RD400 Cafe Base/Resto

T

TN22Corps

New Member
Hey I've just stumbled upon this forum and find it very helpful and inspiring. I've been wanting to build my own cafe racer recently... sport bikes and the like don't suit me, and what does is out of my price range.

It looks like the most popular way to go is the CB route, or other comparable 4 strokes? I found an RD400 in my area and wanted to know if that would be a similar build experience?

Factors that I'm considering are aftermarket and parts support (seems to be high for CBs), manufacturer's shop manuals, little to minor fab work. This being my first bike, the RD400 seems to be a little limited..?

What say the mob?
 
Hi,

I am also new to this forum, but in my opinion it is very easy to make a cafe out of an RD400. Clip-Ons, Rear-sets, seats and other parts like swingarms, heads... are available - anything else needs your own creativity...

Peter
 
Here's the thing...

There is a great aftermarket for the CBs. Parts are cheap and plentiful. The bikes are easily modified. They're very user friendly and can make a really fun cafe racer. There's also a million of them, so if you want to build something unique you'll have to put on your thinking cap. Not talking any heat on CBs. I've owned a few (and still have a 125 I need to do something with) and they're terrific motorcycles. But they honestly made a LOT of them, so by the simple law of averages... There are more of them being modified by folks.

Now, the RD400 is a completely different animal. There's a strong aftermarket for them, but parts are not cheap. At least not good ones. Performance engine work can put you in the poor house if you let it. The bikes are relatively simple compared to their four stroke contemporaries. Light, powerful, and FAST. The RD400 was making fools out of 750 four strokes in its day (with a little work). But, fast aint cheap...

Again, the Hondas are terrific bikes though they can be somewhat uninspiring once you've spent time on more performance oriented machines. Now, there are engine builders out there producing some crazy fast CBs but it is not cheap. Even by RD standards.

The RDs are basically detuned Yamaha road race bikes, built for the street. It doesn't take much work (but it can take a chunk of cash) to get them back to their roots...

Me, I'd go with the RD if you can swing the purchase price and have some cash left over. Get it tuned and running right in stock trim (motor wise) and go from there.
 
PeterA said:
Hi,

I am also new to this forum, but in my opinion it is very easy to make a cafe out of an RD400. Clip-Ons, Rear-sets, seats and other parts like swingarms, heads... are available - anything else needs your own creativity...

Peter
Click to expand...

Also true. Look at BradJs RD350 build here. Very minimal money invested but tons of creative thinking. The end result is a real killer.
 
^this
Except send me the address and him a an address about 3 houses over so I can laugh at his confusion while loading up the bike
 
Thanks for the responses. Yeah I missed out on the RD... busy with work and moving to a new house. The CBs that I'm seeing are too much.
 
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