![]() ![]() ![]() The engine designed by Eduardo Giro, was a modified twin-cylinder 460cc Ossa road race engine turned into a 488cc dirt bike engine. ![]() Taylor wasn’t ready to give up on his American Dream, where many would have folded, John Taylor forged on. When the bike was finally in production, the import price of the Ossa engine doubled as a result of the Nixon administration abandoning the gold standard and in turn devaluing the dollar. They had also just been rocked by the death of their star rider, Santiago Herrera, at the Isle of Man TT. However, it took 4 years before Ossa got the Yankee 500Z into production in 1971, this was because they were chasing Grand Prix ambitions of their own. The first plans were shown to the press in 1967 and the first prototype built in 1968. Taylor used his connections for this as he was the official Ossa importer for the US. Ossa was the small Spanish firm commissioned to build the drivetrain for the Yankee. It took a lot of persistence and many years before the Ossa Yankee 500Z was to be produced and to fulfill Taylor’s dream. It would be the bike for everyone and every purpose. Taylor had a dream and that was to build an American big capacity enduro bike capable of competing against the European motorcycles and bring it to market. He came close to owning the Bultaco factory in Barcelona. He was responsible for Bultaco producing the popular 200cc (250cc and later 300cc) Matador street-scrambler for the U.S market. Taylor was an entrepreneur making his money from importing bikes into the US. The story starts with motorcycle importer John Taylor and the Ossa Yankee 500Z would become what he is most infamous for in the motorcycling world.
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