Yamaha motorcycles was founded by musical instrument manufacturer Nippon Gakki in 1955. The new company made use of machinery previously used to build aircraft propellors during the Second World War. Yamaha's first bike, the YA-1 or Red dragonfly was based on a german DKW design. This 125cc machine was followed by several other small capacity two strokes bearing the tuning fork logo so familiar today.

The 1960s saw the production of the YDS seriesof 250 and 350cc two strokes.In 1970 the YR5 was made. It's aircooled parallel twin engine produced 36bhp and was capable of 90mph. The YR5 also handled well and was competitively priced. The bike was a huge success and paved the way for the legendary RD350.

The RD350 and it's later LC and YPVS incarnations had screaming two stoke engines and sharp handling. This bike stayed poular all the way through to the 1990s. Technologically it had fallen behind but people loved them so much ther continued to be a market.

The 1980s saw the introduction of the TZR models which in 125 and 250cc guises had more modern box section frames and shorter wheelbases than the RD. Unfortunately emmissions laws meant that two strokes had to be replaced and Yamaha introduced it's FZ FZR ranges of inline four cylinder four stroke machines.

The FZ and FZR models were very innovative featuring five valve per cylinder Genesis engines which gave incredibly smooth power delivery. Exup exhaust valves gave rushes of high rev power that made these bikes exciting performance. Coupled to the cutting edge engines, strong Deltabox box section alloy frames made sure handling was super stable.

In response to Honda's CBR900 of the early nineties Yamaha had to produce a far lighter quicker steering and more powerful superbike. The YZF-R1 was it's answer. This extreme machine made the Fireblade look like a comfortable sports tourer with it's vicious power and no compromise riding position. Subsequent versions were in fact largely attempts at making the bike more rideable as power to weight ratios had reached a point where 100% throttle was becoming almost impossible to use. The R1 continues to be at the forefront of superbike design today.