40 Years Ago
Yamaha Launched the MX
Flashback Yamaha 40 Years Ago
By Scott Hoffman
The DT2-MX came out three years before the first Monoshock YZ
In 1972, Yamaha offered four different models: the very rare LT2-M (100cc), AT2-M (125cc), DT2-MX (250cc), and the big-bore RT2-MX (360cc). This was the first full-blown attempt by Yamaha to go after the more expensive European bikes, which dominated much of the sport at the time. This was at a time when the names CZ, Husqvarna, Maico, Bultaco, and Montesa, to name a few, populated the results board. You have to remember that in 1972, motocross in America was still a thumb-sucking baby, yet 1972 was also a very special year for the sport.
1972 marked the first year of the famed Superbowl of Motocross (the race that most say 
created supercross). That year, young 16-year-old Marty Tripes won the race aboard a highly modified Yamaha DT2. This also marked the first official season of the AMA Motocross series. They crowned a title as well in 1971, yet it was the top-finishing American rider during the Trans-AMA and Inter-Am series, which featured both US riders and the best European riders in the world. Gary Jones won the title in both 1971 as well as 1972 aboard a Yamaha that his father, Don Jones, pretty much created from a DT2. It is also said that Don Jones was the very first Yamaha dealer in the United States. The work the Jones’ family did with the DT line helped create the base for first YZ in 1974.
Detail page from 1972
It was at this time that all of the Japanese manufacturers were taking a crack at the new sport of motocross. Remember, in 1972 Yamaha was several years away from offering the first YZ. In 1973, Honda came out swinging with the introduction of the CR250M Elsinore. Then Yamaha came back a few years later in 1975 with the revolutionary Monoshock. By that time the Japanese were starting to take over motocross in America and European bikes vanished like the Dodo Bird. The last time a European machine won a title was in 2003 with Grant Langston aboard a 125 two-stroke KTM. Before that, it was 1976 when Kent Howerton took the 500cc title aboard a Husqvarna.
This year, 2012, is a landmark year for motocross and looking back 40 years to 1972, a lot has changed yet some things have not. Gary Jones still loves to ride and is seen riding all over Southern California and when people get a glimpse of a pristine 1972 Yamaha DT2-MX, they are still amazed, yet for different reasons.
The specs claim a massive 31hp on this puppy at 224 lbs. with fuel.
This is scan from the '72 brochure with images probably from 1971 showing two Japanese riders on what what looks like a full Works bike. The address on the front cover is Buena Park, this long before the motorsports division moved to Cypress. The music division is still in Buena Park to this day.
Now if this photos does not cause you to race to a Yamaha shop and pick up the DT2-MX with the all-new 7-port Torque Induction Reed Valve, not sure what would
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Comments
January 8, 2012 4:42 pm
WOW – My pop bought me a brand-new Yamaha LT-2 100cc motocross bike from a little Yamaha shop in Conyers, Georgia. I haven’t seen one like it in 30 years. It was silver with a green swoosh stripe on the tank. I was 14, about 1973. It was a bullet-proof bike and seemed to run no matter what I stipped of it, including the little crank-drive oil injector. I pre-mixed my fuel with some strange-smelling exotic oils. A lifetime ago, already.
Thanks for the memory – Keith “Runawaychair” Towler