Destiny or coincidence?
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Needless to say, our customer relations team receives some “interesting” feedback from past, present and future Yamaha owners. It could be someone looking for general tech support, or someone is upset because the rear tire on their 1973 DT3 is already worn out … it’s never a boring job, that’s for sure.
More recently, one of our agents helped provide some tech specs to a then-and-now Yamaha rider named Lynn. As it turns out, Lynn endured some eerie coincidence on her new bike. (Looking at her pics, she’s also attained some wisdom in regards to proper riding gear 
)
Thanks for sending me the detailed tech specs for that DT200. I am comparing it to what I currently have, the WR250R, which was the bike that replaced the DT200. I never thought I’d be able to come close to replacing that beloved DT, and to be honest, when I bought the WR and was riding it home, I got goose bumps. Not because I was on a flashy new bike (well, that was kinda part of it) but because of the day and time I took possession. It’s REAL creepy.
I bought that old 1986 DT200 brand new in Penticton; I was 19 and had saved up from working a whole winter up at the ski hill in Kelowna. I absolutely LOVED that little bike. Roll forward to 11:30 AM, Oct 23, 1988. I wrote off my poor bike after an old lady failed to yield and decided to cut in between me and the truck in front of me. Bike was totaled. All I have left of that memory is a picture of me on it when I was camping at Christina Lake in the Kootenays.
I had always wanted to get another bike like the one I had. Life took me different places and I never got the chance to get another, even though I kept my eyes open for that year of bike. Nothing. I ended up with an old 1977 Honda XL 250 that was a heavy tank of a bike, and didn’t enjoy it near as much (I still have that old bike)…in fact it never even could be compared. I had numerous street bikes, the last one being a 1995 Suzuki RF600R. Stupid fast bike. It was a scream to ride, but every time I’d go past a trail off the road I’d want to explore it. NOT a good thing on a sportbike.
I then went onto the Yamaha site and saw the WR on there. I had looked at the WR250 years before, but because it wasn’t street legal I never took a second look. I read up on the R that others own, and the responses were incredible. A new bike, basically a dirt bike you can ride on the road right out of the crate. I immediately thought of my old DT, and HAD to take a ride on one. I had to wait for a demo day in order for that to happen, but once I rode it, I was hooked. I felt I had finally found a replacement, even if the damned thing was so high I couldn’t touch the ground. That was in July, 2008. A month later I sold the 600.
Roll forward to Oct 23, 2009. I’ve got the paperwork in my hands, my gear on and anticipating my first ride on my brand new 09 WR250R. The salesman had managed to get in the very first ‘09 in BC, right after the dealer demo that was held in Whistler, just for me. They hadn’t even been released to the public at that point, but he apparently knew someone and pulled a few strings. So at 11:30, I am on my new bike and riding down the highway. It was then that it hit me, and why I felt a cold shiver run the length of my spine. When I got home, I found the paperwork from the accident on the old DT. Check this out:
Oct 23, 1988 11:30 AM : 1986 Yamaha DT200S written off
Oct 23, 2008 11:30 AM : 2009 Yamaha WR25R ridden off the showroom floor.
Last 2 numbers on the VIN are 23.
20 years later to the exact date and time, I have replaced something I never thought I ever would.
Sorry if I’ve bored you with this, but what you’ve done really means a lot to me. I’m going over the spec sheets for both bikes, and besides the difference of the DT being a 2-stroke, the two bikes are very similar in a lot of ways.
Again, I thank you for doing this for me. I’ve sent along some pics, just for comparison. One of me when I was on the old DT (well it was maybe 5 months old there), me on the new WR250R, and the WR after I went to work and modified it.
What do you think? Is this all coincidence? Or was Lynn meant to be back on a Yamaha dual sport?
and its a new bike, i haven’t driven it with more than 75kmph speed. So I didn’t get a chance to experience my bike’s maximum power. But since we drive most of the time in 50s and 60s in daily traffic, what I feel is that the bike is smoother when it is running in 60s when compared to 50s.
Hero Honda: Month on month, year on year Hero Honda has showed their supremacy over all other Indian manufacturers. Continuing with the lead, Hero Honda sold a whooping 3,82,096 two wheelers in February 2010 which was an increment of 16 percent over last February. March 2010 saw Hero Honda breaking all shackles as they steer their sales tally over 4 lakh mark by recording 4,14,638 two wheelers which was an increase of 14 percent as compared to 3,53,342 units the company managed to sell in March 2009.
Bajaj Auto: Pune based Bajaj auto also was on a roll for both of these months. In February 2010, company registered a phenomenal growth of 77 percent over the corresponding period last year. Bajaj managed to sell 2,34,710 two wheelers which comprised of 234,623 motorcycles. The same figures for last February were 1,32,393 two wheelers and 1,31,785 motorcycles out of them. For March 2010, Bajaj witnessed an increase of an even better 85 percent.
TVS Motors: Chennai based TVS Motor Company recorded 31 percent growth in February 2010 registering total sales of 1,40,544 two wheelers as compared to 1,07,301 units sold in February 2009. Domestic sales grew by 34 percent registering 1,21,403 two wheeler units as compared to 90,718 units TVS managed to sell during the corresponding period last year. Motorcycle sales grew by almost 28 percent to 63,394 units when compared to 49,659 units recorded for the previous February. On the other hand scooters also witnessed 38 percent rise in sales registering 27,017 units as compared to 19,532 units sold in February 2009. For the month of March 2010 also TVS stood tall and registered handsome profits. On the whole, TVS posted 24 percent increase in sales of its two wheelers. Overall, TVS managed to register sales of 1,46,736 two wheelers in March 2010 as compared to 1,18,000 units they managed to sell during the whole of March 2009.Domestic sales grew by 25 percent registering 1,26,669 units as compared to 1,01,660 units TVS sold in March 2009. Ironically, scooters enabled TVS to growth such good stats. TVS sold 28,504 scooters which is almost 50 percent increase when compared to 19,054 units sold in March 2009. Motorcycles also registered 7 percent gain registering sales of 64,120 units when compared to 59,796 units sold during the corresponding month last year. Exports for both the months continued their upward slide registering 15 and 23 percent increase respectively. During this period TVS introduced the clutchless wonder 110cc bike, Jive and the metal bodied 125cc unisex scooter Wego to the market and have plans to roll both of them in phases.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter in India: Honda motors Japans fully owned subsidiary HMSI has been doing wonderfully well ever since it got rid of those labor unrest issues. For the month of February 2010 the company registered an impressive sales tally of 1.22 lakh units which were higher by 22 percent as compared to the corresponding month last year. But the major boost came in the month of March 2010 where the company nearly piped TVS Motors for the third spot. HMSI registered handsome gains of impressive 76.25 percent registering 1,44,288 units compared to 81,865 units sold during the corresponding month last year. These figures are just shy of TVS figures by a couple of thousand units only. Motorcycle sales gained by as much as 63.25 percent and stood tall at 65,888 units as compared to 40,360 units sold in March 2009. Scooters also saw a massive almost 89 percent increase in sales at 78,400 units when compared to 41,505 units sold in the March 2009. We ourselves are a little out of our minds when we analyze that these figures are a result of slight tweaking and twisting of models only. No real upgrade has been launched. But then it has always worked this way for Honda be it the JV with Hero or this one.
Yamaha India: Yamaha had some respite in February 2010 after the sales not picking up in the preceding months. Yamaha recorded a massive 48 percent gain in its sales. Total sales stood at 25,766 units whereas for the same month previous year these figures were 17,407 units. Domestic sales for the company increased by 17.8 percent to 16,313 units this month as compared to 13,848 units sold in the same month last year. March 2010 also saw some fruitful results for the company when they managed to notch up their sales by 27 percent. Total sales stood at 27,460 units as compared to 21, 571 units registered in March 2009. Yamaha received an increment of almost 23 percent in the domestic market by selling 17,892 units as compared to 14,575 units registered the previous year for the month of March. Exports also continued to grow for the company for both the months. Company accorded all the results to fantastic performance of its high end bikes, FZ series and R15.
Suzuki Motorcycles India: SMIL, Suzuki Motorcycles India Pvt Ltd. also ended the fiscal year with a boom. The company recorded 76 percent increase in sales for March 2010 when they sold 21,752 units. These figures were mainly pushed by the companies 150cc motorcycle GS150R and 125cc scooter Access.
Mahindra two wheelers: March 2010 was another good month for Mahindra Two Wheelers as well. The company managed to record 12,753 units of its 125cc scooters this month. In fact, Mahindra achieved record sales of 70,000 units in this financial year which is a proof of the good times to come for the company. All this was achieved with only three models in hand, the Rodeo, Duro and Flyte, all 125cc scooters based on the same mill.
