In April 2022, a single DS6-C arrived at the Communication Plaza. It was donated by SAITO Yukio, a resident of Miyazaki Prefecture. Saito-san visited Yamaha Motor headquarters in August 2023, while the restoration was underway, and again in March 2024 just prior to its completion, and spoke with Hanai-san, who was handling the DS6-C’s restoration.
What Is the DS6-C?
Featuring a teardrop fuel tank, individual instrument gauges, and more, the DS6 was a stylish 250cc sports model first sold in 1969. The DS6-C was the scrambler version based on it, using high-mount mufflers. Like the DS6, the C version drew on the YDS Series’ 2-stroke 2-cylinder engine tradition, but added a 5-port cylinder and other features to boost power and delivered a light and agile ride.
The DS6-C’s Restoration Journey
August 23, 2023
- Hanai:
- Saito-san, you just took a tour through the Communication Plaza, but you’ve also visited before, haven’t you?
- Saito:
- Yes, I have. When I was young, I rode a YA-6 and an AT-1, and then later started riding trials and once I started competing, I owned a TY250 for many years. The historic motorcycles on display here bring back so many precious memories for me, so I always enjoy coming here.
Saito-san visiting the Communication Plaza with his family
- Hanai:
- How did you end up first buying the DS6-C that you donated to us?
- Saito:
- When I was in my forties, I was transferred to California in the United States for work and one of my friends there owned this DS6-C. But actually, my first time ever seeing a DS6-C was back in my first year of high school. A friend of mine owned one and it had so many shiny chrome parts on it that it simply shone, and I vividly remember being smitten with it, thinking, “Wow, what a beautiful bike!” Upon seeing the same bike that I’d so admired in my youth decades later in America, it felt like a fated encounter! [laughs] I begged my friend to sell it to me. He relented and shipped it to Japan for me. I then rode it for the next 25 years.
- Hanai:
- What made you want to donate this bike that means so much to you to the Communication Plaza?
- Saito:
- After I started riding it, I began to realize that the DS6-C was even more special a machine than I initially thought. Even back in the day, I remember the DS6-C being kind of overshadowed by the incredibly popular DT-1. When I’d go touring or join in 2-stroke rider meetups, the bike would often be surrounded by riders asking, “What model is this?” I’ve visited the Communication Plaza a number of times and also attended one of your Historic Model Demonstration Runs at Fukuroi Test Course. I thought that if I donated my DS6-C to Yamaha, so many people would be able to see and enjoy it, plus it would be kept in running condition. I thought that would be wonderful.
- Hanai:
- Even when I first saw the bike, I could tell that it was in very good condition and still plenty capable of giving its owner a fun time in the saddle. But for Yamaha Motor to preserve it as one of its historical assets, I expected we would need to remove the rust and repair the peeling paint. However, the bike had been very well maintained and I could easily see that it had been ridden with care.
- Saito:
- Just earlier, you explained in great detail the condition of the restoration to me in front of the disassembled bike, and I was simply astonished at how far Yamaha goes with its restoration process. The quality and thoroughness of everything is just incomparably above what a single enthusiast can do on their own.
in front of parts from the disassembled DS6-C
- Hanai:
- There are a few things I wanted to ask while I was working on restoring it. The fuel tank on this DS6-C doesn’t have any rubber knee grips. I’ve never seen one like that before, so was it like that when you bought it?
- Saito:
- Yes, it was. I also wondered the same thing at first, but guessed it was because this was an export spec model, so it didn’t come with them. I’ve ridden it just as I bought it.
- Hanai:
- I see. The speedometer is also in miles and the engine number is also for an export model, but despite everything I researched, I couldn’t find one with a fuel tank like this, so perhaps a previous owner made that modification to the tank. Also, I found some rust on the unused areas of the transmission bearings. Since you rode the bike regularly after you got it, I wonder if it was stored for an extended period while with its previous owner or if it sat on display in a dealership for a long time before being sold.
- Saito:
- Wow! You can tell that much from it?
- Hanai:
- Well, I’ve been doing this job for a long time! I can usually tell just by looking at a bike how the owner rode and maintained it. The engine’s internals had been swapped with oversized pistons and cylinders and there was a lot of wear inside. And the electrical system for the lights was fitted with a booster, so I figured the owner likely often went for long-distance rides, going into the night sometimes. And because the tires were very evenly worn, I felt the rider did lots of nice cornering. I was interested to know what kind of person rode it.
- Saito:
- Thank you for your kind words. I replaced the pistons and cylinders and a lot of other bits and pieces myself, so I’m happy to hear you noticed that.
- Hanai:
- You had also replaced the muffler mounting brackets with ones you’d made yourself.
- Saito:
- That’s right. When I bought the bike, one was already missing. I thought it would look bad with just one, so I took the remaining one off, but then I lost it. The vibration started to bother me, so I made two new ones myself. I’m pretty good at using machining tools, so I also made the torque rod for the rear brake, and I made a new inspection window for the oil tank because the plastic had cracked from age. When I couldn’t find the parts I needed, I made them all myself.
- Hanai:
- The muffler heat shields have been re-chromed also, and the other components are nicely polished. There was love in how well you took care of this bike.
- Saito:
- I had the heat shields re-chromed ten years ago and the mufflers re-chromed six years ago. I enjoy polishing my motorcycles, but I don’t like to buff parts to a mirror finish, so I kept things to a slightly visible hairline finish. When I saw the bikes on display at the Plaza had the same level of finish, I was both surprised and relieved.
- Hanai:
- The restorers who came before me tended to polish everything until they sparkled and then sprayed on thick clear coats. It resulted in the bikes looking “over-restored.” With the polishing techniques available back when these bikes were made, that level of quality just wasn’t possible. Today, we prioritize duplicating the original look and feel of quality machines had when they were produced. Hearing how you polished the parts, I understood that you also valued the original look of the bike. The parts you made yourself to replace what you couldn’t find don’t take away from the bike’s original look and you also avoided polishing parts more than needed. I thought somebody like that wouldn’t purposefully remove the tank’s knee grips, and that’s why I’d actually guessed it was probably a modification done by a previous owner. The engine skid plate is also missing. Was it already gone when you bought it?
- Saito:
- Just as you said, it wasn’t there when I bought it. You see through everything! [laughs] Today when you showed me around the Communication Plaza, it seemed like we couldn’t stop talking about motorcycles and their parts! I can’t tell you how happy I am that my DS6-C is in the caring hands of someone so passionate about restorations.
- Hanai:
- I’m pretty proud about how crazy I am about bikes, but you’re right up there with me, Saito-san! [laughs] The restoration will probably be finished this spring, so please look forward to it.
March 6, 2024
- Hanai:
- Well, it’s been a while since you last saw the DS6-C. The machine is almost complete. We’re still waiting for the engine skid plate, muffler stays, and some other parts to be finished, but it’s about 90% done. Having seen it now, what do you think?
- Saito:
- I can’t believe how beautiful the bike I fell in love with looks. I’m just so happy. It shines just like a brand-new machine, but little bits of repair work I did are still there and they hint at the fact that I used to own it. I really like the way that the finish on the engine crankcase cover and drum brakes isn’t overdone and sparkly; it’s just right. I’m relieved to see that we both view restorations in the same way. The instrument gauges are the first thing you see when getting on the bike, and it was a new experience for me as this is what they must’ve been like when the bike was new. I remembered the Kando I felt when I saw a DS6-C for the first time back in high school.
meter dials, and more were all restored to a factory fresh state.
- Hanai:
- The last time we met, I mentioned how I wondered if a previous owner had altered the fuel tank when you bought it, but we’ve repainted the same tank. You also contacted us to say that you’d found a picture of a DS6-C without rubber knee grips on the tank in a guidebook for an old Tokyo Motor Show. It’s not clear whether it was an export model or a later model, but it was proof that was the original specification. So I decided we should repaint and use the tank you used. We had actually prepared a tank with rubber knee grips, so if you hadn’t informed us of your discovery, we probably would’ve used it. It was an excellent find and good lesson for me as well.
DS6-C spec without rubber knee grips.
- Saito:
- I was happy to see the tank was just as I’m used to seeing it. Last time I saw the bike, it was still disassembled, so it must’ve been an awful lot of work for it to look as good as it does now.
- Hanai:
- Well, there was a fair share of issues, but one thing I was surprised by was you can’t remove the battery on the DS6-C without removing the muffler. Old bikes like these really don’t care about making maintenance easy! [laughs] I believe you can access the battery on the standard DS6 without doing anything like that.
- Saito:
- Right, if you want to remove the battery or carburetors, you have to remove the mufflers first. That kind of design would be unthinkable on a modern bike. When I’d work on it, I’d often think I wouldn’t have to do all that if it were just a standard DS6.
To give the bike its high-mount mufflers, the DS6-C has
a different frame and rear brake cable than the DS6.
- Hanai:
- But with the DS6-C, it was given changes to accommodate its high-mount mufflers that also make adjustments possible you couldn’t do otherwise. For example, the rear brake adjuster on the normal DS6 is mounted lower, but on the DS6-C, the frame was modified to move the mounting location of the brake adjuster. That’s why the DS6 and DS6-C use different brake cables.
- Saito:
- I actually didn’t know that. Listening to your explanation makes it clear that the DS6 and DS6-C were similar, but different. I always thought the only difference was the higher mufflers.
- Hanai:
- Yes, even the frames are different. The chrome plating on the handlebars was in good condition and the dimensions looked original, so we just polished them and used them as is. The rust on the tail lens guard and lens itself looked like it would come off just by polishing them, so I spent a fair amount of time doing that. [laughs]
- Saito:
- I’m really impressed. The license plate number when the bike was registered in Miyazaki actually matches my son’s birthday, 0306. I never told anyone that, so I was surprised by the coincidence when the Plaza asked me if today, March 6, would be a good day to come to see the bike again. To have you restore the bike I enjoyed for 25 years and to reunite with it on March 6 feels like fate. Once again, thank you Hanai-san and everyone at the Communication Plaza.
and his family with the fully restored DS6-C
