When I was in high school, the coolest road-bike to be had was the Yamaha RD400 or its earlier cousin, the RD350. These bikes were 400cc's of crackling two-stroke acceleration. Each weekend I watched RD's drag race and beat almost anything that fit into the category of "American Muscle Cars". I lusted over the little RD, but the little Yamaha smoker was out of my grasp. At the time I was consumed with motocross and most of my limited cash was dumped into my 125cc Honda Elsinore. Not to mention my parents, there was NO WAY they were ever going to let me get a streetbike.
Time flies and 35 years later I see an advetisment on Craigslist, "For Sale: Yamaha RD400 Basketcase Project". I made the call and about a week later I was returning home with what appeared to be the parts needed to assemble two trashed out RD400's stuffed into the bed of my truck. Just looking at the pile of rusted and greasy bits made my mouth water and my throttle hand tingle! Visions of yesteryear danced in my head, I was intoxicated with hope!
My RD journey had begun, "Project RD400 Racer" was a go!
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