1980 Yamaha YZ125

This pristine and preserved 1980 Yamaha YZ125 zinger belongs to Rob Luciani. Thank you for sharing Rob!

I am the original owner of this perfectly preserved 1980 Yamaha YZ 125. I purchased it new when I was 16 years old. I can still remember being so excited – it was the last year of the air cooled two stroke, and first year of the super-bike like long travel suspension.

It was one of three bikes I owned at the time which meant it didn’t get much use on the local northeast Pennsylvania trails – the other bikes were. I never raced it either. I left for college only a few years later. Sold the other bikes, but decided to store this bike in a corner of my parent’s garage by following the long term storage instructions in the manual. The only new parts on the bike – spark-plug, rear brakes, air filter, and a rear tire. Everything else is stock original.

My collecting later turned to cars, Porsche’s to be exact, and I didn’t even think about the bike. I was recently cleaning out their garage and brought the bike back to my house. It was in storage for almost 35 years – a true barn find! I washed off the dust, changed fluids, and it started right up and runs perfectly. It runs like the day I parked it. Starts on the first kick. I’ve had it on local trails and was quickly reminded of the 2 stroke’s extreme power band – great fun!

I purposely have not painted or otherwise restored any of the finishes. It would only take some minor elbow grease to put it into museum quality.