YG1-TK - State of Affairs
June 12, 2020
I purchased my 1965 Yamaha YG1-TK during the summer of 2018. It was my first experience with a motorcycle and has been one of my most beloved projects to date. I found it on Craiglist, listed as a barn find and rather worse for the wear. But when I saw it in person, it had compression and that was enough for me. Clocking in at 80 cc, this bike is essentially a moped. Regardless of its flaws, it holds a special place in my heart.
In hindsight, I was a little too focused on the aesthetic side of things. My friends would make jokes that I had a cool looking motorcycle that I couldn’t do anything with. My personal theory is that this motorcycle was taken out into the dirt and muck and then returned to the barn where it would sit for decades because the kick starter was busted. Needless to say, I had my work cut out for me with all the rust and grime. I spent hours with wire wheels and paint stripper, slowly revealing the gleaming motorcycle underneath it all.
I completely redid the paint and slowly cobbled everything back together. I realized that the rear brake pedal was missing entirely along with a few other bits and bobs. As my model is a Trailmaster 80, I had some work to do in order to make it street legal as well. I wired up turn signals and ‘stole’ a handlebar from a YG1 that had turn signal selectors. My mother was kind enough to sew a new seat cover for me and I couldn’t be more happy with how everything turned out.
With the aesthetic side of things down, I was left figure out why the motorcycle wouldn’t run. This took a lot of trial and error. I completely disassembled the engine more times than I ever could have wanted, but I learned quite a bit in the process. I now feel comfortable working on two stroke engines and can appreciate what goes into their design. With the culmination of all my work, I was even able to get the motorcycle back on the road!
But it was too good to be true… The kickstarter once again locked up after about a day of riding and I had to return to Cincinnati for school. The biggest obstacle with this motorcycle is that the surviving kickstarter parts have not held up over time. Most have been left sitting outside the engine and are rusted to the point where they no longer work. I have enough parts that I could nearly make three different kickstarters, but unfortunately none hold up.
![Bottom of Gear](/assets/images/Gear_bottom.png)
![Top of Gear](/assets/images/Gear_top.png)
So I’m left with a cleaned up motorcycle with a bricked engine. I’ve thrown around the idea of getting a new kickstarter gear machined that is keyed for a one way bearing, but unfortunately the cost to get such a piece made is rather prohibitive. I’ve even thrown around the idea of purchasing a mini lathe and a small mill so that I could make the part myself. Granted that would be much more expensive, but I would like to own a lathe and a mill eventually, so I’d just be pushing that forwards. Given that I don’t have a place of my own to put such equipment, I have decided to convert my YG1-TK into an electric motorcycle. I plan respoke the back wheel with a hub motor and to replace the engine with battery storage. Everything is just theoretical right now until I return home after summer semester, but I hope to start work on my YG1-TK again soon.
~ JHE