Trail Rider Magazine

34 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Vintage Feature Vintage Feature 1975 Yamaha DT400B 1975 Yamaha DT400B By Kurt Flachbart By Kurt Flachbart This month's vintage feature is a revisit of a bike we built back in 2019. Since its comple- on, the bike has undergone a few modifica- ons and has become a favorite in the fleet of vintage rides. Having just returned from the York, Pennsylvania, vintage show and swap meet, I thought we'd do a follow-up on this old Yamaha Enduro. They are s ll out there, my friends, in fact, they're plen ful, make great projects, and with "Covid Pricing" thankfully behind us, they can be found quite reasonably. I hope you enjoy the tale. As one who grew up riding Yamaha Enduros, I've got a so spot in my heart for them, as they bring me back to the days of my youth. As vintage bikes go, they're actually quite capable mounts for ripping around town and light-to-moderate trail duty. As projects go, I've found Yamahas to be the easiest to complete since parts are rarely a problem. Incredibly, Yamaha s ll lists a tremendous number of OEM parts in its catalogs. Another huge bonus is that vintage Yamaha parts are much less expensive compared to European offerings. As a result, this vintage Yamaha resurrec on went super smoothly and was wrapped up within a couple of weeks. As with many of our old bike features, this month's Roach had tried to find me, got away for a few years, and, inter- es ngly enough, popped back up only a few miles from our house. About 10 years ago, I'd been riding our local hammer spot not far from the office. At a trailhead, I ran into a hiker in the woods I'd know casually from around town. With a smile and a wave, I stopped to chat, and he men oned he had an old Yamaha 400 Enduro buried in his barn. He'd lost interest long ago and was looking to unload. Interested I was, and he'd scratched his number on a napkin that I'd lost only a few miles down the trail. A couple of years later, I'd visited my buddy Caleb Hum- phrey of Humphrey's Small Engine for some snowblower parts. Lurking in the corner sat a yellow 1975 Yamaha DT400. Immediately remembering the one that got away, I'd asked Caleb if he bought it locally, and I soon learned it was in fact the same bike that had escaped me. My next ques on was if he'd be interested in selling it. Caleb sadly, said no; he had plans for it. Truth be told, I'd long forgo en about that DT400 un l Caleb reached out that later summer and asked me if I s ll might be interested in the old Yamaha. Hell yeah, was the answer, and I hopped into the Sprinter headed for Humphrey's. Expec ng some nego a on process, I asked Caleb what he needed to get for it. His answer was "It's yours; enjoy the project!" Within minutes, the DT400 was loaded up, and within an hour the games began

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