79 RD400 still in the crate!

[texas-ss-tornado]

Be interesting to see what this goes for, I'd be shocked if it didn't hit 20K.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yama..._motorcycles&hash=item416ef6359b#ht_500wt_879

 

[mr.maxx]

wowzer! that would be a sweet xmas gift:biglaugh:

 

[one2dmax]

Supposedly was never going to be for sale:
http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/blog-different-strokes-found-Yamaha-RD400.aspx

 

[alorio1]

Very rare find indeed, we had one at the shop we took to the track back in the day. With a good light rider on it you could squeese out a high 13 seconds in the 1/4 mile and the bike only had 43 HP......

 

[dannymax]

"None of the collection is for sale, apparently, and The Crate most especially is not for sale, not under any circumstance, and not at any price. Indeed, blank check offers have been politely declined."

Hmmm....something changed. :confused2:





​

 

[shawn kloker]

I like the one that was liquid cooled and had fairings on it. RZ 350?

 

[mr.maxx]

everything has a priceunk:. i saw a chevy 409 engine on ebay yesterday for $ 32,500:surprise:

 

[hijacker]

It's stupid to keep it sealed in the crate. If you don't want it ridden, at least uncrate it and assemble it.

 

[one2dmax]

Probably a rusted pile of turd inside there.

 

[[email protected]]

Probably a rusted pile of turd inside there.

That thought crossed my mind. Wouldn't that suck if you uncrated it and found it to be all rusty and corroded.

 

[hijacker]

56 minutes to go, it's at $14,500 and the reserve is not yet met.

It would suck if it was junk. I'm sure the hoses, tires and other parts that dry out are garbage. They don't ship the bikes with any fluids in them, at least they didn't in the 90's, so it probably needs a lot of TLC to be made road worthy again.

 

[RaWarrior]

Wonder what the reserve was set at? Did they set it purposely so high it would never actually sell....

A quick ebay completed listing search turned up a couple RD400s. There's a fully restored '77 sitting there with a buy-it-now of $4500, as well as some other "good" examples that sold in the high 2 to low 3k range.

I get the appeal that this crated one may be the last "new" one left on the planet....that doesn't mean it's worth a fortune. Especially as said it probably needs every piece of rubber on the bike replaced and who knows about rust.

 

[one2dmax]

Keep in mind that the rubber back then was far better then todays rubber. With being sealed and away from exposure to the sunlight I am sure the rubber is probably better then you'd think. BUT, the steel wasn't as good and harder to seal against the factors that hurt it. Odds are it's still good but that's what I would really be concerned with.

 

[mr.maxx]

its prolly pretty cherry. i recal a bike i bought brand new in 83.....the dealer said he had to clean rust preventative outta the tank b4 icould pick it up. if it had sat outside id be concerned. but if it was allways inside. ill bet its pretty cherry.

 

[m-cman]

Sold for $21,000....

 

[Fire-medic]

One of my brothers had an R5 which was similar, the earlier version, piston-port, no reed valves. I liked to borrow it, pretty wheelie-prone.

I had an H1 Kawi that was a lot of fun, not as-good handling as the R5 Yamaha. I loved to embarass the local Harley guys on it, even two-up you could walk nearly any Harley "built" for performance. They hated the two-strokes but they sure couldn't beat them! One of my friends bought a new Sportster 1000 the first year they became available, and he was pissed his new Harley couldn't beat my older two-stroke with 1/2 his displacement!

One thing for sure, I would want to see what's inside the box before I agreed to pay for it. I recall British Only in MI was selling a new BSA Gold Star (pretty-sure it was), still crated, and they had X-rays of the box to show there was a bike inside. X-rays or not, before I paid the price, I would want to confirm there was a new-old-stock bike as was advertised lurking in there.

A local Yamaha shop had their franchise pulled because their crates in "inventory" at the shop were filled w/junk! They were uncrating them, removing the bikes, and selling them out of the country, and filling the bike crates w/junk, re-assembling them, and having them stockpiled in their storage area for inventory. The factory distributor got suspicious, pulled one out and found-out the truth.

More stuff on crated bikes:
http://www.classiccyclespares.com/

 

[TxVMax]

Used to have a RD350 it sure was a blast the 400 never came to India .

 

[Itgoes]

Back in the day, I ran a cop on a friends RD400 and got a reckless driving ticket in the mail. That sucked.

 

[The Beekeeper]

How did they know it was you on your friends bike?...........:ummm:...........My brother had a 77 RD400, expansion chambers and jetting, it was snappy and lots of fun to ride, like FM stated it was wheelie prone but a blast!.......once you hit the powerband.....Hang on!......it would give bikes twice it's size a run for their money.....................Tom.

 

[dannymax]

It would be very interesting to track this bike, wonder if there will ever be any follow-up to the story?

Maybe Leno or, someone similar, will just leave it crated....that would certainly put it in a class of one!