Yamaha Motor Company

Yamaha Motor Company is a Japanese multinational that makes a wide variety of motorized vehicles and equipment. It was founded in 1955 after splitting off from Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd., which is now known as Yamaha Corporation. The company’s headquarters are in Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan. As of 2024, it runs its development, production, and sales through 137 consolidated subsidiaries. Yamaha is the second-largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, the top seller of water vehicles globally, and also holds the second-largest market share in chip mounters used to make semiconductors.

The company was started and first led by Genichi Kawakami. It spun off from Yamaha Corporation, a musical instrument maker, in 1955 and quickly produced its first product: the YA-1, a 125 cc motorcycle. That bike was a success right away, winning its class in the 3rd Mount Fuji Ascent Race. Yamaha’s product lineup now includes motorcycles, scooters, motorized bicycles, boats, sailboats, personal watercraft, swimming pools, utility boats, fishing boats, outboard motors, four-wheel ATVs, recreational off-road vehicles, go-kart engines, golf carts, multi-purpose engines, electrical generators, water pumps, automobile engines, surface mounters, intelligent machinery, electric power units for wheelchairs, and helmets. The company also imports and sells various products, develops tourist businesses, and runs leisure and recreational facilities and services.

**History**

**Parent company** Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd. (now Yamaha Corporation) was founded by Torakusu Yamaha in 1887 to make reed organs and pianos. By the early 20th century, it had become Japan’s largest musical instrument manufacturer. During World War II, the Japanese government contracted Yamaha to make wooden and later metal airplane propellers. After the war, the company struggled. In the early 1950s, chairman Genichi Kawakami decided to use its underused wartime facilities to build small motorcycles for leisure.

**Beginnings: 1955** Yamaha’s motorcycle division was spun off and incorporated on July 1, 1955, in Japan, with Kawakami in charge. Its first product was the YA-1, a two-stroke, single-cylinder motorcycle copied from the German DKW RT 125. The YA-1 was competitive from the start, winning the 125 cc class in the Mount Fuji Ascent and taking first, second, and third place in the All Japan Autobike Endurance Road Race that same year. Early racing success became a key part of Yamaha’s identity, fueled by strong rivalry with Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and other Japanese manufacturers. In 1956, Yamaha entered the Catalina Grand Prix with the YA-1 and placed sixth. The YA-2 followed in 1957, another 125 cc two-stroke with a better frame and suspension. That same year, the YD-1 appeared—a 250 cc two-stroke twin-cylinder bike with a larger, more powerful engine. A performance version, the YDS-1, used a double downtube cradle frame and offered Japan’s first five-speed transmission. During this period, Yamaha also introduced its first outboard marine engine.

**Success and growth in the 1970s** By 1963, Yamaha’s focus on two-stroke engines and racing paid off with its first international competition win at the Belgian GP in the 250 cc class. Sales grew quickly, and the company set up its first overseas subsidiaries: in Thailand in 1964 and the Netherlands in 1968. In 1965, Yamaha released a 305 cc two-stroke twin as its flagship model, featuring separate oil injection that mixed oil into gasoline before combustion (instead of requiring riders to pre-mix it). In 1967, a larger 350 cc two-stroke twin, the R-1, joined the lineup. In 1968, Yamaha launched its first four-stroke motorcycle, the XS-1/650, a 650 cc four-stroke twin that matched the displacement and performance of popular British bikes like the Triumph Bonneville and BSA Gold Star. Yamaha continued making both two-stroke and four-stroke twins while other Japanese manufacturers, led by Honda’s 1969 CB750, moved toward four-cylinder four-stroke machines.

**Two-stroke era begins: the 1970s** In early 1969, Yamaha added reed-valve induction to its piston-ported designs, creating the twin-cylinder RD and single-cylinder RS families in various capacities. A common but unproven rumor claimed “RD” stood for “race developed.” In fact, “R” likely indicated reed-valved, “D” twin (or double) cylinder models, and “S” single-cylinder models. The RD family evolved through the 1970s and 1980s, gaining solid wheels, water-cooling, YPVS, and other new technology until they had little in common with the original versions (before being replaced by the TZR). The RS family was produced for many years in many variants by Yamaha and later by Escor.