Yamaha Motor Co Japan

tx650

tx650

XS650 Enthusiast
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Has anyone ever told the engineer working for Yamaha in the 60s and designing the awesome XS1.
Here is a product of excellence and reliability,even with the stock swingarm bushes and headstem bearings.Once you have sorted out what you can and can't do on these mighty machines the rest is history.
I for one have very fond memories of my 1st "real bike" in the early 70s and carried on from there,having my pride and joy with me everyday whether it be rain hail or shine I had complete faith in my trusty Yam and she would never let me down,it was a mutual respect we had for each other.
So from what I can see on this site there are the newcomers helping to preserve a piece of motorcycling history.To them I can only say one thing and that is enjoy the moment and never take your bike for granted,she is special and deserves all the respect one can give.To the engineer in Japan I say thank you for giving me many years of motorcycling pleasure you are also awesome.
 
Being a Japanese company, it was more likely a team of engineers. And they did like they always do, and reverse engineered a popular design. It's not like they invented the parallel twin. Hey, it still works for them, and for you as well. Ever notice how much a Lexus looks like a Mercedes? Just sayin'..
 
If you read a little history you will find they didn't really reverse engineer the 650.
The 650 started out a German bike. A Horex 500 cc twin. They went under. and Showa, not the fork people, bought it, called it a Hosk, They went under. Yamaha bought it.
Each company made a few changes. Yamaha made a few changes as well as upping the cc's to 650.
So you see they just continued it's evolution.
It really don't matter how the bike got here just be happy it did.
 
Yamaha bought it because they were under the mistaken impression it was a piano. Something about a poor translation. Since they had a motorcycle engine now, they said let's build motorcycles and pianos both. And the rest is history.
 
I hear what U r saying Tech
We produce a v8 Commodore that is being driven around the middle east by the Sheiks because they are that good the only thing is they are rebadged.They are also used by the Highway Patrol in the states also being rebadged as a Pontiac (I think)
Xs Leo,you will probably find out that Norton was also looking at the Horex for an engine to fit the commando.What a small world it is hey.
 
The German Horex doesn't really have anything to do with the XS650. If you look at them there are lots of major differences. I'm sure the Showa/Hosk guys used the Horex for inspiration though. The XS650 definitely looks different than Yamaha's other bikes though.

I could be wrong though. If anyone has some engine diagrams of the Horex and Hosk I'd like to see them.
 
The 650 started out a German bike. A Horex 500 cc twin. They went under. and Showa, not the fork people, bought it, called it a Hosk, They went under. Yamaha bought it.
Each company made a few changes. Yamaha made a few changes as well as upping the cc's to 650.


quoted a few posts up.
 
I think thats why they are there.
I think it also explains the head breather. As two stroke people they new how much crank case vaccum and pressure is effected by piston travel. To elimanate it they went a little bit over board at first, then as time went by they corrected it and went a bit to far the other way.
 
pyrocentric said:
The German Horex doesn't really have anything to do with the XS650. If you look at them there are lots of major differences. I'm sure the Showa/Hosk guys used the Horex for inspiration though. The XS650 definitely looks different than Yamaha's other bikes though.

I could be wrong though. If anyone has some engine diagrams of the Horex and Hosk I'd like to see them.
Click to expand...

If you look at the Friedel Munch version of the Horex, which was sold by Floyd Clymer in the US as an Indian, you can see there is a strong ressemblance to the XS-1 which came out a couple of years later.

indian-horex.jpg
 
The needle bearing small end was dropped less than halfway through the first model year and should never have made it to production, but Yamaha was in a hurry to get what was then a big 4-stroke to market. There's a reason why the XS650 engine bears no family resemblance to any other Yamaha 4-stroke: the XS650 was adopted (and that didn't make it any less loved).

Clymer's was the second attempt to revive the Indian marque with imported iron: Indian's last gasp involved rebadging Velocette thumpers as Scouts and Royal Enfield Interceptors as Chiefs. I figured the brand was jinxed, but the current revival was a roaring success; the third time was the charm.
 
Like the Toyota. Took others ideas and made them better. Even the production line with work ethic. I live in Honda region. At one time 50k plus Ohio jobs were Honda or a Honda supplier. It’s been said recently that Honda isn’t near the place to work it used to be. The problem, to many Americans got in upper management roles. Took away Good Friday as a paid holiday and replaced it with MLK day. Don’t know if this is true but it wouldn’t surprise me.
 
grizld1 said:
The needle bearing small end was dropped less than halfway through the first model year and should never have made it to production, but Yamaha was in a hurry to get what was then a big 4-stroke to market. There's a reason why the XS650 engine bears no family resemblance to any other Yamaha 4-stroke: the XS650 was adopted (and that didn't make it any less loved).

Clymer's was the second attempt to revive the Indian marque with imported iron: Indian's last gasp involved rebadging Velocette thumpers as Scouts and Royal Enfield Interceptors as Chiefs. I figured the brand was jinxed, but the current revival was a roaring success; the third time was the charm.
Click to expand...

I wished they would drop "the piston pin oscillates in a needle bearing" from page 3-72 of the genuine Yamaha workshop manual 1974-1977 which even bears their part number LIT-11616-01-52.
 
Some pragmatic history. The UJM of 67 was 250 -350 cc and mostly 2 strokes Honda excepted, and Harley and the English bikes were of course 500 -1200 cc. JAPAN INC. needed big 4strokes to break into the big market. Yamaha and Kawasaki chose a path of emulate the competition and offer better build quality and reliable electronics. Honda went the big CB route and Suzuki IIRC sat on the sidelines for a few years.
 
Interesting that not only did the Horex engine directly inspire the XS650, it looks very similar to Honda's 305cc CB77 of 1961 (without the squared-off cooling fins) and even more like the CB350 of 1972. With its unit construction, OHC with camchain running between the cylinders and central crankshaft main bearing, it was miles ahead of the British twins of the 50s and 60s and perhaps the blueprint for a generation of Japanese twins.


horex engine.jpg
 
Bob DeBilde said:
Interesting that not only did the Horex engine directly inspire the XS650, it looks very similar to Honda's 305cc CB77 of 1961 (without the squared-off cooling fins) and even more like the CB350 of 1972. With its unit construction, OHC with camchain running between the cylinders and central crankshaft main bearing, it was miles ahead of the British twins of the 50s and 60s and perhaps the blueprint for a generation of Japanese twins.


View attachment 196415
Click to expand...
I had one of those (CB77) back in the late 60's. Which I had it now.
 

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