latest (revealed at last week’s Tokyo Motor Show) is this 220 mpg (188 mpg US), 80 kg, 125 cc cruiser called Y125 … and it. Is. Gorgeous!

The attention to detail Yamaha put into the Y125 is amazing, combining a quiet belt drive system, featherwight aluminum frame, ultra light-weight brakes, and more, to deliver a simple, elegant, and stunning reinterpretation of the YA-1, Yamaha’s first-ever motorcycle. All that lightweight tech should generate a more thrilling ride than the old YA-1 could ever deliver, though, since the Y125 weighs almost 40% less than its ancestor, while getting nearly twice the power out of the 125 “world engine” (currently seeing active duty in Yamaha’s YBR 125, albeit in less pretty/polished form).

Yamaha’s Y125 is just a concept, at this point, but definitely points the way ahead for Yamaha’s next generation of small cruisers, themselves set to do market battle with bikes like Kawasaki’s Eliminator 125 and Sym’s Wolf 125 … and possibly Yamaha’s own line of 125 cc scooters.

Expect a production version of the Y125 to show up at next year’s EICMA show in Italy. Until then, however, you’ll just have to join me in drooling over the photographs, below.

Gizmag has a great, high-resolution gallery of about 30 more photos of Yamaha’s Y125 if you just can’t get enough. CLICK HERE to go there.

Source | Photos: Yamaha, via Gizmag.



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About the Author

I've been involved in motorsports and tuning since 1997, and write for a number of blogs in the Important Media network. You can find me on Twitter, Skype (jo.borras) or Google+.



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  • http://importantmedia.org/members/susannaschick/ Susanna Schick

    FYI- I spoke with some of the Yamaha reps at the bike show in Long Beach and they said they are doing their best to get the head office in Japan to send this bike to the New York show. I’d fly out just to touch it…

  • http://www.drjaywortman.com Jay Wortman MD

    Sign me up! I would buy this in a heartbeat. No comparison to the other bikes mentioned here – the Kaw and the Sym’s.

  • http://www.caldas.com.br/30anos/index_engl.html Ricardo Carvalho da Rocha Lima

    If we had such a beauty in Brazil I would go for it immediately. I have fond memories of my 1969 Yamaha YF5 (http://www.caldas.com.br/30anos/anos701_engl.htm).

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