Ex-racer Alan Duffus opened his Yamaha dealership in 1976 and is still surfing a wave of enthusiasm started by the FS1-E
“I’ve got customers who bought their first FS1-E from me and have just kept going – they’re still customers now, 48 years later,” says Alan Duffus, 77, the five-time Scottish champion who still runs his dealership in Kirkcaldy, Scotland.
“Most of them have stayed dedicated to the brand because they’ve got a soft spot for Yamahas thanks to the FS1-E”.
Alan opened his dealership in 1976, after a nasty crash at the TT forced him to consider a profession involving fewer trips to A&E. And having spent years battling with the likes of Mike Hailwood, Barry Sheene, Jack Findlay and Mick Grant, selling motorcycles must have seemed like a doddle, particularly as the FS1-E had arrived the year before.
“It was a fantastic time,” says Alan. “We opened our dealership in a village called Leslie [on the outskirts of Glenrothes] and the timing was perfect. I remember that whenever we sold an FS1-E to one kid, every kid in the street would come and buy one too – we’d get another 10 sales within days. At £230 each, they were good value – even in the early 1980s they only went up to £400 – and the kids absolutely loved them. FS1-Es were good little bikes.
“And of course, once people bought an FS1-E, some of them would get the bug and come back to buy an LC or RD, once they’d passed their test. We could do with another FS1-E to get more youngsters into bikes now, but nothing seems to happen. Electric bikes can’t do it – they’re too expensive. Plus they just don’t have the same excitement about them – the noise and the smell of those two-stroke created a special atmosphere.”
Fuelled by the success of those early years, Alan’s business blossomed – he had five dealerships in Scotland at one point – but then new learner laws in 1982 decimated
