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"If you are going to do something, be the best"

Ginichi Kawakami, Yamaha Motor Company First President.

Yamaha Motorcycles, under this motto, employing all its creativity, and with a very strong spirit of challenge, became what it is now: one of the biggest players in the worldwide motorcycling scene.

But Yamahas history doesnt start with motorcycles...

It is back in 1877 that Torakusu Yamaha started with the Nippon Gakki Company that later would become Yamaha Corporation: an important manufacturer of fine musical instruments.

As the company grew, they explored several fields of opportunity in the textile industry and others.

During the World War II, the company set up a factory to produce airplane propellers. This plant played an important role in Yamahas entry to the motorcycle industry as you will see.

After the war, Yamaha Corporation had to find new ways to use the tooling and experience that had been accumulated during their times in the airplane industry, and it was then when Yamaha Motor Corporation was founded.

Its important to mention that even though this new company was just another branch of Yamaha Corporation, it was placed under an independent management. In this case, under the guidance of Ginichi Kawakami; which turned out to be a brilliant move.

Before producing their first motorcycle, Ginichi Kawakami traveled a lot establishing what would be very useful relationships. He also sent out his engineers to Europe and had them learn how to build motorcycles, particularly from DKW; whom with they kept an underground and unofficial long lasting relationship.

One proof of this is that nowadays, the only two manufacturers in the world of mass-produced five side-valve engines are Yamaha an Audi (DKW - Auto Union).

One of the most important legacies from this international relationships were all the skills learnt by Yamahas engineers on two stroke engines know-how. Other manufacturers as Suzuki would not reach the same level of development in this area till seven years later.

Not to wonder why the first bike from Yamaha Motorcycles the 125 YA-1 was fairly a faithful copy of the 1949 DKW RT 12. The only two important differences were the four speed gearbox instead of the original three speed gearbox, and a gear transmission replacing the primary chain drive.

IMPORTANT MODEL FROM YAMAHA MOTORCYCLES

>>> Yamaha YA-1

Even though the Yamaha YA-1 - baptized "Acatombo" (Red dragonfly) by its fans - had "nothing in special" and was more expensive than its competitors, it almost immediately became a great success.

It was reliable: before putting it into the market, the prototypes were tested along 10,000 miles of rough rides . Even the big boss himself, Ginichi Kawakami, rode the bike without any incident from Hamamatsu to Tokyo.

It was beautiful: with this model Yamaha was the first manufacturer to put special attention to the decoration of the motorcycle. This task was given to GK Design in Tokyo. Its worth mentioning that this firm has designed the "look" of most Yamaha motorcycles to date.

It was fast: the YA-1 obtained excellent overall results in the most important local races of that time: Mount Fuji (third place) and Mount Asama (first place).

In fact it was this aggressive attitude in the sporting world that helped Yamaha Motorcycles gain fast acceptance even though they made a late start in the motorcycle scene (in comparison to Honda and Suzuki).

In other words: Yamaha Motorcycles showed the world they had arrived to be considered good and fierce competitors from the beginning. Particularly to Honda and Suzuki.

Other important models from that time were:

>>> The Yamaha YD-1 (the competition for the Suzuki TP of that time)

Some technical specifications:

Yamaha YD-1

15 hp

70 mph.

185,000 yen

in comparison to:

Suzuki TP

18 hp

80 mph.

195,000 yen

>>> The Yamaha YDS-1

The dream bike of all young Japanese between 1959-1960.

Some technical specifications:

20 hp

333 lbs.

85 mph.

Direct rival of the Honda CB72

Since then, the history of models and victories goes on and on...

Today, Yamaha Motorcycles is one of the major players in the worldwide motorcycling scene.

Just to give you an idea of how important Yamaha Motorcycles have become:

- The 2004 Moto GP was won by excellent rider Valentino Rossi on a Yamaha motorcycle.

I could go an and on writing about Yamaha Motorcycles, victories, challenges and models but I would need a whole book...

So to learn more about Yamaha Motorcycles, I invite you to visit this page:

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/products/mcy/epic/epic_home.html

You will find a pictorial history of Yamaha Motorcycles from 1955 to 2001.

Enjoy the ride!

Yamaha has been in this industry of producing musical instruments from 1887 and has been able to deliver products with rich quality. One of its most attractive instruments is the electric guitar. We will now check on the Best Yamaha Electric Guitars, which are in the market; they are Yamaha RGX320FZ and Yamaha PAC1511MS.

Yamaha RGX320FZ

The first on our list, among the available Best Yamaha Electric Guitars is the Yamaha RGX320FZ. It has body and a contour just like any custom guitar and comes in a hard edge design. The body and neck are made of mahogany. It comes with original hardware, a carved top and Yamaha pickups and refinements. It also comes with die cast tuners, which are non-locking and are in H/H pickup configuration. Tailpieces come in two colors, black and Pewter and are from Yamaha, something which only they could provide. Yamaha RGX320FZ guitar is truly one of the Best Yamaha Guitars, which is good for all genres especially metal or rock music.

Even though there are lot of advantages with this guitar, there are two main drawbacks with this model, like the pickup selector for this guitar may make some noise when you use it for longtime and also the neck is little thin. Though people believe that set necks, do not last long, this guitar works wonders with its set neck without any bolts. With respect to harmonics, this is the Best Yamaha Electric Guitar and it is outstanding. The tone is crystal clear and will be highly appreciated during live performances.

Yamaha PAC1511MS

It is a well known fact that, Mike Sterns and Yamaha have teamed up for many years and Yamaha has honored that partnership by release of this series of Best Yamaha Guitars. The Pacifica PAC1511MS Electric Guitar combines aesthetic design along with the latest technology in acoustics. Yamaha PAC1511MS is a two piece guitar, with White Ash colored body, 22-fret maple neck, bolt-on and fingerboard. "Tele Hot Rails" in the bridge form pick ups for this model. Master Volume, master tone, Kluson-style tuners and a three-position pick-up selector switch form the set of controls for this model. This Best Yamaha Electric Guitar, is Sterns favorite instrument that comes with a natural finish. These guitars are based on Telecaster design. Pickups in these guitars differ based on their price; lower priced guitars have Yamaha made pickups whereas the higher end ones come with Seymour Duncan pickups. On the whole this is a perfect instrument for playing music and is placed in the list of Best Yamaha Electric Guitars.

There are many other electric guitars that are available in the market. But the implementation of the inputs, from the various legendary guitarists and the feedback form its esteem customers are the secret of Best Yamaha Electric Guitars. Not to forget the group of dedicated professionals from the Yamaha guitar division and also the design, development and production facilities that are spread across the world, which help in producing finest guitars of all time.

By:Craig Thornburrow

Yamaha motorcycle parts can make a huge difference in the appearance and performance of your motorcycle. Choosing the right parts for your bike can keep your ride up to date and stylish at the same time. If you are like most motorcycle owners, you understand the importance of appearance and performance. Turning heads because your bike has made an impression on others is a very important aspect to the ownership of your ride. By implementing various parts that are specifically designed for your Yamaha motorcycle, you can easily turn heads and impress others with your style and the overall performance of this type of vehicle. Here, we will explore the many creative ways that you can use these types of parts to add unique flair and optimal performance to your personal motorcycle.

Eventually, you will come to the point in your bike ownership in which it will become necessary to purchase parts for standard maintenance and/or replacement. This is true of every single brand name - whether it is Harley Davidson or Yamaha. When this day comes, why go with generic, everyday parts and accessories? If you are a Yamaha owner, you will want to avoid doing this altogether! It is important to select high-quality; superior Yamaha motorcycle parts that are built to not only enhance the performance of the bike, but the overall appearance of the vehicle as well. By choosing these types of parts for motorcycles, you will quickly gain respect among all of the individuals that you know or come in contact with that has a basic appreciation for motorcycles.