Yamaha DT 175

The DT-175G was the second last in a long line of enduro motorcycles that can be traced back to the CT-1 of the late 1960's. Its demise in North America came in 1981 due to emmission laws south of the border, but continued and evolved in other parts of the world.

For North America, the 175cc Yamaha series went through four evolutionary phases. The original bike was born in the late 1960's and modeled on the DT-1 250CC, known as the CT-1. These bikes were the first purpose built, dual purpose, motorcycles to come out of Japan, and were very sucessful. They were dirt bikes with enough lighting and instrumentation to make them stree legal. Most of them were stripped of this equipment and used off road. With modifications they were used in all types of off road sport, and were absolutely reliable, right to the end of production.

The original CT-1 was a piston port, two stroke, oil injected, five speed. It came with a low set front fender more akin to a trials bike, and trials tires, most of which got swapped for knobbies. When the model codes changed in 1974, the bike became known as the DT-175. Other changes included engine upgrades including a reed valve, a different fuel tank, a 21" front wheel, thermoflow shocks, and basically a complete restyle, but a subtle one. This model run continued until 1976 and when the 1977 models were introduced, the big changes were revealed. 1977 brought the mono shock rear suspension into the fold, along with a completely restyled bike, a radial cylinder head, redesigned engine, and the whole package was a bit lighter than previous models.

These motorcycles were near indestructable and were among the best to come out of Japan. When our elected officials decided to close the door on these motorcycles, we lost ten fold. In my case, i was in the market for a 175, and one night i saw an add for one, a mono shock version. It was a cold saturday in january when i went for a look. It was a complete, running bike and most importantly, it hadn't been monkeyed with. So, i took it for a drive on the ice, and then bought it. Spring came along with the realization that although it hadn't been fooled with, it also never got maintained so well, and some replacement parts were in order.