1977 Yamaha RD400

1977 Yamaha RD400
Registration no. PJG 661S
Frame no. 1A3-107723
Engine no. 1A3-10173
'The RD400 is in fact the current optimal development of the air-cooled two-stroke. It will pull 18mph in sixth gear... and then, at the drop of a cog or four, zip up to a genuine 96mph... Its acceleration curve from 5,000rpm is little short of frightening...' – Bike magazine. Yamaha updated its long-running RD350 twin in 1976, lengthening the stroke to create the RD400. The new model had completely revised styling (shared with the equivalent RD250) featuring a coffin-shaped fuel tank, 'speed block' graphics (in Europe) and, for the first time on a production roadster, cast alloy wheels. To accommodate the 400's extra grunt, the crankcase assembly was beefed up and the engine unit mounted on rubber bushes to isolate the rider from high-frequency vibration. Although there was no vast increase in peak power over the RD350, the larger engine had a much better spread of torque and, just like its predecessor, proved highly amenable to tuning. Tweaked RD400s were soon boss of their class in production machine racing the world over.

A desirable early RD400 with opposed-piston front brake (the sliding-calliper brake on later models is poor by comparison), this example was last taxed to 31st October 2013. The machine is offered with a V5C Registration Certificate, copies of previous V5Cs, and a quantity of MoTs (most recent expired August 2015).