I grew up in a small town in Washington, and motorcycles have always been part of my life. Riding around with Dad when I was little, watching (and hearing) early sport bikes gratuitously speeding on the road in front of the house, and finally buying my own motorcycle when I turned 16. Since then I've owned at least 60 more bikes.
Back in 1979, a couple years before I was born, my Dad bought a Daytona Special brand new from Johnson's Yamaha. He also managed to talk the salesman into throwing in the dealer poster hanging on the wall. "No poster, no deal!", and Dad came home with both a new bike and a poster. The Daytona was later traded in to the local Honda shop in 1982 when Dad bought a new V45 Sabre.
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I was too small to have any memory of the Daytona, but the poster hung in Dad's shop for most of my childhood. The Sabre is still in his shop, but the poster eventually got rolled up and stashed in a cupboard. In my early 20's I ran across the poster again, had it framed, and since then it has hung somewhere in my house or shop.
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Almost 20 years ago, my good friend Jeremy bought a few RD400's in various stages of disrepair. One of them happened to be a 1979 Daytona Special. After getting that one back on the road, Jeremy meets a previous owner of the Daytona while at a bike show. "That's my old bike!", says former owner Jim, and soon the old stories start to flow. Turns out he bought it from the local Honda shop in 1982. "I saw it in the showroom window, and had to have it." Soon after he added the DG Performance kit, and that's how he recognized the bike as his right away. Jim road raced the bike at both Seattle and Portland International Raceways, and drag raced at Renegade Raceways in Yakima. Right up until a broken rod at the end of a long road course straightaway ended that fun.
You can probably figure out the rest of the story now. There was only one other owner between Jim and Jeremy. That owner and I ended up working together for about 7 years. Jeremy knows the salesman Bill who sold the bike to Dad when it was new. "You know, we only got one Daytona delivered at Johnson's, and I still remember selling it." Bill points at me and says, "I sold it to a blonde guy who looked just like you!" All the timelines and stories line up. And today I bought this bike from Jeremy. While I have no definitive proof like a registration or insurance card, this is the same bike Dad bought 46 years ago.
So to me, that's what makes a Daytona Special.
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If you're still reading, I'm in the right place. After spending the last few weeks reading everything I can on this great club, I know a bit more about RD400Fs, and what is unique to them. But there are some real pros here that can spot everything out of place.
I'll need some help tracking down the right pieces. The DG kit parts are going back to the previous owner for his 1977 RD400. Which is just fine with me. Right now there's a 1A1 engine installed, but I have the original engine in pieces, including cylinders, carbs, and head.
The plan is to return the bike to mostly stock, and rebuild the 2VO engine with some mild updates. I am missing both front and rear fenders, tail light mount, kick starter, rear brake pedal, centerstand, and handlebars. Which ends up being most of the F model specific items. :umm: I would love to track down a nice set of 1A1 or 2V0 exhausts, but I won't hold my breath for those. The fork tubes appear to have been shortened, and I suspect the internals might be upgraded. We'll see what is inside the tubes this winter.
Thanks for reading my ramblings, and don't forget to enjoy your own projects!
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That 1A1 crank is a keeper, compared to the Daytona Special crank. That is, if everything is what it seems to be.
There might be more detail to that assumption, but others can certainly chime in.
Excellent bike as it is - really!
Excellent story! What you have (IMO) is the "epitome" of a period correct hot rod. I would personally just refurbish what you have now and go with it. Maybe acquire all the stock pieces as you go. Doing the stock concourse restoration can get very pricey. :twocents:
That's an awesome story! :clap:
If you're wanting to restore it to 100% original it's going to get pretty costly as mentioned above. And some parts are extremely difficult to find.
Personally I would keep the matching 2V0 engine as a spare (to sell with it later if you ever decide to let it go). I'd keep the 1A1 engine (rebuild if needed), keep the DG head (get combustion chambers reworked) and swinger, and put on some better pipes. You also have what appear to be period-correct S&W shocks. :thumbs:
What's the issue with the kick starter on it now?
Really cool story. Have always loved Daytonas, never owned one but had several friends that did. Enjoy!
looks like fenders on there are not original Daytona?
Thanks for the kind words from all of you. I'm very excited, and so is Dad! He will be 80 next year, and I'm hoping he will be interested in riding it next spring.
2Steve, I've heard stories about the 2VO cranks, so we'll see what it looks like when I press it apart.
Dgorms, there is nothing at all wrong with this setup, other than sitting unused for more than 15 years. The DG stuff is eventually going back to my friend the previous owner for his blue '77 RD, but first I'll get the bike functional and ride it a bit. Stock 400F/G parts do seem to command healthy prices, but I'll track them all down eventually.
SoCal250, I don't know the difference between a 76-78 kicker and the 79-80, so I assumed this kicker was the 1A1 version?
Mnein, I plan to enjoy this one for a very long time!
RDnuTZ, yes, it has C/D/E fenders on it now. They fit fine but of course don't look right. I'll be watching eBay and likely will post a want ad here.
Quote from: Andrew S on October 13, 2025, 10:15:24 PMSoCal250, I don't know the difference between a 76-78 kicker and the 79-80, so I assumed this kicker was the 1A1 version?
You have a 2V0 kicker. :thumbs: The 76-78 arm is straight, while the '79 is more angled and provides a little more clearance for pegs (and rearsets).
Yamaha_RD400_kickers.jpg
Did your dad buy the bike in East Wenatchee? I can't remember the old name of the Yamaha shop there, but it might have been Johnson's.
Beautiful story. I rode a daytona special this past weekend. Fun bike for sure, thanks for sharing.
Quote from: SoCal250 on October 13, 2025, 11:06:03 PMYou have a 2V0 kicker. :thumbs: The 76-78 arm is straight, while the '79 is more angled and provides a little more clearance for pegs (and rearsets).
That is great news, one less rare part to track down.
Quote from: 85RZwade on October 14, 2025, 09:59:38 AMDid your dad buy the bike in East Wenatchee? I can't remember the old name of the Yamaha shop there, but it might have been Johnson's.
Yep, Johnson's Yamaha on Main Street.
Not much progress so far. I put some missing pins in the seat pan last night, and ordered a handful of items to get the bike up and running again.
Small world; I grew up in Wenatchee. Graduated in '86, bought a CB750F and my RZ350 from that shop...Roger? was the salesman. Kevin was in parts, and was endlessly patient with my teenage dumb ass. That 750f got me a job across the river at Wenatchee Honda, where I lasted about a year. My mom still lives there.
Small world indeed! I am friends with Kevin, he just retired this year. I don't recognize the name Roger, but I will ask around.
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Tore apart the front end this last weekend, and the forks are a bit of mess. No oil in either tube, only one side had a washer and clip holding the seal in. And, no spring spacers to be found. Turns out the Kal-Gard treatment was cosmetic only. :umm:
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Does anyone know approximately how long stock fork spring spacers are? At least I can get a rough idea of where to start for preload. This also explains why the front end was so short.
Get the adjustable preload caps from Economy Cycle. It makes setting the preload 10x easier. While you have it apart you should consider the Gold Valve conversion and new springs. There are cheaper knockoffs online (Mikes XS) but I used the originals. https://www.mikesxs.net/yamaha-xs650-damper-valve-pr-front-forks-77-84-oem-1t3-23170-00-00.html
The Race-tech kits come with some pieces of 1/2" PVC pipe to use as preload spacers. You can use that instead of the stock spacers. If I recall correctly the stock spacers are around 3-1/2" long? They are just rolled sheet metal like a big single-slot roll pin. The length is spring dependent so you really need to set the preload instead of just using the stock spacer. Stock springs are probably going to be shorter than they were in 1979.
The Race-tech spring kits come with a handful of fender washers to use for shims on top of the PVC if you need to add more preload. Basically you measure the fork cap threads and subtract that from the amount the spring and cap stick up above the top of the fork. If you have at least 5mm of preload to start you can set it with the adjustable cap.
The "too much preload" photo shows how to measure preload. It's a bad example because it's way too much preload.
I copied the text from the RaceTech instructions:
11 - Setting the fork spring preload is done by making the correct length preload spacers.
Find the recommended preload in Product Search or on your DVS Setup Sheet. [I don't have that info but correct preload is somewhere between 15 and 35 mm or 15% of sag (% of the suspension depression from the bike's weight)]
1. If your forks have Preload Adjusters set them to minimum.
2. If you have a fork with an Emulator. Drop the Emulator down the tube. Install the Emulator Adapter first if required. It sits on top of the damping rod with the Emulator Valve Spring facing up and is held in place with the main fork spring. Visually check to make sure the Emulator is sitting squarely on top of the damping rod or the Adapter.
3. Extend the fork tube all the way.
4. Insert the fork springs into the fork tube on top of the Emulator (No emulator, no problem).
5. Install a steel fork spring washer
6. Install the fork spring spacer tube (1/2" PVC or any size that will fit inside the fork tube). Any length that goes above the top of the fork tube is ok for now.
7. Install another steel fork spring washer (washer-spacer-washer)
10. Adjust the spring spacer tube length (or PVC) to achieve the proper preload.
In this example using the image:
If you are looking for 15mm preload you would shorten the spacer by 46 - 15 = 31mm length of spacer (I guess the 15 mm is the desired preload? Doesn't matter as much if you have adjustable preload. You can start with 5mm and increase by 10 easily).
NOTE: You must have steel washers on both ends of the spacer. The spacer must not rest directly on the spring or the cap.
12 - If there is very little preload the thread on the cap will hit the thread in the fork tube before touching the washer.
Measure from the top of the fork tube to the Steel Spring Washer.
13 - Measure the Fork Cap Height In this case 18mm.
Calculate the Preload
(Fork Cap Height) - (Top to Washer) = Preload
18 - 11 = 7mm Preload (the 18 is the distance the threads will close when you screw the cap down).
Adjust the Spacer Length or add washers to get the recommended Preload.
The adjustable caps have a self-centering spring washer included. Any washers used as shims go under it.
Hope this helps
IR8D8R
Thanks, that does help. I'll start with a 3.5" spacer and work from there. If I can outride the stock forks, then I'll pursue some of the emulators. I've often thought about trying emulators on other bikes, but have been happy in the past with some tuning of fork oil and preload.
I realized today that the passenger peg brackets have been cut off, as well as the loop on the left side. Any chance I can talk somebody into tracing their brackets and loop so I can re-create them here? Or even better a bent Daytona frame and I can buy the sections I need. (yeah, right.)
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