Here's a slightly younger Glen alongside a bridge
in his native Australia on his brand-new
Yamaha YL-1 TwinJet 100.
Don't you just love that new bike smell?
We all know how powerful memories like this can be, and that led Glen
to look for another YL-1
some 42 years after this photo.
This $150 AU example was about the only one he could
find locally.
Not quite the stuff of
dreams; this one was
pretty badly abused.
Glen wasn't interested
at first, but after further
searching turned up nothing
better, he went ahead and
bough it.
Bike lifts are the greatest
things in the world for us
middle-aged mechanics!
Worth their weight in
backache pills ...
Lots of work ahead
for this little beastie.
The wheels were stripped, the
hubs 'period' polished,
laced with new rims
and spokes.
Nice job!
After a lot of searching,
Glen was able to source
the special 'Peacock Blue'
used on the YL-1.
The standard YL-1s had
a 'two-tone' paint job
on the frame, with the
rear fender portion
done in a nicely contrasting
silver. Glen's got it spot-on.
After the shock and fork springs
and other bits are back from
the platers, the bike begins
to look promising.
All that's left are the seat
and tank -- but due to a
screwup on the part of
the platers, that turned
into a bit of a nightmare.
But even nightmares eventually
end!
A beautiful job.
Perhaps it's time
to revisit that overpass?
And here we are, 42 years
later.
The bridge has a new overpass
alongside it,
Glen now has eyeglasses,
but the little Yamaha looks
like it just rolled of the
showroom floor.
What a great story!
Our thanks to Glen
for sharing it with us!
(click on this picture to return)
copyright SwarfRat Enterprises, C 2009 all rights reserved.
pictures Copyright Glen Allan, C 2009 all rights reserved.
Used with permission.