# Motorcycle Commercial Jingles **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 9, 2001, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426 "2001-10-09T22:20:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/1 "2001-10-09T22:20:26Z")
For some reason I started thinking about the motorcycle commercials that were aired when I was a kid. I wish there were more (and better) bike ads being shown on teevee today. **Yamaha** Get aboard the Silver Bird, It’s a magical machine. Satisfy your Walter Mitty mind, tryin’ out a dream. Your sign is Capricorn and every corner of your mind says you’ll remain my friend, a friend for all my time. Yamaha, won’t you fly me away, Yamaha, take me into the day, Yamaha, come and give me a ride and let us go see what’s on the other side. Yamaha, won’t you fly me away. Yamaha, today is the day. (Okay, I didn’t remember it all. Lines 3-8 eluded me. Found them on google though.) **Suzuki** Forget your troubles Come on, Suzuki! (That’s all I remember of that one.) **Kawasaki** Kawasaki lets the good times roll Kawasaki lets the good times roll (And that’s all I remember of _that_ one.) **Honda** Get yourself a Honda Built like a watch that was meant to last a hundred years Get yourself a Honda (Once again, my memory fails me.) ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/2 "2001-10-10T00:15:19Z")
Hey I actually remember that Kawa one as well. I have to say motorbike commercials on radio/TV are rare here, so I’m at a loss for the others. And if I’m Aquarius, can I still buy a Yamaha? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/3 "2001-10-10T00:19:55Z")
[Buzz Lightyear] You’re a strange, sad little man… [/Buzz Lightyear] 🙂 🙂 🙂 Zette ---
**Author:** ![RalfCoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/4 "2001-10-10T01:53:47Z")
Johnny, When I saw the thread name, the first thing to come to mind was the Yamaha song, and the Kawalski jingle was right behind it. I miss my bike… I can still hear that unique sound the 2-cycle Kaws had. Rhing-ing-ing-ing-ing-ing…! No other bike sounded quite like it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/5 "2001-10-10T03:06:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Rhing-ing-ing-ing-ing-ing…! No other bike sounded quite like it. My 2-stroke Yamaha Enduros sounded like that. 😉 > [@](#): > > [Buzz Lightyear] You’re a strange, sad little man… [/Buzz Lightyear] > 🙂 🙂 🙂 Hey, at least I don’t drive a Harley! 😛 😛 😛 Yamaha, won’t you fly me away… ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/6 "2001-10-10T04:22:08Z")
You meet the nicest people on a Honda bike. It’s the world’s biggest seller and I know you’ll like Two hundred miles a gallon something-something-yadaya something-something-something-something-yadayadayadaya (Hey! It’s been 35 years! Gimme a break) Go, little Honda, go little Honda, You meet the nicest people on a Honda. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/7 "2001-10-10T12:12:45Z")
Anyone remember the rest of the Suzuki, Honda and Kawasaki lyrics? **dropaone** : was that part of the snippet I remembered? Or is it a different one? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/8 "2001-10-10T12:34:32Z")
I’m not sure. Mine was from the commercial from 1964 but the Hondells expanded it into a full-length record but I haven’t been able to track down the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/9 "2001-10-10T12:36:03Z")
Ah. The ones I remembered were from the '70s. ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Tischendorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e79b87/32.png) [@Jay\_Tischendorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Tischendorf)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/10 "2013-12-14T00:34:29Z")
Caught this string while I was actually searching www and You Tube for the old “Today is the day” Yamaha ad. Classic ad…at least in my mind. For some reason I have always remembered that ad from when I was a kid. Can recall a helicopter view of a rider crossing a flat field at high speed. “…Yamaha…today is the day…” Trying to figure out what year that was. Anyone know? The jingle actually came from a Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere and the Raiders’ lead singer) song called “Silver Bird”. You can find that on You Tube. Probably was a bigger hit as a Yamaha ad. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/11 "2013-12-14T01:42:39Z")
[Yamaha ‘Silver Bird’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bejYtkS7NQE) [Kawasaki Let The Good Times Roll](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjUe0E9OeaI) [Forget your troubles, get on Suzuki](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5nJ-0YUaIo) ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/12 "2013-12-14T02:46:32Z")
I thought Honda’s was “Good things happen on a Honda, let them happen to you.” That’s what [John Travolta said.](http://youtu.be/d1CuZRPM0Aw) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/13 "2013-12-14T03:50:29Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > You meet the nicest people on a Honda bike. > It’s the world’s biggest seller and I know you’ll like > Two hundred miles a gallon something-something-yadaya > something-something-something-something-yadayadayadaya > (Hey! It’s been 35 years! Gimme a break) > Go, little Honda, go little Honda, > You meet the nicest people on a Honda. Two hundred miles per gallon and a rugged street machine And Honda prices start about 215 [dollars]. . . I think the next year Honda raised the price to some amount that didn’t scan at all, dooming that particular jingle to extinction. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/14 "2013-12-14T04:51:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > My 2-stroke Yamaha Enduros sounded like that. 😉 > > Hey, at least I don’t drive a Harley! > > 😛 😛 😛 Ya gotta watch the Harley slurs. Or I’ll blow your eardrums out. And I’m not strange, sad, little, nor a man. Just kidding about the eardrums and I never speed. I’m all grown up, after all. I can’t think of a singing Harley commercial. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/15 "2013-12-14T05:50:32Z")
Weird. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a motorcycle commercial. Not recently, anyways. Plenty of motorcycle _ads_, though. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/16 "2013-12-14T07:56:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > **Yamaha** > Get aboard the Silver Bird This was based on the song [Silver Bird](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVv0EGiY7k4) by Mark Lindsay, who had been lead singer for Paul Revere and the Raiders. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/17 "2013-12-14T08:08:28Z")
> [@RalfCoder](#): > > I can still hear that unique sound the 2-cycle Kaws had. Rhing-ing-ing-ing-ing-ing…! There’s a reason people call two-strokes “ring-dings.” The single-cylinder Kawasakis weren’t really unique-sounding. The [Mach III](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie0gBFLS3yc) (and its relatives) really did have a distinctive sound. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/18 "2013-12-14T12:19:35Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Weird. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a motorcycle commercial. Not recently, anyways. Plenty of motorcycle _ads_, though. The only company I’ve seen consistently do motorcycle tv ads is BMW, though Honda will occasionally do some (I saw ads for the Grom). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/19 "2013-12-14T16:31:05Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Ya gotta watch the Harley slurs. Or I’ll blow your eardrums out. Actually, the pressure waves _do_ cause physical discomfort on my left eardrum. Loud pipes are very inconsiderate. But that’s a discussion best left to another thread. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426/20 "2013-12-14T16:39:23Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Weird. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a motorcycle commercial. Not recently, anyways. Plenty of motorcycle _ads_, though. > [@epbrown01](#): > > The only company I’ve seen consistently do motorcycle tv ads is BMW, though Honda will occasionally do some (I saw ads for the Grom). HYKS all had motorcycle commercials in the early-'70s. Those were the ones mentioned in the OP. (And commercials don’t have jingles anymore. Ever notice that?) Before I left L.A. a decade ago, I noticed motorcycle commercials. Yamaha ran commercials for the R1 and their cruisers. Honda heralded their goods, and I recall they had low-interest financing and some good deals. Maybe it’s because I was a kid that the '70s commercials stuck with me. I think it’s been shown that jingles help people remember, and children pick things up that stay with them throughout their lives. The old commercials emphasised fun. The new ones emphasise ‘badassness’. And they don’t have memorable jingles. The new commercials are just so much background noise. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-commercial-jingles/86426.md?page=2)