I had been looking for one of these for quite a while - they have a loyal following and are reported to be very reliable and robust. Note they are all imports to the UK so the speedo will always be km per hour. The bike didn't change much in 15 years and spares seem to be readily available.

It needed a clean up, but after a quick check and familiarisation of the little Yamaha – oil, filters, fuses, spark plug, chain, brakes etc... everything seemed to be good.

First job was to swap the road tyres for something more suited to offroad use. Armed with my new bike lift and a set of tyre levers I have had for 4 years and never used. I had to use the GS to break the bead! I then fitted new fork gaitors and re-sprayed the fork legs. Looks much more presentable now.

A few more additions - a rear luggage rack, "Metal Mule" top box, tool tube and a home made GPS mount ...

... meant the Serow was finally ready to go and explore some Green Lanes ...

What I liked is that the Serow is so simple to work on, but eventually I decided I didn't want to spend time working on the bike, I wanted to ride it. I also have to admit I found the Serow too small - it is about 3/4 the size it needs to be, and cruising speed is only around 60mph making longer distance journies a drag! and so after only 4 months we parted company and I bought a Kawasaki KLX 250

One claim to fame for the humble Yamaha Serow is that Lois Pryce rode one from Alaska to Argentina. Lois on the Loose