This bike started out as a 1978 Yamaha RD400 two-stroke two-wheeler, at some point in the 1980s it was converted into a three-wheeler using a Hi-Performance ATC frame kit, balloon tires, and a one-piece rear fender.
The Yamaha RD400 is a two-stroke motorcycle that was released in 1975. It quickly earned a reputation for being a “widowmaker” – in Argentina it was nicknamed the “La Mata Hombre” or “The Man Killer.”
Fast Facts – The Yamaha RD400 Three-Wheeler
- This 1978 Yamaha RD400 was converted into a three-wheeler in the 1980s using a Hi-Performance ATC frame kit, a one-piece rear fender, balloon tires, and it was given a custom metallic paint scheme. It combines the two-stroke RD400 engine with the unconventional design of an ATC-style three-wheeler.
- The Yamaha RD400, released in 1975, earned a reputation as a “widowmaker” due to the narrow powerband of its two-stroke engine. It was notorious for being challenging to handle, particularly for inexperienced riders, yet it remains a classic among enthusiasts today.
- Three-wheelers, or ATCs, gained popularity in the 1970s as lightweight, off-road vehicles. Despite their initial success, their top-heavy design led to numerous accidents, resulting in manufacturers halting production in 1987 and transitioning to more stable four-wheeled ATVs.
- This unique Yamaha RD400 three-wheeler is being sold at no reserve for off-road use only. It includes spare rear wheels, paddle tires, and a bill of sale, and is currently listed on Bring a Trailer in Fort Myers, Florida.
The Yamaha RD400 “La Mata Hombre”
The reason for the RD400’s famously questionable reputation largely stems from the engine, the twin-cylinder, two-stroke had a relatively slim powerband, as many two-strokes of the time did, and hitting this powerband could cause issues for less experienced riders.
Although it looks like a production bike, this Yamaha RD400 ATC was built using a frame kit in the 1980s.
The frame, suspension, and brakes of the Yamaha RD400 were reasonable for a motorcycle in this class at the time, and to be fair to Yamaha, there were far more dangerous two-strokes out there – like the Kawasaki H2 Mach IV.
The Three-Wheeler “ATC”
Three-wheelers that began appearing in the late 1960s in the United States. The first of these three-wheelers was the Sperry-Rand Tricart developed by John Plessinger as a graduate project at the Cranbrook Academy of Arts in Michigan.
This design patent was licensed by New Holland, who manufactured them commercially. A number of similar American three-wheelers (and four-wheelers) would follow, reaching the market in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Once Honda released their US90 three-wheeler in 1969 the other big Japanese motorcycle companies soon followed suit. They soon took over the market, all but eliminating the local competition.
The Honda US90 would appear in a famous chase scene in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever in 1971, and similar models would appear in TV shows like Magnum P.I., Doctor Who, and Hart to Hart. This helped shoot them into the national consciousness seemingly overnight, and they quickly became best-sellers – they were marketed as ATCs or All Terrain Cycles.
This is the Yamaha RD400 engine, it’s a parallel twin two-stroke built in-unit with a 5-speed transmission.
These ATCs soon developed a dire reputation for being dangerous. They were being ridden by many inexperienced riders, and their top heavy nature was resulting in a lot of accidents – some of them fatal.
Investigations and negative news reporting led the manufacturers to all pause production, voluntarily, in 1987. It would never resume, and instead the ATC three-wheelers would be replaced with ATV four-wheelers that offered far better stability.
The Yamaha RD400 Three-Wheeler Shown Here
The Yamaha RD400 three-wheeler you see in this article is a unique one-off that is said to have been built in the 1980s. Whoever built it clearly decided to combine two dangerous motorcycles into a single creation – taking the RD400 engine and fitting it to a three-wheeler frame.
The fit and finish on the bike look good, professional even, and you could be forgiven for thinking it was an actual Yamaha production model that had been forgotten about.
The person who built it sourced a Hi-Performance ATC frame kit and combined it with balloon tires, the fuel tank from the RD400, and the seat/bodywork/rear fenders came as part of the kit.
This ATC three-wheeler has a live axle in the rear with a chain final drive, a monoshock, and a single rear disc.
The bike has telescopic forks up front, a monoshock in the rear for the axle, no front brake, and a single disc brake on the back. There is a black seat for a maximum of one person, a headlight, a rear luggage rack, and a custom multi-tone paint job.
This unusual Yamaha RD400 three-wheeler is now being offered for sale on Bring a Trailer out of Fort Myers, Florida at no reserve for off-road use only, with spare rear wheels, paddle tires, and a bill of sale. If you’d like to read more or place a bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
