Steve Cooper

  • Yamaha YR2C: when Yamaha joined the street scrambler trend

    Yamaha YR2C: when Yamaha joined the street scrambler trend

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    Steve Cooper looks at how Yamaha took its all-new YR1 and jumped aboard the 1960s street scrambler trend. In 1967, Yamaha’s Iwata factory rolled out its most significant machine since the 250cc two-stroke YDS1 of 1959. The all-new Yamaha YR1 350 two-stroke twin was a ground-up design featuring a vertically split crankcase and a clutch…

  • Japanese Street Scramblers: Kawasaki W series

    Japanese Street Scramblers: Kawasaki W series

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    Kawasaki’s 1960s foray into four-stroke street scramblers produced just one model, but, as Steve Cooper explains, it was definitely a machine with merits. Kawasaki’s W series parallel twins stem from the Meguro Company that had produced similar 500s from the early 1950s. Towards the end of the decade a power unit very reminiscent of that…

  • Japanese Street Scramblers: Suzuki T500

    Japanese Street Scramblers: Suzuki T500

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    Written by Steve Cooper, this feature looks at Tim Hart’s Suzuki-based street scrambler, inspired by the Stinger 125 and built using a GT500 engine and custom high-level expansion chambers. Constructed from used parts and developed over a ten-week build, the machine blends period styling with performance upgrades. Many have pondered as to why Suzuki never…


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