The weekend is just about here, so what better way to celebrate than with a spicy two-stroke street tracker? This wild Yamaha RD400 is the work of Garett Wilson out of Colorado, USA—and it’s as refreshing as a root beer float on a hot day.
Operating as DubStyle Designs, Garett has a knack for building flat track-inspired bikes created for street riding shenanigans. He’s also been quoted as saying that he likes “vans with side pipes, boat flake paint jobs, and girls with feathered bangs.” That’s why everything that rolls out of his workshop not only looks like it would be a hoot to ride, but typically has a hot-rodded paint job to match.
This 1977-model Yamaha RD400 street tracker is no different, even though Garett’s initial plan for it was way different. “I traded my KTM 250SX for it about nine years ago,” he tells us, “after I shredded my knee and realized that with a wife, kids, and mortgage, I should maybe stop racing motocross.”
“I originally thought I would build a bike that me and my wife could take on date nights. I worked on it a little in between other builds I was working on, making a new subframe and seat for a passenger, and putting on GSX-R forks and some 19F/18R Excel wheels with cruiser tires. But I came to the realization that it was never going to be comfortable for the two of us, and stripped it back apart.”
The project stalled until the start of this year when Garett decided to drag it back onto the workbench and give it the quintessential DubStyle treatment. With the Handbuilt Show in Austin acting as a deadline, he got to work.
Garett based the design of his RD400 loosely on the iconic Champion-framed flat trackers of the 70s. That meant sourcing a fiberglass Champion tail section and fabricating a new subframe with the perfect kick at the back. But before the tailpiece and frame could meet, a few adjustments had to be made.
For starters, Garett modified the side of the tailpiece to interface neatly with the Yamaha’s OEM oil tank, and even added a tidy little cutout for the dipstick. Next, he hacked and re-shaped the tail bump to accommodate an LED strip taillight. (The bike’s important electrical bits are hiding under there too.)
A custom saddle sits up top, featuring a rather groovy stitching pattern, courtesy of Brian Kugler. A repurposed aluminum fuel tank from a 1970s Yamaha YZ400 enduro sits in front of it; an inspired choice that matches the rest of the layout beautifully.
Moving to the RD400’s running gear, Garett ditched the GSX-R forks for a set of right-side-up Yamaha R6 units. An aluminum swingarm from a 1970s Kawaski sits out back, hooked up to a pair of Fox shocks.
The stunning 7-spoke Morris-style wheels are also vintage Kawasaki items. Garett had to machine new carriers for the brake rotors and rear sprocket, before equipping the bike with Brembo calipers and Galfer discs. Given the pick-and-mix nature of the build, even smaller parts like the caliper mounts had to be machined from scratch.
The exhaust system is another cut-and-paste affair. Garett started by recycling a dinged-up Factory Pipe system—which included repairing the one ding that was too serious to live with. Then he hacked off the silencers and welded on a pair of FMF cans.
“I didn’t want to spend the big bucks on new pipes (yet),” he quips.
A custom-made number board sits up front, hosting a pair of rectangular headlights. Other changes include Renthal bars and grips, and upgraded pegs and foot controls. In between the big ticket items are countless bespoke parts; Garett credits Jake Shellito for helping him machine them in time for the Handbuilt Show.
In true DubStyle fashion, Garett picked a retro-fabulous livery to push his Yamaha RD400 street tracker over the finish line. Whitey’s Paint Shop laid down the root beer flake base and red, orange, and yellow graphics, while NeCo Customs tackled the myriad Cerakote finishes.
The only thing that makes us happier than knowing that there’s one more classic RD400 tearing up the streets, is that it looks this good. Now if only Garett would hand us the keys, our weekend would be perfect.
DubStyle Designs | Instagram | Images by Garett Wilson, with thanks to IMI Motorsports Complex
