The Yamaha DT was a range of street-legal two-stroke enduro motorcycles that began with the granddaddy of all enduro motorcycles, the 1969 Yamaha DT-1 — a lightweight, affordable, easily obtainable 250cc dual-purpose motorcycle that would help birth a whole need breed of motorcycle.
“The Yamaha DT-1 was a solid, inexpensive bike you could ride to the track and then run with the best purpose-built dirt bikes of the day once you got there.” —Motorcycle Classics
These two-stroke enduros offer great power-to-weight ratios for their age. They’re cheap to buy on the used market, easy to maintain, and perform quite well off-road in stock trim — particularly the mono-shock models from the late 1970s. We have three of these bikes in the BikeBound stable, and several of our friends own and ride them as well. Below you’ll find a selection of some of the DT scramblers we’ve featured on the blog.
Father-Son Special: Velocette 350 Scrambler-Velocette Scrambler from South Africa… In 1933, the Velocette 350 MAC was born, featuring a 349cc single-cylinder high-cam pushrod engine capable of running the 280-lb machine up to ~75 mph. None other than Phil Irving, […]
Smoke Show: Yamaha DT400 Scrambler-A Two-Stroke Ripper from Hex Moto… The Yamaha DT400 is one of our favorite two-stroke enduros of the 1970s. It arose from the original DT-1 250 of 1969, which revolutionized the market as a […]
Smoky Runner: Yamaha DT125R Restomod-BCKustoms returns to his two-stroke roots… The original Yamaha DT-1 250 Enduro and the long line of successors it spawned remain some of the most popular, influential motorcycles to come out of the 1960s. Here […]
Viva Vinduro! Yamaha DT400 Restomod-Purpose Built Moto builds a two-stroke ripper… The Yamaha DT400 is one of our favorite two-stroke enduros of the 1970s — a wolf in wolf’s clothing and a howling fury to ride. The factory bike […]
Two-Stroke Gold: Yamaha CT175 Restomod-Drake Speed transforms a farm wreck into CT3 street ripper… The Yamaha CT was the company’s series of 175cc two-stroke enduros, introduced in 1969 and renamed the DT175 in 1974. Here at BikeBound HQ, we’ve […]
“Jappalachian” Yamaha RT360 Scrambler by Redtail Works-Redtail Works builds a dirt-ready two-stroke enduro… Introduced in 1968, the Yamaha DT-1 would change motorcycling forever, offering the world a lightweight and affordable 250cc two-stroke dirt bike that was street-legal — the “godfather enduro,” […]
Godfather Enduro: 1968 Yamaha DT-1 Resto-“This is (as far as I know) the only 1968 DT1 which was imported officially to Europe.” In 1968, Yamaha introduced a machine that would change the motorcycle world forever, the DT-1. It was an […]
Modernized Vinduro: Yamaha DT360 by Joseph Rumble-“The rider…needs it all to work so he doesn’t become coyote dinner in the middle of the night.” The Yamaha DT series is our favorite line of two-stroke enduro motorcycles ever made, launched in 1968 […]
Yamaha DT100 Scrambler by Revolt Cycles-Revolt Cycles of the Philippines continues to turn out customs full of moxie and nostalgia. Today, we’re proud to feature the shop’s 35th build, RVLT35, a 1980 Yamaha DT100X Enduro dubbed “Noli” — built for […]
Yamaha DT3 250 Scrambler by David King-Today, we are thrilled to present the first bike project from David King, a senior Mechanical Engineering student from Midland, Virginia, who says he was inspired by the bikes he saw on our site. The […]