The weekend is nearly right here, so what higher approach to have a good time than with a spicy two-stroke avenue tracker? This wild Yamaha RD400 is the work of Garett Wilson out of Colorado, USA—and it’s as refreshing as a root beer float on a scorching day.
Operating as DubStyle Designs, Garett has a knack for constructing flat track-inspired bikes created for avenue driving shenanigans. He’s additionally been quoted as saying that he likes “vans with side pipes, boat flake paint jobs, and girls with feathered bangs.” That’s why every little thing that rolls out of his workshop not solely appears to be like like it might be a hoot to experience, however sometimes has a hot-rodded paint job to match.
This 1977-model Yamaha RD400 avenue tracker isn’t any totally different, regardless that Garett’s preliminary plan for it was manner totally different. “I traded my KTM 250SX for it about nine years ago,” he tells us, “after I shredded my knee and realized that with a wife, kids, and mortgage, I should maybe stop racing motocross.”
“I originally thought I would build a bike that me and my wife could take on date nights. I worked on it a little in between other builds I was working on, making a new subframe and seat for a passenger, and putting on GSX-R forks and some 19F/18R Excel wheels with cruiser tires. But I came to the realization that it was never going to be comfortable for the two of us, and stripped it back apart.”
The venture stalled till the beginning of this yr when Garett determined to pull it again onto the workbench and provides it the quintessential DubStyle remedy. With the Handbuilt Show in Austin performing as a deadline, he started working.
Garett primarily based the design of his RD400 loosely on the long-lasting Champion-framed flat trackers of the 70s. That meant sourcing a fiberglass Champion tail part and fabricating a brand new subframe with the right kick on the again. But earlier than the tailpiece and body might meet, just a few changes needed to be made.
For starters, Garett modified the aspect of the tailpiece to interface neatly with the Yamaha’s OEM oil tank, and even added a tidy little cutout for the dipstick. Next, he hacked and re-shaped the tail bump to accommodate an LED strip taillight. (The bike’s essential electrical bits are hiding underneath there too.)
A {custom} saddle sits up prime, that includes a moderately groovy stitching sample, courtesy of Brian Kugler. A repurposed aluminum gasoline tank from a Nineteen Seventies Yamaha YZ400 enduro sits in entrance of it; an impressed alternative that matches the remainder of the structure superbly.
Moving to the RD400’s operating gear, Garett ditched the GSX-R forks for a set of right-side-up Yamaha R6 items. An aluminum swingarm from a Nineteen Seventies Kawaski sits out again, hooked as much as a pair of Fox shocks.
The beautiful 7-spoke Morris-style wheels are additionally classic Kawasaki objects. Garett needed to machine new carriers for the brake rotors and rear sprocket, earlier than equipping the bike with Brembo calipers and Galfer discs. Given the pick-and-mix nature of the construct, even smaller elements just like the caliper mounts needed to be machined from scratch.
The exhaust system is one other cut-and-paste affair. Garett began by recycling a dinged-up Factory Pipe system—which included repairing the one ding that was too severe to dwell with. Then he hacked off the silencers and welded on a pair of FMF cans.
“I didn’t want to spend the big bucks on new pipes (yet),” he quips.
A custom-made quantity board sits up entrance, internet hosting a pair of rectangular headlights. Other adjustments embody Renthal bars and grips, and upgraded pegs and foot controls. In between the massive ticket objects are numerous bespoke elements; Garett credit Jake Shellito for serving to him machine them in time for the Handbuilt Show.
In true DubStyle vogue, Garett picked a retro-fabulous livery to push his Yamaha RD400 avenue tracker over the end line. Whitey’s Paint Shop laid down the foundation beer flake base and crimson, orange, and yellow graphics, whereas NeCo Customs tackled the myriad Cerakote finishes.
The solely factor that makes us happier than understanding that there’s yet one more traditional RD400 tearing up the streets, is that it appears to be like this good. Now if solely Garett would hand us the keys, our weekend could be excellent.
DubStyle Designs | Instagram | Images by Garett Wilson, with due to IMI Motorsports Complex
Source: www.bikeexif.com