Builder: Name unknown, but he’s from the Chesterfield area & we’d love to chat to him.

Bike: 1972 Yamaha DS7 250cc Two Stroke road-registered race replica.

We bought this bike in 2025 as a beautifully resto-modded, road-registered race replica with JL exhausts, Powerdynamo racing ignition, Scitsu clocks and various other lovely little bits.

When we got it, the bike’s livery wasn’t specific to any particular rider (just generic 70s Yamaha racing colours) so we made some cosmetic changes to have the bike replicate as closely as possible Jarno Saarinen’s race livery when he competed at the Oliver’s Mount Gold Cup in 1972.

The fact that the bike itself is a 1972 model is a very welcome coincidence.

So, why a Jarno Saarinen replica?

Back in 2021, before I had become fully obsessed with historic motorcycle racing and was more fixated on the riders of my own era, someone mentioned a past name to me that I was (shamefully) unaware of - Jarno Saarinen. It’s a name and a story that’s captivated me ever since. 

He told me that Jarno (‘The Baron’) had been his favourite racer, so much so that he’d hitch-hiked from Hull to Oliver’s Mount as a kid to make sure he got to see his hero at the 1972 Gold Cup. Well worth the journey as it turns out!

The further I read into the story of Saarinen’s one and only visit to the Mount and the success he enjoyed whilst he was there, the more fascinated I became and this led to our generically liveried 1972 Yamaha becoming a tribute to the Flying Finn and his legendary weekend in Scarborough.

I’ll be writing a blog post about Jarno Saarinen later in the year but just to give some snippets of his story to those who haven’t heard it:

• He became a full-time grand prix rider after graduating university in 1971 and was immediately, staggeringly fast

• He finished 3rd in the 250cc & runner-up in the 350cc World Championships

• The following year he won the 250cc World Championship, finished runner-up again in the 350cc class and also won the Daytona 200 and every race he entered at Oliver’s Mount

• In May 1973, whilst leading both the 250cc & 500cc World Championships, he was tragically killed along with Renzo Pasolini in a crash at Monza. He was widely regarded as a massive talent and would likely have gone on to be a household name of the era like Sheene & Agostini were it not for the tragedy in Italy

One of the attractions of opening HB was having a purpose and a place to research & share the multitude of wonderful motorcycling stories with local connections and Jarno Saarinen’s is one I’ve been particularly excited to tell. We already have a collection pictures alongside the bike but the long term goal is to expand this into a vibrant, colourful memorial to Jarno’s tragic but inspirational story and his enduring link to the Yorkshire Coast.

References (external links): https://global.yamaha-motor.com/race/wgp-50th/race_archive/riders/jarno_saarinen/; https://mylifeatspeed.com/jarno-saarinen-1945-1973/;