What does CR or YZ stand for??

midwestmoto
Was thinking about this today as I was looking at some old Moto vids and wondered where they came up with the Yamaha "YZ" or CR, XR, RM, KX, etc. There has to be some kind of back story or reasoning for the letters they chose I would think.

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agn5009
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agn5009 5/6/2017 10:38am
5/6/2017 10:38am
I think CR is close ratio. YZ is Yamaha zinger. RM is race model or race machine I think?
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kwebster447
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kwebster447 5/6/2017 10:40am
5/6/2017 10:40am
CR - close ratio
YZ- Yamaha zinger
RM- Race model
WR- wide ratio
SX- supercross

Not sure about KX or XR
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midwestmoto 5/6/2017 10:41am
5/6/2017 10:41am Edited Date/Time 5/6/2017 10:59am
agn5009 wrote:
I think CR is close ratio. YZ is Yamaha zinger. RM is race model or race machine I think?
Well that makes sense haha. How about the z on RMZ. Why not the F? lol anyways interesting stuff. Thanks for the reply
PremixKid
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PremixKid 5/6/2017 10:42am
5/6/2017 10:42am
KX is Kawasaki motocross I think
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agn5009
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agn5009 5/6/2017 10:46am
5/6/2017 10:46am Edited Date/Time 5/6/2017 10:47am
I would assume XR is something along the lines of X-country racing or something. Also, just an interesting side note, a "zinger" is a nickname for 2 strokes.

Also, I'm not sure what the z means on the rmz models. I'm not sure why they didn't go with RMF for the 4 strokes.
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Naanak
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Naanak 5/6/2017 11:03am
5/6/2017 11:03am Edited Date/Time 5/6/2017 11:03am
I just always thought they had them for no real reason and just added F or X for 4 strokes or off-road bikes. That's just me though.
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Motodork
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Motodork 5/6/2017 11:15am
5/6/2017 11:15am Edited Date/Time 5/6/2017 11:36am
midwestmoto wrote:
Was thinking about this today as I was looking at some old Moto vids and wondered where they came up with the Yamaha "YZ" or CR...
Was thinking about this today as I was looking at some old Moto vids and wondered where they came up with the Yamaha "YZ" or CR, XR, RM, KX, etc. There has to be some kind of back story or reasoning for the letters they chose I would think.

CR stands for Competition Race
CRF450r= Competition racer four stroke (engine size) race
CRF230F= competition race four stroke "look a like" (engine size) fun, these used to be xr models until the crf became so popular that they tried to piggy back on the crf name, kind of like everything kawi is a ninja now.
CRF250L= competition race four stroke "look a like" (engine size) lighted
CB= city bike
CBR= city bike race
CBR600RR= city bike race race ready

I can go on and on about Honda codes, I am not sure on the other brands.
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tcallahan707
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tcallahan707 5/6/2017 11:18am
5/6/2017 11:18am
midwestmoto wrote:
Was thinking about this today as I was looking at some old Moto vids and wondered where they came up with the Yamaha "YZ" or CR...
Was thinking about this today as I was looking at some old Moto vids and wondered where they came up with the Yamaha "YZ" or CR, XR, RM, KX, etc. There has to be some kind of back story or reasoning for the letters they chose I would think.

Motodork wrote:
CR stands for Competition Race CRF450r= Competition racer four stroke (engine size) race CRF230F= competition race four stroke "look a like" (engine size) fun, these used...
CR stands for Competition Race
CRF450r= Competition racer four stroke (engine size) race
CRF230F= competition race four stroke "look a like" (engine size) fun, these used to be xr models until the crf became so popular that they tried to piggy back on the crf name, kind of like everything kawi is a ninja now.
CRF250L= competition race four stroke "look a like" (engine size) lighted
CB= city bike
CBR= city bike race
CBR600RR= city bike race race ready

I can go on and on about Honda codes, I am not sure on the other brands.
Please do then. Thanks in advance.
abn166
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abn166 5/6/2017 11:54am
5/6/2017 11:54am
Back in the early 70's when the Honda Elsinores came out the CR in Elsinore CR125 stood for close ratio. Close ratio was referring to the close ratio transmission.
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Plugga
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Plugga 5/6/2017 2:12pm
5/6/2017 2:12pm
Naanak wrote:
I just always thought they had them for no real reason and just added F or X for 4 strokes or off-road bikes. That's just me...
I just always thought they had them for no real reason and just added F or X for 4 strokes or off-road bikes. That's just me though.
We all know the "F" stands for Fartbox.

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F150Motocrosser 5/6/2017 2:53pm
5/6/2017 2:53pm Edited Date/Time 5/6/2017 2:54pm
midwestmoto wrote:
Was thinking about this today as I was looking at some old Moto vids and wondered where they came up with the Yamaha "YZ" or CR...
Was thinking about this today as I was looking at some old Moto vids and wondered where they came up with the Yamaha "YZ" or CR, XR, RM, KX, etc. There has to be some kind of back story or reasoning for the letters they chose I would think.

Motodork wrote:
CR stands for Competition Race CRF450r= Competition racer four stroke (engine size) race CRF230F= competition race four stroke "look a like" (engine size) fun, these used...
CR stands for Competition Race
CRF450r= Competition racer four stroke (engine size) race
CRF230F= competition race four stroke "look a like" (engine size) fun, these used to be xr models until the crf became so popular that they tried to piggy back on the crf name, kind of like everything kawi is a ninja now.
CRF250L= competition race four stroke "look a like" (engine size) lighted
CB= city bike
CBR= city bike race
CBR600RR= city bike race race ready

I can go on and on about Honda codes, I am not sure on the other brands.
Any idea on the "Z" in Z50? I know the CZ100 was the first "monkey bike" Honda offered.. then came the '67 Z50M, then the "original" Z50 in '68 (Z50A)

Would also be interested to know "CT" and "ST"... very strange that the CT50, CT70, and CT90/110 are all drastically different bikes..

I'm a huge fan of the Honda EZ90 Cub. I suspect "EZ" stands for 'easy', as the bike is a full automatic and very easy for anyone to ride. However I always wondered what made made Honda bring back the "Cub" name from the 70's C50, C70 etc series "Cub"
potatoflake
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potatoflake 5/6/2017 3:12pm
5/6/2017 3:12pm
What about FC and TC
FeetUp
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FeetUp 5/6/2017 3:15pm
5/6/2017 3:15pm
Way back in the day..... The Jones (Gary, DeWayne and papa Don) built a bike that I believe Dirt Bike got their hands on called it the Yamaha A-Z. Meaning they put everything on it from A to Z. Yamaha then came out with the YZ. Maybe one of the Jones can shed some light on the story??
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Plugga
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Plugga 5/6/2017 3:22pm
5/6/2017 3:22pm
potatoflake wrote:
What about FC and TC
TC - Two Stroke Moto"C"rosser?

FC - Fartbox Moto"C"rosser?

Fark knows. Dizzy
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Ryguy125
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Ryguy125 5/6/2017 3:55pm
5/6/2017 3:55pm
TC/FC - Two Stroke / Four Stroke Motocross
TE/FE - Two Stroke / Four Stroke Enduro
suprtrukr425
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suprtrukr425 5/6/2017 4:58pm
5/6/2017 4:58pm
I always thought KX stood for Kawasaki Xtreme.
Bnagazina 5/6/2017 11:14pm
5/6/2017 11:14pm
Think the C in TC and FC stands for competition. I could be wrong.
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project racer 5/7/2017 12:03am
5/7/2017 12:03am
TTR
XR
KDX
DR
KLR
IT
PE
KLX
RC
OW
RA
RH
XLV

Doubtful the letters have any word association to the model. More of a letter series identifier for different models.

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bernardmullen 9/22/2024 2:43pm
9/22/2024 2:43pm
kwebster447 wrote:
CR - close ratio
YZ- Yamaha zinger
RM- Race model
WR- wide ratio
SX- supercross

Not sure about KX or XR

Kawasaki's ultimate motocrossers 🟢🟩

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ratonmacias
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ratonmacias 9/22/2024 2:51pm
9/22/2024 2:51pm

Kawasaki SR factory bikes

 

Special Racer 

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Magoofan 9/22/2024 4:46pm
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TbonesPop 9/22/2024 4:55pm
9/22/2024 4:55pm
Bnagazina wrote:
Think the C in TC and FC stands for competition. I could be wrong.

I recall reading somewhere FC was four-stroke competition and TC was two-stroke competition.

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Joey Bridges 9/22/2024 5:02pm
9/22/2024 5:02pm Edited Date/Time 9/22/2024 5:03pm

Back in the day, you could order a Honda mt125 transmission, that had a wider gear ratio.

Swap it out on your 125 elsinore, and have a much better trail and desert bike. 

 

For those of us that didn't race them.

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web mx 9/22/2024 5:12pm
9/22/2024 5:12pm Edited Date/Time 9/22/2024 5:13pm
midwestmoto wrote:
Was thinking about this today as I was looking at some old Moto vids and wondered where they came up with the Yamaha "YZ" or CR...
Was thinking about this today as I was looking at some old Moto vids and wondered where they came up with the Yamaha "YZ" or CR, XR, RM, KX, etc. There has to be some kind of back story or reasoning for the letters they chose I would think.

YZ = Yellow Zonker

IT = International Trials

CR = Competition Racer

XR = "cross" X country Racer

RM = Race Machine

PE = Professional Enduro ,  DR = Dirt Rider  ,   TS = Trail Street                               

KX = Kawasaki "motocross" X "er"

KDX = Kawasaki "dirtbike" X "er"

 

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lostboy819 9/22/2024 7:12pm
9/22/2024 7:12pm

Bruce McCrary

What I remember is Don Jones shipped Gary's '71 Championship bike back to Japan for them to inspect. He had written A2Z on the tank meaning they changed everything from A to Z from the original DT-1 it was based off of.
At the time most every Yamaha model started with a Y, so when the '74 models hit the states they were designated YZ and looked remarkably like the bike Jones sent over, including straps holding the fuel tank on. Which as I remember reading was simply something the Jones gang did because it was easier and quicker at the time they were building the bikes, than trying to fabricate a standard mounting system on frames that changed almost weekly.
 
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Howie Lloyd

Bruce McCrary this I believe.
 
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Larry Logan

Bruce McCrary you are exactly right
I stood in Donn’s garage in Adelanto and heard the story a dozen times
My memory was he had Garry write on the tank everything from A to Z when they shipped it to Japan
 


 

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lostboy819 9/22/2024 7:15pm
9/22/2024 7:15pm
FeetUp wrote:
Way back in the day..... The Jones (Gary, DeWayne and papa Don) built a bike that I believe Dirt Bike got their hands on called it...
Way back in the day..... The Jones (Gary, DeWayne and papa Don) built a bike that I believe Dirt Bike got their hands on called it the Yamaha A-Z. Meaning they put everything on it from A to Z. Yamaha then came out with the YZ. Maybe one of the Jones can shed some light on the story??
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hellion
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hellion 9/22/2024 7:45pm
9/22/2024 7:45pm
web mx wrote:
YZ = Yellow ZonkerIT = International TrialsCR = Competition RacerXR = "cross" X country RacerRM = Race MachinePE = Professional Enduro ,  DR = Dirt Rider...

YZ = Yellow Zonker

IT = International Trials

CR = Competition Racer

XR = "cross" X country Racer

RM = Race Machine

PE = Professional Enduro ,  DR = Dirt Rider  ,   TS = Trail Street                               

KX = Kawasaki "motocross" X "er"

KDX = Kawasaki "dirtbike" X "er"

 

Pretty sure this is correct, but I’m sure it was MXA or Dirt Bike mag that coined Yellow Zonker

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Spoonguy
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Spoonguy 9/23/2024 4:08am
9/23/2024 4:08am Edited Date/Time 9/23/2024 4:10am
FeetUp wrote:
Way back in the day..... The Jones (Gary, DeWayne and papa Don) built a bike that I believe Dirt Bike got their hands on called it...
Way back in the day..... The Jones (Gary, DeWayne and papa Don) built a bike that I believe Dirt Bike got their hands on called it the Yamaha A-Z. Meaning they put everything on it from A to Z. Yamaha then came out with the YZ. Maybe one of the Jones can shed some light on the story??

This is exactly true; the Jones family modified a DT1 to race. Their Yamaha sponsors brought the bike back to Japan to research and asked Don Jones (the father) what they modified on it, he stated, "A to Z", perhaps it was wrote on the tank as well. Lost in translation to the Japanese the copy or replica Yamaha later sold here was named YZ in that bikes honor. There really is not enough words to describe that family's contribution to this sport in so many areas. The whole Yamaha Zinger thing is bullshit.

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mx317
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mx317 9/23/2024 5:17am
9/23/2024 5:17am
FeetUp wrote:
Way back in the day..... The Jones (Gary, DeWayne and papa Don) built a bike that I believe Dirt Bike got their hands on called it...
Way back in the day..... The Jones (Gary, DeWayne and papa Don) built a bike that I believe Dirt Bike got their hands on called it the Yamaha A-Z. Meaning they put everything on it from A to Z. Yamaha then came out with the YZ. Maybe one of the Jones can shed some light on the story??

That's what I heard also straight from Don Jones himself.

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imscaredofjumps 9/23/2024 4:25pm
9/23/2024 4:25pm

“Crazy Racer” “Yama Zoomer” “Killer Xtreme” “Racing Machine”

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