The Yamaha RX100 was a very revered motorcycle back in the day and this example restored by Old Pistons Garage with a touch of modernity is a piece of classic beauty.
Back in the day, when we did not have performance motorcycle brands in India like the sorts we have today, it were brands like your humble Yamaha and Honda that was catering to the enthusiasts. They have only become humble now with the arrival of much bigger motorcycle brands but were quite revered among enthusiasts back then. Yamaha mostly sells small capacity motorcycles in India these days and they did the same even in the 80s and 90s. But with few better options to chose from, enthusiasts adored what they had. We are talking about the Yamaha RX100.
Yamaha debuted the RX100 in India towards the end of 1985 and it was an instant success almost immediately. By then, the Yamaha RD 350 was nearing the end of its life cycle and Yamaha needed something new to keep up their game. Suzuki already had the AX100 in the small capacity motorcycle segment and its success essentially paved the way for the Yamaha RX100. When the RX100 finally debuted, it soon caught a lot of attention for its performance and simple yet good looks. And look good it did back in 80s.
The Yamaha RX100 was powered by a single cylinder two-stroke engine that produced 11hp at 7,500 rpm and 10.39Nm of peak torque at 6,500 rpm. The engine came mated to a 4-speed transmission. The numbers may not sound much by today’s standards but it was quite a rocket back in the day. Motorcycles of these era were also much lighter than what we are used to today and so the resultant performance was anything but poor. The classic exhaust note of motorcycles from this period is something that enthusiasts still drool over.
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The Yamaha RX100 was also hugely popular among modifiers, particularly those that went drag racing. It is thus not very difficult to find a well modified example of RX100 still wondering about on the street today. Some ever came with mechanical improvements. But this particular RX100 featured here does not have such mechanical upgrades. Instead, its a beautiful piece of restoration work with a touch of modernity. Worked on by Old Piston’s garage, the video takes us through the entire restoration process.
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The restoration job starts with completely stripping off the motorcycle to its chassis and address the most important issue of them all – rusting. All the individual parts were painstakingly cured of their rust and repainted. For those parts that were beyond repair, new ones were used like the chrome-plated rear bumper. Some other parts like the brake lever, clutch, wheel rims, suspension and handlebars were also completely new. The motorcycle was painted in a beautiful shade of blue and the engine casing gets a matte silver treatment. The only un-original piece on this motorcycle are the new LED headlamps but we got to admit that it looks really indeed. The end product is sure a thing of beauty.
