The adventures of Moto-Bike Mike

The explosion of dirt biking in the 1970s  kickstarted other sporting movements, most notably the BMX craze.

Back in the mid 70s Yamaha decided it could cash in on the BMX trend and launched the Yamaha Moto-Bike. It was amongst the first BMX bike you could buy with dual suspension. The front forks were oil dampended units while a set of twin shocks were attached to the rear swing arm for a super smooth ride.

The Moto-Bikes made an immediate impact, but riders soon complained about them being far too heavy and the design of competition BMX bikes went in a different direction.

The ad itself is a real cracker with hero Moto-Bike Mike squaring off against Bermhead Bob, taking the win and getting the girl.

The tag line “Someday, You’ll own a Yamaha” no doubt rang true for hundreds of teenagers desperate to throw a leg over this hot machine.

Here in Australia we had the Malvern Star Mustang which, along with a Repco BMX bike, sported a monoshock design, soon to appear on the Yamaha Motocross range.