YAMAHA MINI ENDURO: MR. KNOW-IT-ALL

NEGLECTED
Dear Mr. Know-It-All,
I’m truly annoyed! I just opened my regularly scheduled Dirt Bike Sunday e-mail to find you gave a spot-on answer to one John Barnhart about his issues with the 2020 KTM 250XC TPI.

My bone (rage by now) with you is that I wrote you a letter in the fall of 1971, and you still have not responded. This is simply intolerable! All these years and you neglected to answer because you just didn’t know the answer. Apparently, afraid to divulge your limited knowledge of “all things,” you decided to just ignore my question and leave me vulnerable to teenage mood swings.

In my letter, I detailed all the upgrades done to my Yamaha Mini Enduro with K&N accessories, such as black-painted handlebars, ABS black fenders, an aluminum rotary valve and obviously an air filter. Additionally, K&N offered an expansion chamber, either by Bassani or Modesette (I can’t even spell them anymore, nor recall which of the two brands it was), and an extended fork kit. I added both, also. If you don’t remember these details, just re-read my letter!

You will surely recall all these aftermarket upgrades offered by K&N back then, or are you starting to forget things like me? Oh, but my question, the object of my truly profound need for your advice: Where the heck could I find 14-inch knobby tires for my highly modded Mini?

Thanks for nothing! I will duly complain to Ron and propose you get a demotion.
Yours truly irritated,
Jaime
via [email protected]

First on my docket, Mr. Jaime, is that I am truly not apologetic about canning your original missive about the Yamaha Mini Trail. Launched at the 1970 Yamaha dealers’ meeting, the Mini Trail was revolutionary for the time. It was basically a scaled-down DT-1. It was powered by a 58.2cc two-stroke engine that was oil-injected via Yamaha’s Autolube. It was rotary-valved, had a four-speed gearbox and made 4.5 horsepower. Where you failed miserably was in the declaration that you could not find a 14-inch knobby. This fine steed came equipped with 15-inch wheels using Nitto trials-patterned rubber. For that dramatic error, you got pushed to the back of the line—for 49 years!