1978 Yamaha YZ400 - Bob Hannah Era 

I had this bike new, 1st proper monoshock, ever. Rode great. I was 20-21 years.

Ahhhhh! That Sound! That Smell! INTOXICATING ! Makes me Think 40 Yrs YOUNGER! Now if ONLY the Rest of Me Could Follow! 😢

When yz looked really good

Nice ..those years looked better than new power ranger bikes

I had the Bob Hannah Superman poster out of Motocross Action magazine in my locker in high school. The squids didn't know who he was. SQUIDS!!

Bob Hanna was my sports hero too.

Bad Ass Classic Beast. Beautiful!!!!

In 1978 I was a junior in High School and got to see Bob Hannah race at the Supercross at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan fun times.

This bike is too badass to let go!! Sure hope you kept it Ken ..

Love them old YZ's!!! Thanks guys!!

Bob Hannah and Jonny O'Mara were two of my favorite riders in my youth.

I had one like it great bike . Mine had a Wiseco piston and a Barnett racing clutch still got the scars to prove it LOL

Its bringing back memories, i think a lad i knew had the chance to buy one of these. or a Suzuki 400 if i remember right?. but i do remember he got the Suzuki & it got him to start a new hobby, collecting hedges & ditches!. Think it was what put him off dirt bikes because he never got another.

Even the fire hydrant is in vintage Yamaha colours 😂😂 . Beautiful bike 👍✌

He was my hero in high school....

I owned a yz 465 rm465, kx420 fin rattler cr500 i loved the light switch on off all or nothing deal it truly was an era of wow iv had late model big bore 4 strokes but that time of riding those monsters was absolutly the duks guts 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

Awesome yz sounds crisp as

Like all the vintage jersey's and helmet's..

I restored one of these a few years ago when I was sixteen. All I can say is easy to work on but hell to ride

In the 1980's, I owned a 78 YZ400. Rode beast HARD... Put it away wet. Great bike. Started on the first kick every single time. Never any engine issues, or spark plug issues. Never had to be rebuilt. Then I got a 88 YZ490. Yikes. Plug issues... Never started on the first kick... Horrible power band... Completely unreliable. Rebuilt it, eliminating the notorious squish band in the head. Got even worse. Sold it to a guy from Australia for $1000 cash. Bought a 1999 KX500. Great engine... surrounded by metal that I think was actually tin cans for vegetables. Traded it in for... A 2001 Honda CR500. AWESOME BIKE. Probably the best big bore two-stroke EVER MADE. STILL... I am a fan of Yamaha's made in 78-82. Bob Hannah is my ALL-TIME GREATEST hero of motocross. THE HURRICANE #1

Great memories. I had the 77 model. I wished mine had that tensioner back then or they made case savers,,maybe they did? Once in awhile if you got on it hard in 1st gear it could throw the chain and wrap it around the front sprocket and possibly crack a case. I got lucky and never broke anything. It was strange as everything was perfectly aligned and adjusted properly with good condition chain and sprockets..Betting it was a common issue and they added that tensioner the following year...very possible guess..lol. Great open class bikes though with strong torque and pull. Suspension was a little soft from the factory and I was still learning about newer suspensions back in those days...I would love to have this one. Just happy I was born in the late 60's and grew up on a farm..Those were the days for sure.

I had a 74 mx 500 death machine. Brother still has bought new 78 yz 250, still to this day the best handling bike.

Reminds me of the YZ465 my Marine Corps buddy had for me to ride when I'd come home with him on leave. That thing was insane fast, you couldn't take it out of 3rd gear on the mountain track he had.

Best gift to buy for Jr.; a mirror on a stick so that he can film frame rails without getting on the floor.😉

Love this bike!looks and sounds awesome!

Awesome video! miss my YZ400!

had one of these to hell i had the 400,465,490 n a i.t. 425

She’s sounds friggin awesome! You guys tweet the hell outta these bikes -

*That's the way a Motocross Bike should sound* *I own a 78 YZ250E, I'll eventually have it restored and put it in my house*

My very first bike. Learned the right way.

Looks great sounds even better

My childhood hero right on

I race one of these and it’s an absolute powerhouse. You get arm pump after the first lap from just trying to hold on to the thing lol. One helluva bike.

Bike porn.... love the helmet and the jersey, and the bike is a piece of art!!!👍👍👍👍👍👍. Now, if he was only wearing a pair of classic High Point alpine stars or the blue and red Scott boots.... I would be done, lol! Who remembers those classic plastic Scott boots?

My uncle gave me his 79 esislno 250 when I was in junior high and this brings back all memories... and still riding today..... lol....

Had one of these put the fox shock on 13.5 "of travel . Lived in western Washington it was a hill climbing beast ,up on the tank.

Love the Bell Moto 3 and the Hurricane Jersey as well as the yz400.

Those were great bikes I owned a 79 YZ400 when I was 16& 115lbs. It would rip past CR500's on top end!!! Happy Thanks giving

I had the Australian white version being a Aussie When I was 16 . Memories

Badass bike! Gotta love the old school Yamaha logo on the tank!

Awesome bike great riding and never seen a rm 400. Thanks

You guys up North are true hustlers, none of these fools noticed the header pipe at start-up, is all I’m saying, thanks for the ride. Make it rain🤑, takes a genius to market these with the small profit margin and large overhead. Would love to know how many ya’ll push out the door, impressive, I am from a family of entrepreneurs and am a past 2 stroke enthusiast and deeply admire your business model and marketing techniques. Respect👊🏻

i feel old i had this bike n a 84 yz 490 love these old 2 strokes

I had one of these bad boys back in the day! The original 1978 400 E had yellow fork boots and black muffer but this bike looks great!

Doesn’t it seem like 2 strokes are coming back? Hallelujah

My buddy had this bike and I had a RM 400. We tore the Mojave Desert to pieces on those two bikes...good times

That thing looks snappy and quick off the bottom end. Killer mid range with some top end over run from the looks of it.

Haha.. Quick reflexes on the launch to lay off that throttle..(twice) These monsters seemed to me to have more low end than the CR's.. You almost pulled a Larry... 👍

I had a “79 that was ported and polished and had a DG pipe,l ran the 5.35x18 Tereflex it was a real ditch digger .

When Yamaha and Suzuki were both yellow

I actually found one of these in some woods once in the 90s and restored it the best I could, but never could find the tank and side panels. It's kind of weird how Yamaha went through colors. I had Yamaha duels from the same era that came stock metallic green and other colors..

Love that Bike!!

Good ol Bob Hannah days, & 400's

Howdy Kapt. Ken , you mentioned that the bike came with a chain tensioner. I had a 78 YZ 250 and it didn't come with a tensioner. I also saw on the 400 that the counter shaft sprocket was maybe 3 inches in front of the swingarm pivot , hence the need for a chain tensioner. My 250's was closer to the swingarm pivot so a tensioner wasn't needed. It's kind of weird that there was a difference in the 250 & 400 in the same year. Puzzled 😵.

I had this same bike at 12 years old only board out and built and it scared me evertime I rode it!!! But there was no hill i couldn't climb

Bad ass bike

That's the year I want 78 YZ OR CR OR Suzuki. CR , my favorite. But I had a 76 YZ 125 Got it in a Milk Crate!! That thing was a Rocket Ship!!!

Old motocross bike i love it... Only two stroke bike

Sounds killer!!!

my buddy had this year/ size bike and I owned the IT 400 that Yamaha made that year. He was faster but a more 'temperamental' bike while mine could trail ride all day without loading up.

Kaplan reminds me of rick burget. 78 500 champion.

¡ Hermosa !

Hannah said "a lot of people call me an out of control rider, but as far as I'm concerned you're not out of control until one of your hands come off of the handlebars "

I have the 79 yz400F all the kids tell.me yamaha didn't make a 400 four stroke dirt bike in 79....lol kids

Ken keeps the detail team busy hah

The hurricane will always stike!

Tim Lester had one of these monsters! He had it for a couple of weeks & wrecked it! Scared him so bad he wanted to sell it. Luckily he didn't get hurt & the bike had minor scratches on it & tore a few holes around the back of the seat from it coming out from under him. He asked my cousin if he wanted to buy it. Said he really needed the money & was willing to give him a good deal on it. My cousin Danny told him; "I only have $300 I can give you for it". Tim said; "I can't take no less than $800". Then Tim said, "I'll take $600". Danny said no. Tim left & came back less than a week later and sold him that bike for $300! Had it on the back of the truck & unloaded it for him. I couldn't believe it! Tim paid around $2,600 for it brand new! I was so jealous! 😭

Beast

That’s a fuckin bad ride!

Just bought a restoration of this bike

Nice 👍 Yamaha 🏍

i think the old guy like that bike eh ahhah niceeee

I like the RM, but having had a '78 YZ80 I want this one instead!

Do you have any resources for rebuilding the transmission on one of these? I need to put my fathers bike back together.

i had the same machine in 1980

I'd have to find a round DG silencer for it. Even if I had to swap the pipe part over from this oval job. The oval silencers are a mid 1980' period part, from like '84 or '85 onward......She runs hard though.

that bike looks good! but it sounds just a tiny bit off. maybe the long dg exhaust is to strict.

Cezet 380/513 and IZH K-16 buy for the collection.

Bjr à tous 👍👍💪💪👏👏❤️bonjour de France ✌️

Hannah says, "Make sure the throttle cable is in good shape".

Bate saia pra caramba. Seloco

I love yz400's I got a 79 yz400 the motor is different I believe the top end is different and a different stroke on the crank I rebuild the motor and seen it looked like it had heavy mods done to it like transmission gears and porting and I just put new crank bearings in it because everything else looked great and it does a little over 100 with stock sprockets it looked like a mess when I got it and it gots a crazy oversized tank on it maybe it was a desert bike it's a crazy fast bike I be pulling on a 450 in 3rd great and the last 2 gears are crazy long and it will try to rippppp you off the bike lol it looked like it was raced in 79 and maybe the 80's it's a keeper

Where do I buy the Bob Hannah and Ken Kaplan action figure?

The 76-78 makes way more power then the 79 and doesn't vibrate like the 79 and latter bikes

You mentioned the 400YZ made 40 HP, As I recall mine was rated at 50 HP. Mine was just like yours but when I got it in 82 or so it was rung out. I replaced the piston for the next size bigger and she came alive! actually too much power for an amateur rider....

Yz 400 leaf blower! 2 strokes rule

a different bar set up might make this a really decent bike id like

I rode one it was fast but need work but top speed was crazy and his would vibrate wen u get on it it was like be getting ur hands tased my dad think the crank of Balance

Ken "hurricane" Kaplain

Where do i sign up? Lol

Frame on 77 and 78 are the same. Only swingarm and forks are different

LOL LOL 2nd gear launch too low for grass glad ya didn't loop it.

HANNAH rode a 125

Aluminum swing arm in 1978? I don't remember for I as thinking steel.

Two-stroke will always beat for stroke I want to see a 450 2 stroke against a 450 four-stroke if there was one

Who's property is that that you are destroying ?

78 had one just like it ,fast bike 79 and latter suck

Looked like smoke was coming out from the head maybe I’m just crazy idk but why’d it happening if it did

I HERE THE WORKS BIKES WERE 420S

Seems to be running a bit rich..