Today in motorcycle history, April 7, 1972
The Yankee Motor Company holds an open house for Dick and Judy Workingmann to come and see the new Yankee Z.
The Yankee was conceived near the Hudson River, in the gritty General Electric town of Schenectady, New York. In the late 1960's, John Taylor’s Yankee Motor Company was importing Ossa 230cc motocross and enduro bikes. The Daytona 200 legend Dick Mann was competing, and winning, with these in quarter-mile flat-track races. His success on board Yankee’s imported Ossa's led to the development of a 250cc Ossa-powered “Dick Mann Replica,” or DMR, which featured a frame completely manufactured in Yankee’s Schenectady facility. The DMR would provide the test bed for the Yankee Z.
The concept for the engine had been designed by Eduardo Giró of the Ossa factory in Barcelona, Spain. The Z’s heart was the most notable of its myriad of fascinating features. The engine was essentially two Spanish Ossa 230cc two-stroke singles melded together. By using the internals and mating them with a splined crankshaft the engine could be made to fire with both pistons together, as a large single cylinder engine would and, with a relatively easy method, be made to fire with each piston taking its turn at the top of the stroke, (as most twin-cylinder engines of the time did), turning the bike into one torquey twin with a common crank and cases.
Originally, it began with the 230cc. engine cylinders, pistons, and crankshafts, but by the time the motorcycles were actually produced, the Ossa became a 250cc, and therefore, the Yankee became a full-fledged 500cc twin.
The Yankee was the first production motorcycle to have a rear disk brake system. The Yankee had a 6-speed tranny with the option to lock out low gear so it would comply with the AMA racing rules of the time. It had stainless steel handlebars and a strong, light frame which was made from chrome-moly tubing with the oval swingarm being totally new to motorcycling. The forged aluminum fork crowns were produced by the gun-making Smith and Wesson Company of Springfield, Massachusetts. A quick-release seat and large air filter system was a big plus for the serious dirt ridin' freaks.
Delays in production were eventually the Yankee's downfall, as lighter, more reliable motorcycles made their way into the American market. Sadly, by the time the first Yankees rolled off the assembly line in 1971, the weight differences were large enough to make the serious enduro rider shy from owning the Yankee.
