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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: canuck750 on August 05, 2019, 09:13:46 PM

Title: RARE Yankee Craigslist
Post by: canuck750 on August 05, 2019, 09:13:46 PM: I have never seen one of these for sale, let alone one with such low mileage and this condition! A better investment than the S&P 500

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/mcy/d/shrewsbury-1973-yankee-500z/6950404926.html

(https://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg217/canuck750/CRASH/00a0a_hakYhsgJirr_1200x900_zpsol7z11t9.jpg) (https://s249.photobucket.com/user/canuck750/media/CRASH/00a0a_hakYhsgJirr_1200x900_zpsol7z11t9.jpg.html)
Title: Re: RARE Yankee Craigslist
Post by: blackcat on August 05, 2019, 09:30:06 PM: Wow, that’s not going to last long.
Title: Re: RARE Yankee Craigslist
Post by: Trialsman on August 05, 2019, 10:22:57 PM: Back in the day I wanted one of those so badly.
Title: Re: RARE Yankee Craigslist
Post by: analog kid on August 06, 2019, 12:57:30 AM: Pretty sure its the one I saw at a museum display in 2009. Judging by the skid plate, horn plate behind the headlight, speedo bracket and big 3-way switch on the top triple clamp. Yes, my photos are not great.

(https://i.ibb.co/HDfYKrz/DSCN4449.jpg) (https://ibb.co/HDfYKrz)

(https://i.ibb.co/1mNwGHt/DSCN4451.jpg) (https://ibb.co/1mNwGHt)

(https://i.ibb.co/3WFHW0Y/DSCN4448-Copy.jpg) (https://ibb.co/3WFHW0Y)
Title: Re: RARE Yankee Craigslist
Post by: Lannis on August 06, 2019, 05:43:19 AM: If you go to the York, PA show in January put on by the Potomac Riders off-road club, you'll generally see two or three of these, and sometimes in that condition. Threre's still a few around.

Lannis
Title: Re: RARE Yankee Craigslist
Post by: MotoMatt on August 06, 2019, 05:53:51 AM: One sold on Ebay a few days ago for $6000.
Title: Re: RARE Yankee Craigslist
Post by: twowheeladdict on August 06, 2019, 06:17:06 AM: I wonder if Jay Leno has one in his collection. Being a Yankee and all I'm sure he would appreciate a clean specimen.
Title: Re: RARE Yankee Craigslist
Post by: mechanicsavant on August 06, 2019, 06:34:44 AM: I went to the Yankee 500 reunion @ Jim Holerich’s museum of Spanish trailbikes a few years ago . Cool event.
Also saw one on one of those picker shows, in rough shape in a corner of a barn . They generously offered $250 for “the old dirt bike in the corner”. I believe it was bundled w/other stuff. I may be mistaken as I was yelling @ the tv @that point
Title: Re: RARE Yankee Craigslist
Post by: oldbike54 on August 06, 2019, 07:36:11 AM: Two Ossa motors plugged together , Dick Mann had a hand in designing the frame which has to be worth something . Very nice example of a very rare motorbike . The entire effort was timed badly , the Yankee was designed back in '67 to compete against the European off road bikes , unfortunately by '71 when the bikes were built , the market had changed and the Japanese were beginning to flex their muscle .

Dusty
Title: Re: RARE Yankee Craigslist
Post by: LowRyter on August 06, 2019, 08:01:35 AM: Never heard of it. I am inferring that this a parallel twin 2 stroke based on two 250 Ossa cylinders?

Looking at the photo I assumed it was a 500 single "enduro" from the '70s. So where is it assembled and what's the story?
Title: Re: RARE Yankee Craigslist
Post by: kballowe on August 06, 2019, 08:37:30 AM: Source: Wikipedia

The Yankee motorcycle is a motorcycle which was produced in Schenectady, New York by the Yankee Motor Company in the 1970s. This company was started by John Taylor, a long-time resident of that area.

The motorcycle used an air-cooled two-stroke engine, designed by Eduard Giró that was produced by the Ossa firm in Barcelona, Spain. The engine was a unique combination of two Ossa cylinders, that produced a twin-cylinder engine of near 500 cc capacity. The Yankee frame, designed with help from Dick Mann, and running gear were produced in the US, and the entire motorcycle was assembled in the Yankee plant on Campbell Avenue in Schenectady.
Title: Re: RARE Yankee Craigslist
Post by: oldbike54 on August 06, 2019, 09:41:39 AM: Memory says there may have been some attempt at using a hot rod version of the motor in a road racing frame . Anyone ?

Dusty
Title: Re: RARE Yankee Craigslist
Post by: hauto on August 06, 2019, 11:14:50 AM: My friend Yankee Bob in the Lancaster Pa area 717-664-0807 has the largest collection of bikes and parts,period! By the way he is liquidating if your really interested in owning a Yankee
Title: Re: RARE Yankee Craigslist
Post by: Muzz on August 06, 2019, 05:09:21 PM: Quote from: oldbike54 on August 06, 2019, 07:36:11 AM
Two Ossa motors plugged together , Dick Mann had a hand in designing the frame which has to be worth something . Very nice example of a very rare motorbike . The entire effort was timed badly , the Yankee was designed back in '67 to compete against the European off road bikes , unfortunately by '71 when the bikes were built , the market had changed and the Japanese were beginning to flex their muscle .

Dusty

Thanks for the info Dusty. Had never heard of them.

The history of the Ossa 250 racer, the (rather small) team and it's rider Santiago Herrero is a really great read if you can find it. One mans vision on a shoestring budget leading the world at one stage.

edit: http://www.bikeexif.com/ossa-motorcycle