# Anybody know about Yokota bikes?



## bikerboy (Jan 13, 2004)

I have come across a couple Yakota mountain bikes in the past year. I can't seem to find any info on them when I do a google search. I hoping somebody here might be able to share some info with me. Thanks.


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## TobyNobody (Mar 17, 2004)

bikerboy said:


> I have come across a couple Yakota mountain bikes in the past year. I can't seem to find any info on them when I do a google search. I hoping somebody here might be able to share some info with me. Thanks.


They were a Taiwanese made budget brand that had ads boasting about how they were better component value than larger brand names. I think a shop where I used to work had them before I started there, but I don't recall actually seeing any.

Nothing special, really. I think the company went away in the early/mid nineties, but i'm not too sure.


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## WEBERTIME (Feb 4, 2004)

*They Became Dirt Research...*

Eventually they went away by '95-'96. Nicer rides for the $$$$ The 93 Yosimite was one nice ride for the $$$. I believe KHS made their frames.I have an OLD Mountain Bike with an article that showed the factory, (a long with Diamond Backs (old ownership), and Iron Horses (A-frame style)).


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## Speedub.Nate (Dec 31, 2003)

Ahhh, the good old days...

A 1989 Yokota (note the spelling) Yosemite replaced my stolen Marin Palisades Trail when I was in college.

I specifically recall the "head-to-head" ads the company used in the pages of Mountain Bike Action magazine, comparing the Yosemite to the Specialized Stumpjumper or Rockhopper. Just so happened to have a dealer in San Jose, so I bought one with the insurance money.

One of the comments I used to hear was how cool the "smoke" finish was on the frame, essentially carbon residue left behind by a torch then clearcoated. I recall a couple manufacturers doing this with their frames, and it played out pretty quickly.


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

I'm pretty sure dirt research was a seperate company from yokota. Yokota bikes used to spec DR parts on them in the early 90s though. I think DR was just the english brand name for some unpronouncable taiwan or chinese brand, much like HL Corp has their Zoom brand name.


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## loonyOne (Dec 25, 2003)

I bought my daughter a Yokota Yosemite off eBay almost two years ago. Real aggressive (for the era) geometry, most likely designed for racing. Her 17" frame sports a 22" top tube, about 1.125" longer than my wife's '93 Rockhopper Comp FS of the same size. The Yokota has Tange Infinity tubing and is a nice riding little rig...too small for me to enjoy tho'. Here's a couple of pics. Notice the acetylene torch paint job...well, what it used to be. She wanted a different color and that's what she got. Note the single speed gearing...talk about making Daddy proud!!  
I contacted them about getting a decal set quite some time ago and never got a reply. I really wouldn't mind getting one for myself...in my size of course.


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## Tracerboy (Oct 13, 2002)

*I had a Yokota Team back in 1992*

I picked it up in Yakima Washington during a visit and it was a nice bike for the money.About $699 I think. It had XT components but generic seatpost,stem,handlebars,tires and seat to bring the price down. When I swapped those parts,the bike rode even better. I thought it did compare well with a Rockhopper. Yokota was a good brand in my opinion. If I can find another Team I'd get it.
Here's a photo of a Yokota team I have from my files.I think it was sold on ebay.Nice looking bike.


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## Tracerboy (Oct 13, 2002)

*Is that an Odyssey Intac seatpost on the blue Yokota?*



loonyOne said:


> I bought my daughter a Yokota Yosemite off eBay almost two years ago. Real aggressive (for the era) geometry, most likely designed for racing. Her 17" frame sports a 22" top tube, about 1.125" longer than my wife's '93 Rockhopper Comp FS of the same size. The Yokota has Tange Infinity tubing and is a nice riding little rig...too small for me to enjoy tho'. Here's a couple of pics. Notice the acetylene torch paint job...well, what it used to be. She wanted a different color and that's what she got. Note the single speed gearing...talk about making Daddy proud!!
> I contacted them about getting a decal set quite some time ago and never got a reply. I really wouldn't mind getting one for myself...in my size of course.


It's a good post. For the guy who was looking for the 26.6 post,try this one.It has a good clamping system.


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## J Ro (Jan 13, 2004)

*that Yosemite brings back memories*



loonyOne said:


> I bought my daughter a Yokota Yosemite off eBay almost two years ago. Real aggressive (for the era) geometry, most likely designed for racing. Her 17" frame sports a 22" top tube, about 1.125" longer than my wife's '93 Rockhopper Comp FS of the same size. The Yokota has Tange Infinity tubing and is a nice riding little rig...too small for me to enjoy tho'. Here's a couple of pics. Notice the acetylene torch paint job...well, what it used to be. She wanted a different color and that's what she got. Note the single speed gearing...talk about making Daddy proud!!
> I contacted them about getting a decal set quite some time ago and never got a reply. I really wouldn't mind getting one for myself...in my size of course.


That was my first "real" mountain bike. Great value for the money, i wish i still had mine.
According to Tom Teesdale's site he built the Yokota Halfdome in 1993.
That Team bike is very sweet! I remember seeing that pic on some other website.
I think the former distributor Reid Rollins is still blowing out some Yokota/Dirt Reaserch stuff from the glory days.(link)

http://www.marketeastplaza.com/BicycleParts.html


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## bikerboy (Jan 13, 2004)

Thanks for all the cool info. I actually have an old Yokota Yosimite I picked up second hand, so I was just curious what the story was on this brand. It is a late 80s/early 90s model, probably 89 at the earliest since its 7 speed. It has a Shimano Mountain LX groupo. Was this the precursor to Deore LX or is this a seperate line, like Exage or something? Thanks.


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## loonyOne (Dec 25, 2003)

bikerboy said:


> Thanks for all the cool info. I actually have an old Yokota Yosimite I picked up second hand, so I was just curious what the story was on this brand. It is a late 80s/early 90s model, probably 89 at the earliest since its 7 speed. It has a Shimano Mountain LX groupo. Was this the precursor to Deore LX or is this a seperate line, like Exage or something? Thanks.


That is the exact components that my daughter's had. The one component on the bike that was not 'original' was the wheelset...early LX hubs on the inside of Wolber rims. Like I said before, I would buy one if I could find one in my size.


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## loonyOne (Dec 25, 2003)

Built4Speed said:


> It's a good post. For the guy who was looking for the 26.6 post,try this one.It has a good clamping system.


Great eye Built4Speed. One Q though, how did you notice the small lettering while your head is moving so fast? I swear, your avatar slays me! Seriously, I bought the seatpost on eBay for a song, and yes, it does have a real good clamping system. I did not know they had a 26.6 size...as I need two of those this year.


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## bikerboy (Jan 13, 2004)

*What size do you need?*

The bike I have is a 20" center to center. What do you ride?



loonyOne said:


> That is the exact components that my daughter's had. The one component on the bike that was not 'original' was the wheelset...early LX hubs on the inside of Wolber rims. Like I said before, I would buy one if I could find one in my size.


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

there's a test of that blue/white/red yosemite pro in the 1992 Bicycling mag buyer's guide. It was their best buy for front suspended mountain bike winner that year.


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## ~martini~ (Dec 20, 2003)

I was wanting to bid on that bike for my wife, but ended up not simply 'cause she's already got a SS and a geary, and a road. No need for another...

I've always liked the Yokota's. I thought they were good deals. Smartly specced to keep price down. IIRC, they were also one of the few companies to offer sizes greater than 20". I remember an ad from DirtRag(bless thier souls!) that offered a 24" sized bike, and this was for one of the high end models. If I have time I'll try to dig it up. 

Hey bikerboy, got any pics of yours?


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## loonyOne (Dec 25, 2003)

bikerboy said:


> The bike I have is a 20" center to center. What do you ride?


20" would most likely work...as long as the top tube is at least 22.5" long. Got any pics??


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## bikerboy (Jan 13, 2004)

Let me get some pics today and measure the top tube.


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## dompedro3 (Jan 26, 2004)

*little more info maybe?*

I posted this exact question about a year ago. I have since broken the frame (crack in headtube weld). But the frame rode beautifully, and i had a lot of fun on it, it was replaced with a on-one inbred. heres a link to the post:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=15599


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## trailville (Jul 24, 2006)

*a little more info for an old thread.*

I picked up a 93/94 Yakota Grizzly Peak Tandem today. Doing a little research, I came across this post in a thread on bikeforums. the thread was about a Yakota road bike, but the post may clarify a little about "Yakota Cycle USA".

This quote is from a "Jharrington" (I believe it's John Harrington, but I'm not 100%)


> "Mystery Yokota
> I just stumbled on this post, ( 4 years later). I am the founder of Yokota Cycle USA and the designer of the bicycles. While primarily Yokota's focus was Mountain Bikes I did offer road bikes in 1989. The legend was the top of the line model spec'ed and using the tubing, TANGE #2 as you mentioned. Prior to working for Yokota, I was a custom frame builder and that is where the responsive geometry originated. Wile I know Gary Yokota he was not a part of the company and I never used him to build frames. i did contract with Tom Tesdale for the Half Dome model. Strictly Wholesale was my East a coast distributor and after I left the company to join Easton Sports, Strictly became the USA exclusive distributor of the line. The Legend was a very lightweight bicycle using USA appropriate frame geometry and was a very sweet ride. However, the late eighties and early 90's were the heyday of Mountain Bikes. Road bike took a very far back burner. So the model is very rare. "


I'll add that there does seem to be a very close relationship between Yakota and Dirt Research.In addition to some Dirt Research parts on the Yakotas, the Yakota Tandems made in 93 and 94 seem to be very similar to the Dirt Research Tandems made starting in 95. I've seen mention on tandem forums of Yakota / Dirt Research as though they were the same bikes (if not the same company).

Since I've been very happy with the Dirt Research frames I picked up a while back, I'm hoping I like this Yakota Tandem as well. It looks like a decent frame (not by some of the VRC crowd standards, but I only care how it rides) though it has a mix of mediocre and some crappy components.

Edit: Here's some more I found another Yakota thread on these forums.


Manicmtbr said:


> The Yakota Frames in the pictures were distributed by Strictly Wholesale in Newark, DE. They were heavily marketed in CA and I believe they even had a race team. Strictly Wholesale then started distributing Dirt Research. Reid Rollins (owner of Yakota, Dirt Research, and Ballistic forks) has a bunch of the Dirt Research frames in his warehouse and sells them from time to time on Ebay. He will sell direct (if you drive there) and his prices are pretty good for a steel bike, but not rock bottom. $280 will get you a Columbus EL-OS frame and a matching Tange fork. I bought one last year and used it as a race bike. Unfortunately, they were built around a 63 MM fork and I had trouble finding a good 63 MM fork, so it sits in my shed now waiting to be reborn.
> 
> The top end Yakota's were built by Thomas Teesdale (TETcycles.com). All of the later Dirt Research frames are very similiar to TET's, but built in Japan. I think Tom built the Half-Dome framesets. They will have on TET in the bottom bracket shell.
> 
> The Yakota builder had nothing to do with these frames. A few years ago, he said something about the "cheap bikes" built with his name. I never had a problem with my Dirt Research and have a few friends who bought Yakota's in 1994 when Reid was blowing them out. Reid is also a great source of 1 1/4 and 1 inch stems.


Edit: added Pic of yakota tandem


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## bloodyknee (Jul 29, 2008)

Had me a Yosemite back in the day, it was the white one, can't remember the year. They were good riding bikes and I also remember them being compared to the Spesh models. In fact, I thought I was told they had the same geometry as the Stumpy, but I may not be rmemebering that exactly correct.


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## Speedub.Nate (Dec 31, 2003)

bloodyknee said:


> Had me a Yosemite back in the day, it was the white one, can't remember the year. They were good riding bikes and I also remember them being compared to the Spesh models. In fact, I thought I was told they had the same geometry as the Stumpy, but I may not be rmemebering that exactly correct.


That was close to verbatim for their ad copy in Mountain Bike Action, where they pictured the two bikes side by side. As a thrifty college student, this ad spoke to me, and it's how I ended up riding a Yokota Yosemite in 1989.









(pic of my "smoke blue" paint scheme lifted from a Craigslist ad)


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## coconinocycles (Sep 23, 2006)

My girlfriend wes Japanese natl' champ in the early 90's racing for Yokota!
- Steve Garro, Coconino Cycles.


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## J Ro (Jan 13, 2004)

coconinocycles said:


> My girlfriend wes Japanese natl' champ in the early 90's racing for Yokota!
> - Steve Garro, Coconino Cycles.


Very Cool :thumbsup: Do you have any photos of her old team bike?


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## StanleyButterfly (Nov 4, 2009)

J Ro said:


> Very Cool :thumbsup: Do you have any photos of her old team bike?


Or just any of her?


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## coconinocycles (Sep 23, 2006)

J Ro said:


> Very Cool :thumbsup: Do you have any photos of her old team bike?


 I don't think so - it was orange/white fade & I think it was a "Yosemite"
When she moved back to the US she raced on a Hei-Hei and was sponsored by Ringle & Sun - full, and I mean FULL purple ano parts!
- Steve Garro, Coconino Cycles.


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## Marylyn (Aug 24, 2013)

Yep, it was the ad in MTB that got me interested in my Yokota Yosemite in early 1992. My Nishiki had been stolen (cannot remember the model) and I needed a bike... my local shop at the time was in Middle Village, NY and I was used to going in to visit, mostly to drool over the Klein Attitude he had in the window. When he got the Yosemite in, it was just the right time... the MTB ad, my lack of a bike and it was a easy sale. THe bike was so much more responsive than the Nishiki was that it caught air the first day. THe Nishiki never did that so I had no idea how to land... did not do so much damage that my bike guy couldn't fix it, but he was alarmed when I returned a few hours after picking it up 

I still have that bike and have just started riding again after a lot of years off. I bought one for my husband too. He's also done some aggressive riding on it. Both of ours are black with green decals and have Shimano Deore DX components.

I certainly do remember that ad, though. Thanks!



Speedub.Nate said:


> That was close to verbatim for their ad copy in Mountain Bike Action, where they pictured the two bikes side by side. As a thrifty college student, this ad spoke to me, and it's how I ended up riding a Yokota Yosemite in 1989.


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## Jayson44 (Aug 12, 2005)

here's my Yokota El Capitan that I just "finished" (aka, found all the extra parts I had laying around that would fit the frame):





































I think it's an 89, judging by the paint. came to me as a frame/fork and I've been collecting cheap/miss matched parts to put on it. nothing too special, but it actually rides really nice!

J.


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## Lokidog5 (May 1, 2013)

I still have my Yokota Quicksilver. I did some upgrades many years ago. I also have another one that is a year older. I loved riding it. Really light weight and easy flick anyway you need to.


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## yakkoTDI (May 4, 2011)

Finished building mine up recently. Glad I finally did.

http://forums.mtbr.com/vintage-retro-classic/yokota-yosemite-finally-943618.html


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## thook (Jan 2, 2012)

Ha! Old thread, nevertheless.......

Found a Yokota Grizzly Peak at the local thrift today for $20. Tange tubes and full Deore LX components. Cheap bars and stem, cheap seat post (but, not bad), and cheap Avocet touring saddle not made in Italy. The wheels are Araya rims and LX hubs, but need truing and a couple new spokes. Otherwise, the paint is in amazing shape for it's age. Almost a purple color. I don't think it was ridden very much or very hard at all. So, needs a fair amount of work to be rideable, and I may throw my early 90's Marzocchi on it. I'll need a 1" steerer for that, though. I plan to upgrade the post, bars, and stem to some alloy stuff, too. 

Anyone know the tire size capacity on one of these? I just picked it up this afternoon and haven't found my calipers to measure, but maybe atleast a 2.35? I'm hoping some 2.4 Ardents.


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## Jayson44 (Aug 12, 2005)

in the front, a 2.4 might fit, but good luck getting it past the brake pads. in the rear, I highly doubt a 2.4 will fit. especially if you have it on the old wide rims.

J.


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## logbiter (Dec 30, 2003)

I have a mid '90's Yosemite model w/ a 1 1/8" fork. It has Columbus tubes. A Schwalbe 2.35 moto/apple slick fits in the rear fine. I don't have a stock fork up front, but usually something like a 2.4 will fit fine (caveat as noted by thook- tire fitting w/ brakes). I wouldn't bother with an old 'zoke, unless it's a bomber, but whatever floats yer boat! (;

Here's how I had it setup a long while ago in commuter mode w/ the fat Schwalbe slicks. It currently runs with a 2.5 WTB knobby in front & 2.25 knobby in back (w/ some clearance leftover) and I ditched the thermoplastic barends  among a few other mods.


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## thook (Jan 2, 2012)

Jayson44 said:


> in the front, a 2.4 might fit, but good luck getting it past the brake pads. in the rear, I highly doubt a 2.4 will fit. especially if you have it on the old wide rims.
> 
> J.


 Hrmm....well, I did manage to locate my calipers last night. I do believe a 2.4 would be too tight, as you suggest. But, the rims are 25mm wide. Is that "wide" as you mean it? Araya RM-20's.


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## thook (Jan 2, 2012)

logbiter said:


> I have a mid '90's Yosemite model w/ a 1 1/8" fork. It has Columbus tubes. A Schwalbe 2.35 moto/apple slick fits in the rear fine. I don't have a stock fork up front, but usually something like a 2.4 will fit fine (caveat as noted by thook- tire fitting w/ brakes). I wouldn't bother with an old 'zoke, unless it's a bomber, but whatever floats yer boat! (;


Lol...I've always liked the fork I have. Bought it in early '93, as I recall. It's an XC-50 or 51. Don't remember and the stickers have long since been destroyed. Yeah, it's flexy by better standards, but that never bothered me. It was enough suspension to help smooth things. Nevertheless, it's funny you should say what you say because I was just researching a seal replacement kit, but found out there's actually a recall on the fork crowns of those models!!!!!!!!! Never knew this!!!! And, the fork's never been a problem. I am going to call the number I found in the following link and see what's done about it considering how late to the game I am, as it were.

Marzocchi Fork Recall< - Bicycle Parts at discount prices / the Buyer's Guide / Bicycle Parts at their finest! / Professional Bicycle Source / Bike Pro

But, then I may blow it off entirely and find an old rockshox to rebuild or something. Hell....may even just go full rigid. If the 2.4 will fit well enough in front, might be enough....sorta.


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## Jayson44 (Aug 12, 2005)

hard to tell. I just fit a 2.35 Kenda Excavator on the front of my 88 Stumpy just fine. the rear wheel is trashed, so I can't mount the rear tire just yet. I say give it a try and see what happens.

and yes, I was talking about the older Araya/et al rims that were fairly wide.

J.


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## thook (Jan 2, 2012)

Ah, I see. I didn't realize 25mm's was considered wide. My friend has an old Cann'. His front Araya is almost 30mm. I forget exactly, but that's what I was thinking of as wide... 

I just measured the clearance width between the stays and fork blades. 75mm between the fork blades and 69mm in the rear. So, yeah....the rear would be pretty close and probably rub.


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## thook (Jan 2, 2012)

I called Marz' yesterday and spoke to some dude with a strong foreign accent. He was fun... . Anyhow, apparently my fork already had the replacement crown installed when I bought it new going by the fact it didn't have the OE serial number on the backside of the brake arch. And, it turns out a little oil spurting out of the schrader valve is normal if the fork hasn't been resting upright. I thought it might mean the seal was leaking, but there'd be oil on the stanchion/s if that were the case. So, my fork is good to go.....except I have to get a 1" steerer tube for it...which I've already sourced. The guy....a friend/framebuilder....may have to make a shim for the steerer to crown, though. I'm quite anxious to build it up and ride, but I promised my wife I'd finish her mixte, first. Not gonna get away with that one...haha!


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## logbiter (Dec 30, 2003)

I don't know about the xc 'zokes for sure, but with the 90's bomber models, a RST 1" steerer fits (provided it's a pinch bolt crown) & comes w/ a shim.


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## thook (Jan 2, 2012)

logbiter said:


> I don't know about the xc 'zokes for sure, but with the 90's bomber models, a RST 1" steerer fits (provided it's a pinch bolt crown) & comes w/ a shim.


Thank you kindly for that info! Is this steerer something to be had aftermarket on the web? I mean, I'll run google on it, but figured I'd ask. And, since you said that, years ago, I actually yanked a steerer from an RST I found in the dumpster and put it in my XC. It was 1 1/8 threadless and longer than my original that was cut very short upon purchase of the fork. I didn't know any better at that time to request anything different.


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## thook (Jan 2, 2012)

So, I looked up the RST steerer. Found it on amazon! Thanks, again!


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## Real1shepherd (Jan 8, 2019)

Straight from the horse's mouth on another bike forum:
"Hi, my name is John Harrington and I was the founder of Yokota Cycles USA in 1988. Back in those days, Mountain Bikes were the hot item but what’s a bike company without road bikes? The Legend was one of the top end models. There was one more expensive model called the Discovery, but it was more specifically a Tri Model with a curved top tube and upswept handlebars. So the Legend was really the top of the line road bike. The frame design came from my background as a Category One Road and Track racer as well as being a Custom Frame builder. I used the same frame geometry that I used when making Road Racing Models for Athletes. So I know the bike handles well. It’s very stable going straight but very quick in the turns. The first year that Yokota Bicycles hit the market was 1989. As I mentioned above, the market was really centered on Mountain Bikes so 1989 was the only year Yokota sold road bikes, so your Legend is pretty rare. I guess these days, it would be considered a Retro Bike. I left Yokota in 1993 and went to work for Easton Sports to create a Bicycle Division manufacturing Bicycle Components from Aluminum and Carbon Fiber. Yokota had a distributor on the East Coast (Owned by Reid Rowland’s) named Stricky Wholesale and he marketed a line of components called Dirt Research. Strictly Wholesale took over the distribution of Yokota Bicycles in 1993. Unfortunately I'm not sure the Bicycles survived past 1994 with Strickly Wholesale. I am very happy to see these models still exist and are being used. Please enjoy the ride and thanks for sharing the pictures!"


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## outside! (Mar 15, 2006)

*Another Yokota Tandem*



trailville said:


> I picked up a 93/94 Yakota Grizzly Peak Tandem today.
> 
> Edit: added Pic of yakota tandem


For other's reference, here are a couple more pictures of a Yokota Tandem I picked up in 2008.

As purchased.







Here is how it looked after I outfitted it with a child stoker kit. I ended up selling it to a family with a special needs child.


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## Shawn_FL (Dec 18, 2019)

You wouldn't happen to still have those Magic tires after the refresh do you?


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## Hergules (Feb 12, 2010)

*Where was the tandem manufactured*



outside! said:


> For other's reference, here are a couple more pictures of a Yokota Tandem I picked up in 2008.
> 
> As purchased.
> 
> ...


Just curious - I have the oppy to buy a tandem frame, where was your Yokota made? Thanks Joe


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