The Yankee Z 500

Back in the late 60's a motorcycle importer in New York state named John Taylor had a dream of producing the biggest and meanest dirt bike on the planet. It took a few years after the incecption of his idea for his dream to come to fruition.

Taylor worked with OSSA in Spain and the engine that Eduardo Giro came up with was a two-stroke twingle 500cc behemoth. It was essentially two 250cc OSSA jugs grafted onto a single crank and cases.

It utilised one of the first disc brakes seen on a dirt bike on the rear. The Smith and Wesson Company machined the triple clamps for the project.

From what I understand from the Guru who copped a few rides on a Yankee back in the day, it was a bit of a heavy and vague feeling machine, with a weight of over 325 pounds, but had decent power from the big twingled OSSA. Production of the Yankee Z 500 lasted from 1972 through 1974 with a total run of 760 units.