YAMAHA’S TX650: 1974’S PREMO YAMAHA
With its high, wide handlebars, big front brake disc and heavily finned parallel-twin engine, the Yamaha TX650 stood out from the crowd of small-capacity bikes in the line-up at old Japanese bike specialist Oxford Classic Honda.
Its paintwork was a rather dull shade that Yamaha apparently called Cinnamon Brown, but its chrome was bright and the TX looked good, just as it must have done to many motorcyclists back in 1974.
Even so, it was a bit of a shock to realise that in the mid-Seventies this relatively simple air-cooled parallel twin was the flagship of Yamaha’s range – at a time when Kawasaki had the mighty 903cc Z1 four, Honda’s CB750 four was into its fifth year, and Suzuki’s range of
