1969 Yamaha CT1 Background

In my opinion, I believe that the Yamaha CT1 is a great introduction to the world of vintage motorcycles. Parts are easy to come by and can be rather affordable. From 1969-1973 Yamaha introduced the CT1 to become an affordable motorcycle to ride around town and take to the track on the weekends. Some say this is the start to the popular “enduro” craze of motorcycling. These bikes were powered by a 175cc two-stroke mated to a 5-speed gearbox, producing around 14 horsepower.

Most CT1’s came with lights, luggage racks, turn signals, and other street-legal requirements. This example of the CT1 has none of those and limited the wiring harness to purely activate spark to the spark plug. Many people did customizations like these to show the pure race bike that was underneath the chassis hidden by eluding wires and it represents what this bike can do on the track. I have owned this bike for a few months now and there hasn’t been a time I was riding, that I wasn’t smiling because of the pure enjoyment and adrenaline rush between myself and the handlebars.

It truly brings back to the popular quote of “the most fun you can have on two wheels." A great bike to use for hare scrambles and enduros for ahrma competitions. Power boosts like this Bassani exhaust were inexpensive additions to set yourself apart from the competition in that era. Some people may not appreciate this bike because of its lack of originality, but it shows a different category regarding restorations. This bike shows what kind of bike Yamaha could have, and this is why I chose to keep the design instead of restoring it to roam the streets again. Everyone has the bike that Yamaha designed, but this is the bike that Yamaha should have designed.