TIME CAPSULE 1982 YAMAHA YZ250 2 STROKE GAME CHANGER 

Ken, you are so good at these overviews. I love these, it's like a history lesson every time. The moto professor. I look forward to these videos with the same excitement as I did when I was a kid waiting for the A-TEAM to come on TV.

This bike showed the rest of Japan "WHATS-UP"

Love ripping my 82 yz passed on from my father. Gotta keep em running!

Gotta love the Mono X - these Vintage Yamaha's give ya goosebumps in a good way - that "Yellow and Black with gold wheels.

That Yz250 is mint

I had the 82, 125. That first year of the liquid cooled bikes, so many made comments about my bike because they thought I put a headlight on a YZ!! Really nice bike here, brings back some great memories!

My friend Terry had the exact same bike back in the 80's. He told me the stories that he took the bike to California sand dunes. He would fly on his YZ 250!

How cool is this gem. I was 12 when my friend bought to tall bells 250j. My mate was 16 ,he could not ride it very good on the track. However he could do the best wheel stands on it. He used to pull mono's for miles. Great memories 😀

Damn, the holy grail. As much as I’d love to ride it I couldn’t, it’s just too damn BEAUTIFUL. Definitely aged better than Megan fox LOL

Still my favorite color scheme on a dirt bike. Wish they would bring back. The blue 👎🏼

What a joy getting up and going to work at Kaplan must be , those Yamaha's where the bee's knees in the early 80s beautiful

I had a 1983 or 84 cant remember but the radiators were different. Still my favorite dirt bike I ever owned.

Had the same bike about 10 yrs ago I loved it.. if I rember we had to re route the coolant hose cause it was having problems going threw the frame.. I forget what we actually did but those coolint lines running threw the frame or goose neck.. had problems.. love the bike I rode it every weekend for about a yr straight .

Had one of those. Brings back fond memories.

Ken Kaplan is THE savuor of motocross motorcycles.

Amazing piece of history. That is definitely a Unicom!!! FYI The 1982 Suzuki RM250 actually blew the doors off all the other 250’s that year.

Beauty. I had both an 82 yz80 and yz125. Was glad when I got on the 83s!!!!

God bless the classic bikes 😉

Had one when I was a kid...great memories.

Those seats were so comfortable, great year! I colored the YAMAHA letters Red, White & Blue with a marker and I remember my Dad got pissed cause the bike was brand new!! 🤣

KAPLAN AMERICA MOTORCYCLES KING😀😀😀😀

I have a very sad 82 Yz 250 in the garage right now. Pulled it out of a field it laid in for 3+ years ! Cleaned it up a tad and she fired right up what a machine !

Nice bike! My dad and I just picked up two '78 pe 250's the other day, need a little work but they're some rippers. Editing the video for them now! 🤘 🤙

I had a 1979 yz250 when I was 15 yrs old. That bike is awesome.

badass. i love the rm 125 with the rad on the front plate too. super game changer. thanks kapt.

Love watching these videos, I get to drool over some truly awsome bikes and learn about them and the history of motorcross at the same time. Outstanding work fellas. Keep em coming! 🤘🏻💪🏻

Love them old Yammies..Had the YZ125C tricked out. Bike was awesome. Nothing better then the Yellow and Black..

Wow, that has to be the coolest Yamaha YZ250 ever.

I just bought one Picking it ip tomorrow Gonna restore it… something I can pass down to my kid

In 1994 I was 14 and this exact bike was my first big bike. My Uncle and dad bought it for all of us to ride behind his mechanic shop in Houston. I jumped from 80cc and 100cc to this monster.. This bike turned me into a man! 😂😂😂😂😂

Wonderful, wow. Looks like showroom! What a find.

It doesn't get any better than this .

Gorgeous bike. My uncle had the 1983 Yamaha YZ 125 of that version, only water cooled. Great history lesson on this beautiful ripper. You're The Best on You Tube, Brother, and I'm so happy for y'all doing so well on You Tube. Y'all deserve it, and a whole lot more.

Was on a 82 YZ 80 back then. The 82 YZs still have a soft spot for me (still have my Dirtbike magazine issues with the 82 YZs). Drop dead gorgeous. Though they weren't loved then, I think they're really cool. From an era when the manufacturers weren't afraid to try ideas outta the box. The 82 YZs definitely reflect that (radiator at the bars truely an outta left field design). The 80s were a great era for dirtbikes. The manufacturers were practically revamping bikes every year (especially Honda). Great video! 👍👍

KAPLAN AMERICA KING😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀🤨😀🤨

So beautiful..

Droooooling!!!!!!

I at the age of 13 had that exact bike brand new!!!! Xmas morning was awesome 👌😎👏😀.... what a beautiful machine 😍!!!

Sweet bike

Also I have a yz 60 in a building. It looks just like this, and yes it is liquid cooled. Same year as this. It was bought by my dad from bigger bros racing in Charlotte NC. It is my brothers first dirt bike. I also have a RM 465. It is bored 60 over, and I’d love to restore both of them. That 465 was awesome to ride.

Ooooooh yaaaaaa! That’s what I’m talking about! ❤️🍻😎

Got pics of me as a teenager on that bike. Was the weirdest design Yamaha did with the radiator on the handlebars.

Niiicccee bike a blast from the past

Yo ken your missing a yz50. 1980 model I belive .love these vids brother

I just picked one of these up it’s in pieces but it’s all there I’m hoping to get it running over the winter

I had a 1981 YZ125

gorgeous!!!

Very Nice motorcycle WONDERFUL motorcycle Congradulations my friend KAPLAN GREAT JOB KAPLAN 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

WOW...Lovely!!!! The proper exhaust tip!

Back when they still looked like bikes. Gorgeous.

I've got 2 of those 1 parts bike and the other waiting in line to be gone through.

Had an 81 yz125 watercooler with no power valve. Radiator same place

Wow first bike i ever owned bought from a guy when i was a freshman saw walking to school me n my buddies h ad a ball on that bike

it looks so good holy shit

That thing is so sick first view and comment

This was a good bike and would have been a great bike if it would have had the radiators mounted lower in the chassis, the way it was set up the center of gravity was too high making it hard to ride fast on a fast technical motocross track !

Magnifique 👌💪🏻🙏🇫🇷

Hey guys, I have a 1982yz250 that was running before I diosassembled it. would you be interested in buying it. have new cables, chain, dg national pipe, gold rims are nice and hold air. motor needs work as I pulled the head. was owned by my buddy since the 80's We call it the slam pig because everybody we know rode it for a while lol

Way to ride that bike jr.

Other 250 Japanese bikes were water cooled in 1982, but they put the radiators on the frame. I think Honda did the 250 first in 81. Not sure about The other yellow and the green, but Yamaha might have been tied for last in 82. I had this bike, (used and local ported), and started racing on it. It was a good bike for my first year. Had a great engine that made starts pretty easy. It was the rest of the track I had problems with, but not the bikes fault. :) I had to replace the lower steering tube seal once a season, or it would leak coolant on the front fender, taking the lower steering bearing grease with it. The bike had a great engine IMO, (the short shift strong mid-range kind), and the suspension,--well, they all had their issues with brand new 12" of travel in 82,----until about the Yamaha SSS forks introduced in 2006. :) The biggest difference between this bike and my 2019 YZ250 2-stroke is better suspension and mass centralization, with more refined controls, (my brakes are too powerful for me actually today.), and a little brother frame from the 1988 works YZM. Hey, I thought Yamaha wanted to quit making works bikes to ride in 1985! Europe got them, (still do). An anti-American FIM move actually, that we learned nothing from. I don't know how much this bike retailed for in 82, but I bought it in 84 used (well maintained and ready to ride/race), for $850.00 and started racing with it, (with no parental support.), and paying for my own part time college making minimum wage of $3.45 to $4.00/hr of the time flipping burgers. Those were the days.

I bet it's all you can do to hold on to handle bars very quick bike

WOW that radiator.

Wish i had the money to buy one, or even find one to restore

It's got the 4 magical letters

Absolutely awesome!!

~ Big bright yellow, and spankin good tidy , bit of a stunner, I always liked the early 80s yz 125 models, theres a few on ebay uk atm, not the level this one tho

Sounds about as close to a 500 as a 250 can!

And this bike, (with 12" of suspension travel.), does corner better than any modern bike today. How can I tell from the vid stopped at 8:57? He can touch both feet on the ground. There is a 1.5" difference approx of center of gravity, (bike and rider), between then and now, and tall bikes just don't corner as well, (with out a berm). I lowered my 2019 YZ250 2-stroke, (now about this height), and that will be me passing you on the inside. :)

I like to see a 19 82 or 84 rm400!!! I had a yz400 but that are in 400 had balls!! 👽👽😍

Amazing bike

Sweet Model J

Did you see that Gas Monkey is having a auction with over 200 rare bikes in a few week. look into it lots of 1 of a kind and very rare stuff

👍🏻so mint👌

Wow ! 😳

Dime piece no doubt! 👊✊💨💨💨👍

I had one !

Ken you are MR 2STROKE

Make no mistake YZ 250 is made for jumping. The suspension rocks

I like seeing older bikes that time has forgotten at the track. They are the only thing my brain can tolerate amongst a see of 10g cookie cutter bikes.

What is the stainless cylinder below the gas tank?

Why did they move away from the radiator up front. ??

My brother almost died on one of these bad boy's! He has shoulder replacement, a ankle with 2 plates, and a plate in his collar bone! These bad mofos don't Play!

Gas tank is mint still has orginal decals on swing arm an gas tank no dents

😍😍😍😍

Can you get Dennis Franz mini V8 powered motorcycle on your channel please

Sorry but the 82rm250 was the bike to have that year

All the big 4 except Kawasaki were liquid cooled in ‘82 👍

U get problems with the seals in head stock cause of coolant corrosion I have on in UK

Not mellow yellow 👊🏻✊🏻💨

Toppppppp Yamaha

I have the same exact bike what are they worth???

💪👍✌

Sweet dime peice

Where can you get a crank for a 1983 yz80?

I have one, pretty clean but obviously not like this one. I also have a clean 1982 yz125.

250 Huricane ✌️✌️😳👻👻👻👍👍👍👍👍👍😉😉😉😉😉😉

40 something years later you still don't know what is its basic riding theory. What's the basic riding theory that was tuned into the bike from the professional experts. So yamaha is designed for low end power and that requires powerful brakes to stop the bike. SO, its a bike designed to win by passing the other riders at the beginning of a straight. Knowing this you'd begin by tuning the bike for extra rear end braking power. You'd brake early for a corner and the rear brake would rotate the bike early in a corner and then you shoot passed everyone else for the win. SO the factory tuned the bike for early acceleration and early braking which turns the bike early in corners so you're early on the throttle.

Got a xr600 1984 I was wanting to sale for 800 if anybody interested

I'm almost done resotring my dad's old 1984 YZ250 race bike and I gotta say while the modern 4 strokes pull hard through the whole powerband, these old 2-strokes are nasty bitches. Nothing, nothing , nothing, bam 110% power and the front just wants to stand up. The guys that were fast on these things are legends

The only problem with them was , the radiator was on the front number plate and if you were in back of a 490 or 500 you got rocked, and usually he took out the freaking radiator!!!! I went from a 125 up to 400 yz400!! W00000000H00000000000000👽😃🌡️🌡️🤩😚