1976 DT 400 Yamaha & A Good Day on the Salsa Mountain Bike

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This is a CLASSIC DT 400 Yamaha 2-stroke...1976...Wow!! Talk about a flashback, this 400 Yamaha has 5000 miles on it. The motorcycle is 36 years old.

Gather around and I'm going to tell you the 400 Yamaha story.

Way back in the year 1976, I was about to trade in my 3 cylinder 500 Kawasaki crotch rocket on a new left over model, DT 360 Yamaha Enduro. Well the Yamaha dealer had my deposit and I was pumped to get my new motorcycle in the spring of 1976. Every year back then I sold or traded my previous years motorcycle for a new model. I would switch back and forth between an Enduro or a pavement scorching road motorcycle. I had a couple of 2-stroke 3 cylinder 500 Kawasakis over the years. So back to the  400...When I found out the new 400s were only an extra $100, I talked to my sales guy and switched from the DT 360 to the DT 400 and bought the 400 instead.

Many fond memories of the DT 400 Yamaha. Back in the day, a guy could ride off-road all over in the Minnesota River bottoms. I had plenty of woods and creek areas to explore. The 400 was the best street legal enduro motorcycle money could buy back in the mid 70s. It could reach speeds up to 85 mph and creep down a singletrack trail in the woods. A fun ride was blasting down the farm roads in the river bottoms and accelerating hard out of the corners. Pin the throttle down the straight, throw it into the next corner, power slide out and speed along the river banks. Ducking my head and keeping the handle bars straight when a flock of blackbirds swooped out of the cornfields, feeling them bouncing off my helmet and arms. To swerve meant ending up in the river or in the middle of a corn field. Every day riding the 400 was an adventure.

The practical side of the 400 was that I rode it 30 miles round trip to work every day. In those days I would ride right up till the snow fell. One day I came out of work and there was 3 inches of fresh powder snow covering the motorcycle. Brushed it off and rode home on the snow covered roads. Many "GOOD TIMES" on the DT 400 Yamaha. 

A Good Day on the Salsa Mountain Bike

Sweet singletrack at Murphy Hannerhan.

Great to have a day to spend on the trails. Two and a half hours on the bike.

The new drink of choice...low carb, high protein and a healthy shot of caffeine. Energy before the ride and recovery after the ride. A hearty sandwich and an ice cold beer tops off the day back at the truck.