This Yokota, sent in by Stevie J (BeaterRezQ), is officially an OTSG First! And it is also only the second Yokota I’ve ever seen. The first was owned by a friend of mine in high school, and was purchased (after much urging by myself for him join me in this brave new world of ‘Cycling’ on a ‘road bike’) from the back of a Nashbar catalog…over the phone—because we couldn’t stand to wait for that tear-out mailorder form to be processed! It was very similar to the one pictured, in a red variant, roughly the same vintage, and even had the same ‘splatter’/’spider’ paint job. Just seeing this one, takes me back to the many ‘epic’ rides to the lake,  to the largest neighboring town and on my first MS150 Century! Who would have thought, 20 years later, I’d love this goofy sport/hobbie/lifestyle/obsession more than ever.

Great day to all at the OTSG, and all bike nerds of every make and model! I acquired this beauty last year, and though I paid a little more than I normally would like to for a used bike..darn bike had scarcely a nick, scratch, dent, or cable rub. Other than dust, it was purchased as you see it. Since then, I have replaced the usual combination of items that don’t hold up too well after just shy of a quarter century; seat (funky-looking yet flawless), Continental gum walls (perfect tread but dry rotted), bar wrap (the foamy kind) and I replaced 700c Araya’s with a 6 speed freewheel to 700c Mavics with a 5 speed freewheel (a perfect 10 now–2×5). It is so hard to find information on Yokota, but there are a few sources. I have read that they were Japanese-based initially, then moved to Taiwan along with a slew of other bike manufacturers. Also, I have read that the company was American and headquartered somewhere in the states. Regardless, I think it is a beauty–even with it’s black splash paint job (Schwinn called this “black spider” on their bikes of the 88-90 era). Perhaps now we can start a Yokota tag at the OTSG? Love this site even though it makes me drool on my keyboard.

Steve J.