Trail Bikes – Models that spread the joy of riding off-road
2012 Exhibitions - Vol. 1
Exhibition Period: October 27, 2012 - April 19, 2013
A history of true off-road machines, from the pioneer Trail model DT-1 to the Serow 225
Entering the 1960s, an evolution was occurring in Japanese motorcycles, taking them out of the initial era of purely utilitarian models into a new era of diversity with models designed for the enjoyment of touring and the sport of motorcycle racing. This was also a time when the sport of “scramble racing” (motocross) competed over the fields, hills and riverbeds of the natural landscape was becoming popular. These trends led Yamaha Motor to develop a new type of machine targeting the “trail riding” (off-road, wild land trail riding) scene in the U.S. Named the DT-1, it quickly became a hit model and sparked a boom in trail riding throughout Japan as well.
This special exhibition focused on the history of 2-stroke and 4-stroke trail models into the 1980s, from the birth of the pioneering DT-1 to the XT500 that dominated the early years of the Paris-Dakar Rally.
