Yamaha Street Bikes 1955-2009

Since 1955 Yamaha has grown from being one of dozens of Japanese manufacturers struggling for domestic survival into a global brand.  Yamaha built and sustained a profile of design creativity and technical innovation, responsible over the last fifty years for some of the most iconic and ground-breaking street bikes of our time.   With descriptions of all the major models, from the YA125 of 1955 to the VMAX of 2009, an analysis of their impact, backed up with specifications and a wealth of photographs and reproductions from period brochures, this book covers the complete story of the successes and failures and their effects on the company's fortunes.

Colin MacKellar has been writing about motorcycles for the past twenty-five years, and prior to this book he has published four titles including Yamaha Racing Motorcycles and Honda GP Racers with Crowood.  He was an early adopter of web-based journalism, working with Motorcycle Online from 1996 until 2002, including stints as World Super Bike and Moto GP correspondent.  Following a busy career in telecoms, Yamaha Street Bikes is his first book for over ten years.  He lives in Holland.