In the summer of 1965, a 22-year-old university student wrote to Genichi Kawakami, then President at Yamaha Motor Co., requesting a motorcycle that he could ride around the world on.
The young Shigeru “Stan” Yoshida was surprised to learn that Kawakami would not only provide him with a brand-new Yamaha YDS-3 - a 246cc, twin cylinder two-stroke sports bike - but also a cache of spare parts to help him accomplish the ‘round-the-world journey.
