Ed Toomey Designs

Wrapped up this nice restoration and upgrade of a Yamaha RD400 Daytona which include several prototype pieces. Specifically the upgraded front and rear braking systems, the expansion chambers and carb kit. This bike was stripped to the frame, powder coated and assembled with a rebuilt engine, modified forks and new Hagon shocks. A V**e ignition and modified wire harness simplified and upgraded the electrical system. And finally, gorgeous repainted bodywork from BD Cycles topped it off. Started first kick and she’s a screamer.

One thing about the Yamaha RD400 Daytona that makes me wonder about the engineers decisions is the braking system. What were they thinking? So I did something a little different. Not only is this system lighter, it stops much better than stock with a lighter lever pull. Next will be to rethink the rear brake system, equally as goofy as the stock front system. I realize this isn’t an RZ but soon I’ll be putting these calipers on the RZ350 as well.

(Memory Lane)
It was 1980 and I was tired of the same old RD350s and RD400s that I had been riding for years. So I wanted to make something more modern. I had a 1977 Yamaha TZ250 D model rolling chassis sitting around at the shop so decided to build my first custom. An RD400 engine would drop right in so I built a modified version with a special crank and race ported cylinders and heads. Next was the bodywork. I wanted a different look, more racy. So I modified the bodywork from a 1978 Honda CB400 Hawk and I gave it cool paint job. The bike had Morris magnesium wheels, TZ brakes and front end. And of course, the TZ monoshock rear suspension. Coupled with Erv Kanemoto pipes and modified carbs, it was a beast.

When the power came on, it hit hard. It was a show stopper at the time. It got a lot of attention at the Rock Store. Alas, I let a friend ride it to a Kawasaki dealer 1/2 mile away (against my better judgement). I warned him about the power so I said, “stay off the throttle, go easy”. Especially because he was in shorts, T-shirt and sneakers.

The boys at the dealership came out to see the bike and of course dared him to get on it. Well he did.

When it hit the power he wasn’t prepared. He looped it and it came down hard. Destroyed the instruments, handlebars, mirrors, master cylinder, tank, seat, tail section, tail light and left side engine covers and more. Needless to say it was a mess.
For him, he got lots of road rash. Ugly.

I did rebuild it and later I sold it. Last I heard it had a terrible death.