1976 Yamaha RD400C *Sold £5,700*

Description

• Comprehensively overhauled
• 50 miles since rebuild
• Will need running-in
• Marine Blue
• Optional cast alloy wheels
• Rear disc brake model

In terms of 1970s middleweights, the Yamaha RD400 was top dog. Performance, handling and usability. It was also the best-looking bike out there by a country mile. Facts are facts, aren’t they?

History

• This is one of two bikes our vendor has with us for auction
• He has owned the RD400 for almost 8 years
• Manufactured in 1976 it was first registered in Germany
• In 2015 his nephew imported the Yamaha
• First registered in the UK 1 March 2019
• The frame and engine numbers match each other

Like many of us of a certain vintage, Mark had one of these in his ‘yoof’. He wanted to rebuild one in the image of the one he’d owned some years ago.

Engine and mechanicals

The two-stroke parallel twin is the real star. With 40bhp and a top speed of 109mph, the Yamaha RD400 was a totally new machine. The RD had its stroke increased, needing new crankcases which required the factory to re-tool in order to produce it. The new machine also featured a rubber-mounted engine to reduce vibration, as well as new wheels and brakes.

Yamaha moved the engine forward in a bid to reduce the bike’s tendency to wheelie. Thankfully, that plan failed.

• The Yamaha was overhauled and reconstructed over a two and a half-year period
• Rebuilt to UK spec with a mixture of new old stock parts
• It was rebuilt sympathetically and not torn apart with all parts replaced, like Trigger’s broom
• Genuine, hard to find silencers
• New UK spec handlebars
• The original twin Mikuni carbs were rebuilt and re-jetted
• The fuel tank has been re-lined
• Electronic ignition replaced the erratic points system last year
• New plus .75 pistons have been fitted a year ago
• Along with a very gentle rebore completed last year

The Yamaha has covered around 50 miles since the rebuild. It now needs running-in gently and properly. If the lucky new owner doesn’t do this, the pistons are likely to weld themselves to the bore!

• New clutch plates plus basket fitted
• Gear box rebuilt
• New pads
• The tyres are good, as you can see
• One key fits everything
• A new combined kill switch and lamp switch fitted
• New Hagon shocks on the rear
• New Yamaha branded seat cover and foam
• New rear mudguard
• The KM clock has been replaced with an MPH one

The bike was repainted in Marine Blue by RS Paints. On our vendor has a photo history of the regeneration of the RD.

The RD400 stands out for several obvious reasons. Less well known is that it was the first ever model to have the option of cast wheels on a production motorcycle. Specifying that option meant the rear came with a rear disc brake instead of the usual ineffectual drum brake.

• Drilled discs were not a factory option
• However, they were a period mod back in the day
• Mark wanted to recreate his bike from back then, hence the drilled discs the eagle eyed amongst you will spot

Coupled with the trademark coffin-shaped petrol tank, the Yamaha oozed attitude and style.

Weighing in at just 160 kilos, RD400s became the ultimate racing-derived, two-stroke street racer. Yamaha’s pro racers enjoyed massive success in GP while the rest of us were having undiluted fun on the streets of Britain.

Mark decommissions his bikes in the winter; they are for summer use only. He has taken this one out of hibernation and fitted a new battery for the new owner.

Summary

The Yamaha RD400 was indisputably ‘Race Developed’. Riders with Paddy Hopkirk lids and nylon Yamaha race jackets would run rings around the bigger Honda 750 fours of the time.

For many of us, the RD400 was a last gasp of youthful rebellion before the real world caught up with us and deposited us in a Barratt home with a Ford Escort. It’s no wonder that they’ve become the weapon of choice for those revisiting their youth.

The result of all the above is probably the best and most sought-after middleweight air-cooled motorcycle ever made.