Yamaha dt400 quick ride

Just a short ride around the block on my 1978 Yamaha dt400.
I also have other videos of this bike on my page

[@Thousand_yard_King]

I owned a 1977 version of this, the first year for a rear monoshock, I loved that bike and rode it all over the Antelope valley, California all throughout the 1980's, it ran like a champion until someone backed over it while parked at a grocery store, man I miss that bike!!

[@matthew1er]

Velcro1167 Nice! Do you know if they come from the factory with the ticking sound in the motor?

[@Thousand_yard_King]

@@matthew1er mine did from brand new, it's the oil injection pump that makes it sound like it's ticking. We used to call them three strokes because they are not exactly a two nor four stroke..lol

[@Thousand_yard_King]

@deadcool 2 no, from 77 on it was monoshock, Yamaha was the first to use a monoshock rear swingarm.

[@amvanquish5555]

Love the sounds of the wobble shifting, the DT100 I ride sounds very very similar.

[@sonnyseabury4051]

My Uncle and Dad had the 1978 DT-125's. All street gear taken off, only to ride in dirt. One was the exact shade of yellow and black like yours. Dad's was the same graphic, in a Spearmint Green and Black, that looked fine. Those 2 bikes were my first introduction to 2 stroke dirtbikes, at the age of 5.....I'm 49 now. Over the years I've had some 2 stroke MX dirtbikes. One 1983 Suzuki RM 125 in 1992. Then I sold it and bought a new 1993 Yamaha YZ 250, that was a ripping beast. Now, I just bought a mint 1985 Yamaha RZ 350 street bike, restored from the frame up, Yellow and Black Kenny Roberts Edition, from Kaplan Cycles. Awesome people to do business with, with amazing customer service.. Badass Streetbike, with a sick powerband. In the near future, I plan on buying a 2023 Gas Gas 2 stroke MC125, from Kaplan Cycles also. I can't wait. They own the New England Motorcycle Museum in Rockville, Connecticut. A+ 100 people. Thanks alot for the great video, Brother. Long Live The 2 stroke dirtbikes. I hate 4 stroke bikes, unless they're a streetbike. God Bless!

[@matthew1er]

Nice! , I miss this bike I shouldn't of sold it

[@sonnyseabury4051]

@@matthew1er It is nice, brother. Those bikes are special to me, because of what they represent from my young childhood.

[@michaelferik8060]

Bought a new one in 1975. Same color but different graphics. Lot of low end torque from that motor and a wheelie in first gear was only a partial throttle twist away.

[@MikeInExile]

I bought a new one in ’78 and it behaved the way you described. It’s because Yamaha used an 8-petal reed valve between the carburetor and the intake port. You could get a bit more top-end power out of the motor by removing the reed valve but then you’d lose that instant throttle response in first gear. So for my style of riding, I left the reed valve in. For my tastes, I thought the bike was much too quiet, so I removed the spark arrester from the end of the extractor just to see what would happen. Not only did the bike sound perfect without it, but it added a noticeable amount of power to the mid and upper power band too! I left the spark arrester off until the day I traded the bike in.

[@barryolaith]

That was painful to listen to. That is one sick engine, in the original old-school sense when a word meant what it meant.

[@brimleyhillmassive]

Oil pump click?

[@TUBEYOUTHETUBE]

Sounds like its getting some false Air, i would check for a leak to not damage your engine

[@matthew1er]

TUBEYOUTHETUBE I’ll check, what are you hearing to determine that?

[@TUBEYOUTHETUBE]

@@matthew1er your idle is going down quite slowly when you rev it a bit

[@imafriend1336]

HENSON GARAGE ,, false air??, the intake air goes thru the crank case

[@pavaraminidu1961]

verry nice I love to bike

[@pavaraminidu1961]

Yeee

[@davemanone3661]

Does anyone know why he is afraid of the bike?

[@DutchVanHelsing]

They got the shape right in 79

[@matthew1er]

Dutch Van Helsing yup!

[@KingCast65]

Nah. I just bought one. The twin-shock bikes are far prettier to me

[@terryzig]

No gloves huh? If you have a spill the first thing you do is put your hands out to break your fall, no gloves means your palms will get wasted.

[@huntwarbukz4117]

Do old bikes like yours need title to be put on the road ?

[@matthew1er]

Yes and it needs to have come street legal from the factory too. If it didnt come from the dealer with a license plate it will be very hard to register it to be street legal

[@StacheCam]

Nice bike ! Which was carb on and off ?

[@matthew1er]

StacheCam When I pushed the lever down, that was choke ON. Pull up lever for choke off

[@StacheCam]

StarGarage I've been doing it wrong this whole time. Thanks I have a 74 dt 250 been working on and it's a blast to ride

[@DaveZee01]

@@matthew1er Do you think Stache Cam's reply, as below is possible? I would think it would be rather difficult to start with the choke OFF, when cold, as well run properly when warmed up, with the choke ON?

[@ctg6734]

I miss that sound

[@matthew1er]

Yeah it sounds nice even though it needed top end work I shouldn't have sold it

[@ctg6734]

@@matthew1er It's funny, every one of those I've heard sounded the same, including mine.

[@dsd-downshiftdave8056]

How do you like this motorcycle

[@bobbiedixon3226]

Very cool

[@Muscleupsanddangles]

Time for rings. Piston rattle.

[@brimleyhillmassive]

Oil pump. No biggy

[@saociprianoomagodeantioqui8386]

Top

[@barryklinedinst6233]

Shes running a little rough

[@matthew1er]

Yes

[@22slimeee]

Crazy that’s legal😂

[@fnarvii1810]

Does it have piston slap?

[@matthew1er]

Doom Guy probably

[@tightr1]

Damn beautiful bike !

[@matthew1er]

tightr1 thanks

[@MikeInExile]

I bought a brand new ’78 DT400 from a Yamaha dealer in North Little Rock, Arkansas back in the day. I kept the owner’s manual for it when I traded it in on a new ’78 XS1100. I still have the owner’s manual AND the XS1100! I would say the condition of the XS1100 today is somewhere between ‘good’ and ‘barn find’.

[@Arc-popz]

Say are u running a supertrapp muffler? If so they really kill mid and top end power on a 2 stroke. A friend had one on a tm400 Suzuki. Ran like a pig till the supertrapp fell off. He couldn't keep the front wheel down after that

[@matthew1er]

There was no cap on mine

[@joseantonio4901]

Parabéns gostei do vídeo que moto legal Parabéns gostei do vídeo...

[@matthew1er]

🤷🏻‍♂️

[@whitefox58]

Thats cool, I have a 78 dt400, fixing her up but your looks and sounds amazing, do you know where I can buy parts for it? Mine is missing a lot of parts, I want it all original but it's hard to find anything! I'm thinking about bringing it to a motorcycle shop and see what they can do. Yours is 🔥🔥

[@matthew1er]

Ebay is a good place to start

[@22slimeee]

It sounds like my CR480

[@blackhat400]

Sounds AS sick as a dog,,the Air screws been screwed fully home to compensate for an air leak, [ crank seals, ]

[@matthew1er]

blackhat400 it sure was fun to ride while I had it though. Lol

[@orange70383]

Good looking bike.

[@that_white_5.841]

Hey man my grandpa has one of those. They are sick and now I’m tall enough to ride it and I can’t find anything on the shift pattern. What is it😂

[@matthew1er]

1 down 4 up

[@matthew1er]

Neutral is between 1st and 2nd gear

[@hillarylevenworth8824]

That piston is real loose. Best you do the top end before the SHTF.

[@KingCast65]

Yah I heard that too. Whoa.

[@nessasushi]

🙂