Man Yamaha has to be one of the most overlooked brands in history despite them being like one of the biggest companies in the world They make some of the best musical instruments, some of the best motorcycles, and some of the best engines ever made

I first became aware of Yamaha in the '60s because of their quality motorcycles. Throughout the '60s, I thought Yamaha was the only bike equal to Honda. My first motorcycle was a brand new, bright yellow, 1978 Yamaha 400 enduro. Since then I have used their instruments, sold there audio systems, and driven their outboards and one thing I have always believed, if it says Yamaha on it, it is top quality, whatever the price tier.

Yamaha R1 still has one of the best sounding engines ever made.

As a HUGE Yamaha fan this video was like an emotional thunderstorm. I always knew that Yamaha was the best in many many different branches but this was like the final comfirmation of the Yamaha factory magic. My love for this brand is just endless. Great video!

Yamaha engines never fail to deliver. I used to work for a boat rental company and we would exclusively buy Yamaha outboards and waverunners because of how tough they were. The outbounds would out last Honda's. The waverunners would get heavily abused. They would run out of oil from customers flipping them and sucking sand into the water cooling impeller and would still run. The ecu would put the engine in limp mode. They would troll back to the dock, we would fill them up with oil and send them back good as new.

Ferrari was the manufacturer you left out here. When they built the 355 they brought in Yamaha to develop the cylinder heads with their famous 5 valve configuration (hence the "5" in 355, standing for 3.5 litre 5 valve) and also Yamaha contributed their R 1 motorcycle derived variable exhaust system valve which was activated by manifold pressure to increase or decrease exhaust flow in the actual exhaust system. Later also used in the Ferrari 550 and most models thereafter. As a teenager I always rode Yamahas and considered that they were a cut above all other Japanese bikes. I now ride European bikes but Yamaha are still in a class of their own in my opinion.

I’ve been a Yamaha fan for 40years. Motorcycles and musical instruments. What a company. I rate them as the best.

Yamaha was the first company to develop a snowmobile engine that puts out over 200hp and still meets noise and emissions standards for a stock machine. It’s a triple four stroke turbo of around 1000cc. Arctic Cat and Yamaha both use it. First year production prototypes were clocked on a frozen lake solidly in the mid 120s (mph) Beating the previous generation twin cylinder turbo built by Suzuki by as much as ten mph and cutting acceleration times by seconds. It’s taken the other manufacturers four or five years to make something that finally runs with it. 👍

I worked at Yamaha Motor in the mid to late 80's., have owner a half dozen of their motorcycles, and a Toyota MR2 with the twin cam 1.6 liter Yamaha engine. The motors were always gems. They have an amazing history and great products. Dan

As someone who has owned Yamaha trumpet, electric piano, quads, motorcycles, generators and a Taurus SHO. thank you for making this video as it really makes me appreciate how amazing this brand truly is.

the r1 crossplane engine and the mt09 engine are one of my favorite engine in terms of sound, they sound like heaven

Great history presentation on Toyota. Proud owner of a 2010 Camry.

Owned Puma for few years, never knew the engine was Yamaha design. It was extremely fun car for FWD, was kind of sad when I had to sell it as Puma parts became too expensive.. at least it sold to a rally team so it lives on.

In 2014 and I found a totaly unmolested 4,002 mile 1989 Yamaha FZR1000. It was so OG it still had the stock Bridgestone tires. There is a valve in the exhaust that opens between 6000 and 8000 rpm that reduces back pressure. The sound change is phenomenal motorcycle music.

Yamaha also launched the most advanced speaker in the late 70s aka NS-1000 that would come with exotic beryllium drivers and carbon fiber woofers that no other manufacturers had. Till today it goes toe to toe with modern high-end speakers.

Always love watching albon whenever he uploads, great content

The Taurus SHO engine was pretty much a straight bolt-in for the 1st gen Ford Probe, but such a combo would have left the V8 Mustang in the weeds, so that idea never got off the ground.

Wow. I had no idea Yamaha was such a prolific consumer-vehicle motor designer. Amazing how many motors they had their hand in.

Great video! My first motorcycle was a Yamaha RD350 two-stroke. Despite being a two-stroke I didn't have to mix the oil into the fuel because there was a tank under the seat for just oil and the bike mixed it. Nice touch! Later I was looking at Hondas and I realized that while Honda will put a computer into the tail of their motorcycle to control everything, Yamaha will accomplish the same thing through engineering. Just great mechanical design all over the place!

Love the content! I really know a lot about cars and I know that Yamaha designed a lot of engines/engine parts, but I never would've looked deeper into this. Thanks for all the good content!

Thank you for opening my eyes to the world of Yamaha.....this is truely amazing.

RIP the LFA. The most underrated, undersold, unappreciated pieces of engineering on the road. They took a loss on every one from what I understand. Absolutely phenomenal

27:54 The LFA was the relentless pursuit of perfection embodied. Its a shock to see that in a world focused on the "relentless persuit of profit" And see what you get from it. Long lasting love.

Man, gives me a little bit more faith in humanity when you hear about some companies that focus on improving things in general instead of just looking for profit. Accepting that sometimes you will fail and all that research time wasn't waisted, just invested.

Ive loved Yamaha once i knew they were quiety building high performance engines when i was young and just started to drive. I just thought it was sooooo cool to know motorcycle engine builder does this on the side. I have Yamaha soundbars, recievers and motorcycles because i just love this brand.

as an owner of a mr2 aw11, I always pride myself in the 4age. it really has a way of singing when you floor it, makes sense why yamaha went into making instruments when the engines they make sound absolutely AMAZING.

Thank you Albon for another great video, looks like you enjoy making these as much as I enjoy watching them.

Until I bought my first BMW in 2007, the best bike I had ever owned was a Yamaha TX650A. Fast enough, reliable, a good tourer, and I even raced it for a season. Interestingly, the ports and combustion chamber design was that of the Toyota 2000GT, and the valves and collets even had Toyota part numbers. My Yamaha electric organ is good too.

Another amazing video from albon! The level of depth you go into your research is paralleled to non

Thank you! I love your speedy delivery pepped with nuggetised info. That's the way it should be done. Bravo and thank once again. You make it easy to listen and digest the new 'why' information.

Some of this footage and narration just gives me goosebumps. I'm so happy i've found this channel.

Fun fact : on the Toyota Corolla sportivo with the 2zzge engine also found in the XRS Corolla in America AND the lotus Elise supercharged version of the 2zzge. The side of the engine block says Yamaha on it. Not just that this engine introduced Toyotas version of Hondas “Vtec” it was called VVTL variable valve timing “Lift”. Very cool engine :) also found in some Toyota celiacs

My first car was a 77' Celica like in your back drop... Had 2 coupes, and one hatchback. Yamaha has always made their best cylinder heads. In the old days, the heads were branded Yamaha too. I put a JDM 18RG in my Celica. I also had several AE86 (road raced one for 25 years), but that engine design was a not-as-good knock off of a Cosworth. I was also one of the first to put the 20v 4age in a MKI MR2 here in the US.

Great video! Glad I stumbled across this channel, keep up the great work!

Hey Albon, vou crushed it. This was the most incredible story to listen to whats going on behind the scenes. Great work!!!

Over the years I have been fortunate enough to own Yamaha sports bikes. Fantastic! Also outboard motors and stereo systems

Awesome educational video thanks for the upload

Great video! Puts a lot of Yamaha & Toyota in a new perspective, for me, that is. Thnx for sharing.

This is the first video on your channel I watched, and I am glad I bumped into it. Already subscribed to your channel and clicked on the bell icon. As for the video, it is an exceptionally well-researched documentary on Toyota and Yamaha. Keep up the good work.

I used to work with one of Toyota's engine designers. He lamented the hoops Yamaha had to jump through to get the LFA V10 made. Specifically, Toyota has lots of design standards that aren't the most forward thinking (for the sake of reliability). If you look at the 1LR and compare it to other Toyota engines, you'll notice many parts are integrated into each other that Toyota keeps seperate on other engines. It's hard to overstate the importance of these standards within Toyota, and the process to get one amended is immense. To get the LFA out the door, Toyota opted to just look the other way rather than changing the standard for all future designs.

Yamaha is awesome, I love their audio equipment.

Great job thanks!! I really like watching your entertainment ! Fast paced and full of passion 😃💥

Absolutely excellent video mate .so informative and perfect . Big love from the UK 🇬🇧

Another masterpiece. Becoming one of my favorite channels.

I knew Yamaha made the Ford SHO engine, but all them other ones? Impressive My favourite bike was the FJ1200. It was rock steady on the highway at all speeds and that engine . . . Peerless

As a Journalist since 1967, I would like to commend you for the terrific job that you did w/ this report. It was fascinating and gripping all the way through. When you touched on the Yamaha's motorcycles, I had a bad memory of one of my High school friends who had the first YD-S2 5-speed 250 I ever saw. In 1963 I would sometimes ride on it w/ him to McDonalds for lunch. I asked one day if he was going there and he said he was going home for lunch that day. He left alone and he never came back. A Cadillac driver had pulled out in front of him and he couldn't miss her. I did love the sound of that bike though.

This is the best video I've seen on KZfaq so far today. Boy! Great job @Albon!!

The 2000GT still worth more than Porsche and Jaguar now, lol.

Wow! Absolutely Awesome Presentation of the story of YAMAHA Albon, I never knew about them accomplishing so much, except the LFA. They Are Truly one hell of a company! And just a small side note, the captions-voice synchronisation on your videos are a lil bit messed up, like sometimes they show what has to be said or what was said in some other part of the video at the wrong time. Hope you fix that Other than that, Great Video Man!

You covered a whole ton of information, I'll hit that sub button. Put the research together with a little more setting variation, maybe bring in a couple of the cars mentioned. That with some fine tuning and this could be up there with the top car channels. Keep up the great work dude!

You put as much into this video as Yamaha puts into one of their engines, really doing them justice. I was already subscribed, but if I hadn't been, i would have sub'd after watching this video. Well done, sir.

Always loved the sound Yamaha motorcycles made. But the symphony from that LFA is godly.

Amazing video I’m big fan of Toyota and Yamaha and lfa amazing car,the sound it makes is the best engine ever I know when they changed the lfa to all carbon fiber it really made so expensive it was impossible to make and sell but still amazing car and Yamaha still making new amazing stuff I heard they have a amazing electric motor that’s insane and that hydrogen engine you talked about Great Stuff Thanks!

The RA28 celica behind you is a beauty. I had a 1977 GT with a 2L Yamaha head twin cam, Twin 40’s side draft solex, LSD etc etc. all stock. What an amazing car

Really enjoyed the video just the right excitement and fantastic background and history.

Fantastic in-depth research and eloquently reported! Thank you for sharing. I am somewhat surprised there was no mention of how Toyota and Yamaha literally saved Harley Davidson from the brink of disaster in the late '80s! Toyota was contracted to assist with management methodologies as well as empowerment of the HD workforce on the factory floor while Yamaha was awarded the engineering contract to vastly improve the HD engine by eliminating oil leaks, burnt points and many other common HD quality flaws at the time. YAMAHA delivered big time with the HD EVO engine which put HD cruisers back on the map! (This was the same business model Ford leveraged to have Mazda make the engine and chassis for the Ford Explorer 2 and 4 door. Anyone remember the 2 door Mazda Navajo? They stopped making those when they contracted with Ford. Years later, Ford acquired a controlling stake in Mazda due to the wild success of the Explorer) Due to the 10-year agreement, from 1989-1999, Yamaha was forbidden from producing an HD EVO-like V-twin so stuck with the Virago as their V-twin and introduced the 4 cylinder Royal Star. Meanwhile, Honda introduced the big V-twin ACE; Kawasaki introduced the big V-twin Vulcan and others followed suit. Then in 1999, right on schedule, Yamaha introduced the Road Star which was the bike HD wanted to be when it grew up. 1600 cc (98 cu in) BIGGER at the time than HDs EVO at 1545 cc with the same V-twin angle configuration as they provided HD for a full decade and complete with belt drive just like the Wisconsin division of Yamaha from 1989-1999. Yamaha added ceramic sleeves in the cylinders to dissipate heat more expediently as well. Something they never gave away as part of the EVO contract work they did for HD. A lot of folks are afraid to talk about this truth because of the hard-core HD following, but hey, the truth hurts sometimes. Funny thing is that a huge number of died-in-the-wool HD riders would tease all the "RUBs" (Rich Urban Bikers like doctors, lawyers and such) for purchasing a post-1989 HD with the EVO engine because many of those old school riders heard what happened at HD corporate and knew the truth! Look up Sonny Barger's commentary many years ago. He was one of the most famous HD mechanics, an author and riders ever. He said flat out: "The one good thing I can say about Harleys is they made me a good living; by being junk they need to be fixed all the time." Sonny still loved riding his Harleys and God bless him for doing so. I am great friends with many HD riders and we get along great even though I proudly ride my 1999 Yamaha Road Star! I rode the Laughlin River Run on my Yamaha XV 920 RJ for over 20 years and personally witnessed many of these arguments take place. It was bizarre to see all the in-fighting amongst the HD community. Even so, none of them would talk openly about why they were so pissed off. Guess it must have been too embarrassing to openly admit that Toyota and Yamaha saved their sorry HD asses from the brink of extinction. HD is a great brand with a great history, but then so is Yamaha so perhaps we should all just embrace the whole truth and nothing but the truth and ride in peace together. Two up! 'Wishing everyone a richly blessed, happy, healthy and wildly prosperous New Year! Make 2023 stellar! 🚀🥳🎊🎉

Wow! Never knew the relationship between Toyota and Yamaha. The Yamaha engineers know their motors!

One of the most informative, and enjoyable, videos I've ever seen on the internet!!

I am glued to the screen watching your content, can't let go of this video even when i want to !!! Amazing work man!!!!

The 2000gt has got to be one of the most beautiful cars of all time. I'll die on that hill any day.

Thank you, your video touched my heart. 7th gen Celica had been my high school dream car when it first came out and I was over the top when I managed to buy one. Although I had since sold it, it still holds a special place in my heart. Loved the VVTL-i lift music when it happened. A Yamaha still sings for me everyday now though, from the body of MT-07 motorcycle. Love this brand! Thank you Albon for the video.

The overall story is fascinating and the way you deliver it keeps you sucked into it also. Keep making these bangers and I'll keep watching 👍 ive also been very much subbed since 2018 i believe 🤔

I’m always so amazed at the end of any albon video. The story is so well told and put into perspective. Always brings me back wanting more❤

I saw a tweet that went something like this Guy : I want a piano Yamaha : I got you covered Guy : I also want a motorcycle Yamaha : boy are you not gonna believe this

Every time I saw a SHO in a junkyard, I almost wondered what the owner was thinking.

Love this channel. Thanks for your hard work, partner.

Wow great video man. You kept me interested the whole time. Sub for sure

One of their greatest engines is the 500cc single for tt 'sr and xt motorcycles in production since 1976 and I think still being made now as a 400 cc.

Good video sir. And yes Yamaha makes amazing engines. I am glad people finally caught on to the LFA. (:

great Work Guys! this was fun to watch. i would Love to see a engine build by Yamaha and cosworth together😅

Excellent video and overall information. Thank you.

I have owned and followed Yamaha and their innovations for years. They have made some of the best most advanced machines in the world

I had the vvtl-i 1.8 with a manual six speed in the Toyota matrix xrs.. super fun engine!

Thanks for the great video and narrative! Even greater appreciation for Yamaha now from a former 3S-GTE owner.

As a hardcore biker & Yamaha fanboy myself, i approve of this video! 😂

Wow! I’m genuinely blown away 🤯🤯🤯🤯 ps: The 2000GT was so ahead of time (modern), I bet that if they did what Ford did with the GT40, in other words rerelease it…it’s sell thousands and thousand of units

This channel is underrated man,learnt a lot in this video. Accurate and precise hope u reach higher goals ☺❤respect

Greatly informative video... enjoyed watching it.

I love everything Yamaha. I have always hoped they would build cars.

You skipped the very awesome 2-TG (my celica's engine 😛) and the 18-RG in the celica before the 4-AGE which really was the 2-TG's successor. Awesome video though! 👍🏼 Kinda makes me sad Toyota didn't partner with Yamaha for the mkv supra 😔

Great video. Looking forward to seeing more of your content...

What a Great Explanation about the Iconic Yamaha Corp,Luv It👍👍👍😊

This video was awesome. Both my 2ZZGE and 1JZGTE both have Yamaha stamps on it. Didn't they design the 1JZ engine too? Then used that to develop the 2JZ?

Imagine if the 1LR-GUE had been pared to a dual clutch transmission... 👍

Great channel, superb detail and information! SUBBED!

Amazing company and clip! Cheers!

Dude! How did you go from the 9R engine, straight to the 4A-GE? You left out a whole chunk of Yamaha and Toyota history by not including the 2T-G, 18R-G, and their racing variants in the 151E and 152E, as well as the 3K-R/137E. Without those engines there’d be no 4A-GE, at all. Also, none of the cars you mentioned - Celica or Carina - had the 4A-GE… You need to go back to the drawing board and do a version 2 of this video, man. Any Toyota racing enthusiast would pick that hole in the story, right-off-the-bat.

I respect Yamaha from the bottom of my heart. I was a sound engineer, and I used/owned their products - particularly the mini studio monitor NS-10M, the worlds first small digital mixing console DMP7, and the SPX90 sound effects device - and most sound music productions use/d them. And certainly some if not most music productions you are listening to were made possible by/with Yamaha. About the hydrogen engine „using zero fossil fuels” - you might want to learn Toyota (and many other Japanese companies including Yamaha) plan to produce hydrogen in Australia for shipping this fuel to Japan while they use coal in Australia to produce the hydrogen. And Toyota supports climate crisis deniers in the US, so it isn’t all that bright and shiny. This all comes as climate friendly as a decent 2015 Volkswagen Diesel engine out of the Diesel scandal. So, it is great tech, but you might want to tame down your enthusiasm for this cheat 😉

liked and subd this is sweet dude, good job. like the editing with old footage instead of us just looking at you the entire time.. :)

I've thoroughly enjoyed this TEDTalk on Yamaha. I've owned mostly Yamaha bikes and Toyota cars & trucks. Why I chose to go with these brands is bc I like to use them & not have them use my pockets in the end.... Although I've known about Yamaha growing up and Geeking about them (and Still)..... Great job on shining the light on the 3tuning forks company, I'll make sure to tune in on your next Bio break downs!!! Cheers!

The 3sgte is very special for many reasons. Love that 4 banger.

Yamaha: scraps single cam cylinder head from Toyota Crown, research and designs brand new dual cam head from the ground up making a relatively huge jump in power output. Albon: "just a little head work"

GREAT presentation and video ! Did not know Yamaha was tight with Toyota. I own products from both and love them.

Great research and delivery ! Very interesting.

Oh wow. This video is full of misinformation. You made it seem as if Toyota just aks Yamaha to build them and engine and then Yamaha does 100% of the work. Almost all iconic performance Toyota engines where Yamaha is involved it's a collaboration. And more often than not, Yamaha mostly does the head work. The 1LR V10 engine is collaboration between Toyota and Yamaha. Certain parts of the engine where built at Toyota's old F1 engine factories (Toyota used to build F1 V10's when it competed) and other parts where made at Yamaha's factory. For example the engine block is made at Toyota's Myochi plant. After that the block as sent to Toyota's Honsha factory (Toyota's former F1 facility) for milling. After this the engine is assembled at Yamaha's factory iwata city pant. You make it seem as if Yamaha did 100% of the engine which is not true. It's more like 50/50.

Completely agree with you, a lot of work went into it, they have lead us through many industrial revolutions 😊

Great video, I have little interest in cars and engines but this was very informative and engaging. It was the aha moment realizing the significance of the 3 tuning forks in the Yamaha logo.

Great video! A lot of research of history involved!

brothers I have subscribed for years now because of the excellent vision and gear head-ness you uniquely present ! Thank you so much....

This channel is so underrated, your videos are so specific and informative, but i think i could watch them with my girlfriend and she would be entertained too. Keep up the great work!