Buying the YG1.. and bringing it home.

Hi Guys...

I've been keeping an eye out for a cheap Yamaha 2-stroke for a cheap runabout and I found out about this bike in Alor Setar which is around 300kms (@190miles) north of Kuala Lumpur where I work and live.

I requested the owner to send me a video .. well all that proved was that it started.



I did some investigating and found that it was a Yamaha YG1.. Not much info on the web..so I made a trip to Alor Setar.

Well I saw the bike in the flesh .. started it up and it was running for a while. I then shut it down to check the numbers (even though the seller had sent me close-ups of the engine and chassis number together with the registration card). When I tried to start it up it wouldn't start! Took about 20kicks before it started up! Probably flooded the carb.. once it started I took it for a ride .. felt a bit funny as my current ride is a 750 Kawasaki!

Plus points

• Owner claims clean title.
• Engine and chassis numbers match the registration card.
• Pretty much all there.
• It seems to be an older restoration. 
• No visible rust and the paint is in OK condition. 
• It starts.....after a few kicks.

 Negatives

•  Most of the alloy on the bike is pretty dulled and furred up (Nothing some elbow grease and metal polish can't solve!).
• The seat is obviously not original.
• Most of the chrome is pitted.
• While the paint is still ok.. the color really doesn't suit the bike.
• Even though the engine starts.. its pretty rough with a deep rumble from within the crankcase, this is usually a sign of bad bearings.. oh well.
• Throttle has a lot of play... almost half a turn before it revs the engine.
• Kicking the bike into life revealed a slipping clutch. Could be worn clutch plates.. or maybe the previous owner ran car oil ... this will cause motorcycle clutches to slip. Proper bike oils have additives to enable it to run with wet clutches. Car clutches live outside and don't get oiled unless the seals leaks. Look for MA on the oil container.. if you see it then its good for bikes.

I knocked the price down a bit and shook hands.. we then made a trip to the local JPJ (local vehicle agency) office to transfer the title. Took two hours.... that's about normal here in Malaysia.

Well now the bike was  officially mine, albeit 300kms from me. I had to head home so I left the bike in my friends place. He would sort out the insurance and road-tax (annual fee) which came to around RM156 (Less than USD40).

I first thought that I would get it shipped by train.. that's how we usually moved bikes before, but my friend suggested a bus. Did they even have space for a bike?

This is the bus... It started out as a double decker thing but they found passengers didn't like sitting on the lower lever. So they ripped out the seats and made the lower-deck a cargo space!

So the bus was duly loaded and my friend gave me the ETA of the bus in Kuala Lumpur. One bonus point was that the bus station was nearer to my house than the train-station. Furthermore, the train-station was in the middle of the city.. the bus-station was in the outskirts.. I didn't fancy riding an unfamiliar, underpowered bike thru the city centre! Well the bus was delayed about an hour and a half...Bus-drivers today have hand-phones and regularly update the office! Total cost for the bus-ride? RM150 (less than USD40).

First stop even before I got the bike home was the bike shop... the tyres were hard as a rock and probably the tubes were shot as well. On removing the front wheel we found the brake linings had come detached from the brake-shoes! That could have jammed and sent me head over heels! Really dodged a bullet there! Cost for two-tyres, two inner-tubes and a set of front brake shoes? (less than USD30). That's inclusive of labor folks.