johnnyboxer Posted September 30, 2004 Report Share Posted September 30, 2004 (edited) Got to be a Yamaha of one sort or another........ BUT.........is it the TY175..........TY80....... OR TY250 Mono....... Which sold the most...................my guess it's a TY175 Plus it was the base for specials like the Majesty and Whitehawk Everybody seems to have had one and you still see plenty still going strong after 25 years from new. Why were Yamaha so strong???????? Price? Build Quality? Reliability? Rideability? Sure they weren't the most competitive or radical............but this was part of their success...............certainly the best trial bike for the masses...... closely followed by the TY250 Mono What's your view..........did you have a TY175 ?? Edited September 30, 2004 by Johnnyboxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
social climber Posted September 30, 2004 Report Share Posted September 30, 2004 Yamaha released the most radical bike out since the Bultaco 2S of sammy miller's due to them being the first to the punch with a single linkage shocked rear end. They seemed less radical as they weren't being show cased at the top end of the sport by a factory team. Since then their bullet proof reputation as well as their ease of use has probably accounted for their continued demand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuessenhigh Posted September 30, 2004 Report Share Posted September 30, 2004 Yep...I had a TY175...wish I'd kept it too!..mind you..I'd rather be on my Beta Rev3 nowadays Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian r Posted September 30, 2004 Report Share Posted September 30, 2004 (edited) I would have thought that the TL 125 would have been in the running for most popular too. Granted, not the most competetive of bikes, but they were and still are popular. The TY may have it because it was built for many more years. The TL was only built from 1973 - 1976. Edited September 30, 2004 by Brian R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuessenhigh Posted September 30, 2004 Report Share Posted September 30, 2004 Theres a guy here in HOng Kong with 2 TL125's.....Keep trying to get him to sell me one but he wont!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted September 30, 2004 Report Share Posted September 30, 2004 I too had a TY175, I beat that thing senseless, but it kept going. Seems like nothing could stop it. I do wish that I had not sold it many years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyboxer Posted September 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2004 I would have thought that the TL 125 would have been in the running for most popular too. Granted, not the most competetive of bikes, but they were and still are popular. The TY may have it because it was built for many more years. The TL was only built from 1973 - 1976. I had a Honda TL150 SM Hi Boy (good bike, but heavy and awkward ccompared to the TY175)..........before selling it to buy my TY175 in 1979. I reckon you're wrong Brian with a TL125 as the most popular Trials bike of all time (they were a rarity back in the 70's at a Trial)............ I bet Mitsui Yamaha sold 10-15 TY175's to every TL125, that Honda UK sold.......back in the 70's. TY175's were everywhere back then ............... and even now there's a TY175 listed for sale on a daily basis on Ebay UK, not to mention the ones on the USA Ebay site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin j Posted September 30, 2004 Report Share Posted September 30, 2004 Interesting to see the popularity of the 175 over there. In the states, the 250 twin shock shows up on ebay probably in the ratios of 10 yellow 250A, to 1 or 2 TY175, to 1 or less TY250 blue models. TY350 about like the 250 blue in numbers. 250 mono is very rare here, only if brought in from Canada. I have some of all of these, and like the 175 by far better than 250 twin shock. But moving from twin shock to the mono was a huge leap forward in its time. so where do they all go? I have one almost pristine looking 175 that was parked outside along a garage, under the drip edge. The gas cap shrunk (as normal) and fell off evidentally. Water got in the tank, into the carb, into the crankcase. and its all one rusted mess. I bought it cheap knowing it was stuck but not that stuck. So i suppose many are still parked out behind the cabins and in garages and on ranches somewhere. As the old racing saying goes, the older I get, the faster I was, and the better the bikes were. NOT! kcj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toofasttim Posted September 30, 2004 Report Share Posted September 30, 2004 I have a funny feeling you're all wrong. I remember reading a few years ago that the most popular OFF-ROAD motorcycle ever produced (Yamaha PW50 excepted) was the Montesa Cota 348 with some 15,000 units. I never checked the figures but It's worth thinking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted September 30, 2004 Report Share Posted September 30, 2004 15,000, think not, more like 1500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagecota Posted October 1, 2004 Report Share Posted October 1, 2004 15,700 to be exact! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted October 1, 2004 Report Share Posted October 1, 2004 just the 348? that's amazing, over what period of time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toofasttim Posted October 1, 2004 Report Share Posted October 1, 2004 Dabster, must have been four years. The 348 was released in '76 and replaced by the 349 (vile beast, kept snapping in two) in '80. Incidently, the Japs are very coy with production numbers and change model numbers every year. I can't even think what the numbers are for, say, a KDX 200 variant. Also, Mont produce about 4000 units a year and the 315 has been in production since '96, so 9 x 4000 = 36000 units! I'd say a 315 is the most popular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perce Posted October 1, 2004 Report Share Posted October 1, 2004 Dabster, must have been four years. The 348 was released in '76 and replaced by the 349 (vile beast, kept snapping in two) in '80. I think you are wrong here, it was the earlier 348's which had a habit of snapping in two. You are right that the 349 was crap it had the turning circle of a super tanker & was far too long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toofasttim Posted October 1, 2004 Report Share Posted October 1, 2004 I think you are wrong here, it was the earlier 348's which had a habit of snapping in two. You are right that the 349 was crap it had the turning circle of a super tanker & was far too long. Mine did! Headstock looked like it had a nasty scab around it by the time I sold it. In it's defence though it was a pre-production, ex Ulf Karlsson bike. Later models had a different mounting system for the bashplate. I assume that mine transferred all the stresses from the bashplate to the headstock. Didn't help that I loved doing wheelie turns up 3m banks! We got the painted plastic tanks that bubbled like good vintage champagne. The bike looked pretty grotty towards the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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