1976
The Water Pumper With Bob Hannah riding and Bill Buchka wrenching, Yamaha’s wild, liquid-cooled OW27 was unbeatable By Mitch Boehm
I
t almost doesn’t look like it’s from 1976. The fork-mounted radiator, the water hoses, the fenders way up in the air suggesting mondo wheel travel…Those bits and that technology say late ’70s or early ’80s far more than they say middle ’70s. Of course, that technical brilliance is part of the reason this motorcycle, Yamaha’s 125cc OW27, has become so legendary — especially when allied with the two gentlemen who put the bike at the very top of our sport in 1976: Bob Hannah and Bill Buchka. It was not an easy path to the AMA 125cc National Championship in ’76, and for a box van-full of reasons. First, Hannah was a largely unknown quantity that year. He’d become a So Cal hotshot in ’75 and had done well in the Florida Winter Series, but remained untested in true Nationalclass competition. Marty Smith, the reigning 125-class champion from ’74 and ’75, was as fast as ever, especially aboard a revised RC125 Honda. Competition as a whole was rabid that year as well, with a dozen riders — guys such as Broc Glover, Warren Reid, Steve Wise, Danny LaPorte, Bruce McDougal and others — riding bullet-fast Elsinores, YZs and RMs from a host of successful and talented aftermarket companies such as FMF, DG and T&M. Any one of a dozen guys had the skill to win
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motos that year. Fortunately, Yamaha’s liquid-cooled OW27 was superb all season long, offering young Hannah enough power, handling and durability to win five of the eight Nationals. The key, according to Hannah, was consistency; the liquid-cooling kept power consistent throughout the 40-minute motos, and the trick rear shock kept suspension action from deteriorating. Combined with Hannah’s scoldingly fast riding and intense physical fitness (he trained like crazy leading up to the series), he, the OW and Buchka were able to take advantage of Smith’s uneven performances, which were caused by a number of factors. Most notably, Smith having to ride four different bikes — production- and worksspec — during the season due to the AMA’s claiming rule (which affected Hannah and Yamaha as well), but also his concurrent quest to compete in the 125cc World Championship series at the same time. In the end it was all Hannah, Buchka and Yamaha, champions of one of the most dramatic and competitive AMA National Championships in motocross history. It may have all happened 45 years ago, but seeing these guys and this bike up close and personal (thanks to Fran Kuhn’s so-cool lenswork), it seems more like yesterday.
