Yamaha's color code system

hamamatsu

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I don't know if any of you will believe this or not, back in the mid 1970s, I bought a 1971 XS1B 650 Yam off of the original owner. It was made in November of 1971, it had the drum front brake with the black rubber plugs, no electric start and the rear shock covers were painted to match the tank and side covers. The tank and side covers were factory painted 1972 Brilliant Red instead of the 1971 Candy Orange color. The original owner and the Yamaha shop swear it came out of the crate that way. If I had a scanner, I could post some photos taken in 1974.

Have any of you heard of Yamaha doing this at year end production ?
 
Wonder what the model year cut off was as far as change over? I suppose you could compare the serial number to the model ID chart? Here on this page it gives you know, from this # to this # was a 197X and the next year starts with serial xxxxxx . I guess you don't have the bike now though?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_XS_650
 
I don't own the bike now and have lost track of it. The point is that it was definately a 1971 flying 1972 colors. The bike was kick start only with drum front brake. If memory serves me well, 1972 was the first year with front disc brake and electric start.

Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Mine is an '81 special the chart says is supposed to be silver or black, but it's red. The title says red as well.
 
I don't own the bike now and have lost track of it. The point is that it was definately a 1971 flying 1972 colors. The bike was kick start only with drum front brake. If memory serves me well, 1972 was the first year with front disc brake and electric start.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

I have the same issue I have a 1970 xs and the stock color is green,and its presently blue.
 
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I don't know if any of you will believe this or not, back in the mid 1970s, I bought a 1971 XS1B 650 Yam off of the original owner. It was made in November of 1971, it had the drum front brake with the black rubber plugs, no electric start and the rear shock covers were painted to match the tank and side covers. The tank and side covers were factory painted 1972 Brilliant Red instead of the 1971 Candy Orange color. The original owner and the Yamaha shop swear it came out of the crate that way. If I had a scanner, I could post some photos taken in 1974.

Have any of you heard of Yamaha doing this at year end production ?
Yes - same thing happened to me....I have a 1972 XS2 but the engine is a XS1 engine (no starter motor), the paint is candy read/white and the front end has the drum brake like XS1 and XS1B....everything else on the bike is XS1 like the handcontrols....but the registration number says 1972....???? By the way - I live in Sweden....
 
And I bought my Canadian '84 Heritage Special NOS in '86 with this 2-tone tank on it that none of the colour charts I've seen will admit to.
IMG_0028.JPG
 
Seems like Yamaha took what they had on the shelfs when they put the bikes together...The strange thing with my XS2 is that the engine is a none-starter engine but the engine number is from 1972....first year with the starter motor...??
And I bought my Canadian '84 Heritage Special NOS in '86 with this 2-tone tank on it that none of the colour charts I've seen will admit to.
View attachment 116509
 
You Europe guys had different mix and match year Yamies.

So my XS2 is really a XS1B but sold as XS2 in 1972 and with the candy red and white paint....XS1B should have the golden paint job...so I guess my bike is a strange mix of models...
an XS2 but with no starter motor and with the XS1 front end with drumbrake...???
 
Some strange things happened.
In Australia there was a very small number of black XS2 at the end of the production run after all the others were sold out.
(But black doesn't appear in any of the XS2 brochures or documentation).
 
Some strange things happened.
In Australia there was a very small number of black XS2 at the end of the production run after all the others were sold out.
(But black doesn't appear in any of the XS2 brochures or documentation).

I guess the mixed models came at the end of production years and the "original" parts are all gone - so they mix older and newer parts to get a complete bike...I guess mine was the same - was built late 1971 but recorded as a 1972...strange that they changed the color to candy red but the rest of the bike stayed XS1 model....AND then they put an engine from XS1 in but with engine number from 1972...?? Very strange...
 
And I bought my Canadian '84 Heritage Special NOS in '86 with this 2-tone tank on it that none of the colour charts I've seen will admit to.
View attachment 116509[/QUOT
I hade the same Canadian Heritage model ( mine was from 83) with same black and brown two tone tank. If I am wright, Yamaha called this color LMM or Legato Maroon, Yamaha color code 008J. At first I found this combination of brown and black a little strange, but later it grew on me, specially because there were not much of this color imported to Holland. ( 75 of all models were originally newYamaha Black in those days. Now still own a heritage, but it, a USA version with the spoke wheels.
 
Here in Oz on fleaflay a guy was selling a 77D. The bike had all the markings of a C with the 34mm forks, 76 Gauges and a low profile standard 74-76 seat, and production date was very late 76. The tins and ID Number was 77.

Yamaha Brochure of a Blue, orange and Black 73TX
1 1b.jpg 1 1l.jpg 1 1p.jpg
 
Another forum member earlier mentioned that Yamaha in those days often launged a new model, but also keep using up bike parts of the older models, till the stock was gone. That makes it sometimes for us difficult to identify a special bike. On of the reasons why Jerry v.d. Heiden, XS specialist and my bike repair man, always aked for details when a client wanted parts for his bike.
 
I thought my eyes were good..........i must be colour blind, I bow to your greater knowledge on these earlier bikes.
 
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