Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127956
PROJECT Yamaha WR400F Dual-Sport Conversion By Chris Jonnum Photos by Jerry Jonnum ha nk 'G od for Yama ha ' s YZ and WR400s. Ac tually, don 't bo th er: The Old Guy's pro bably occupied fielding thankyou messages fro m mot orcycle-aft er mar ket-company bosses, mos t of whom sto p breathi ng hallelu jahs only long enoug h to tabul at e th e reven ues fro m their lates t hop-up part for the im pressive four-stroke. As well they sho uld. "There really h a ven ' t be e n any brand -new mod els in years, so it's not exactly a su rp rise that the 400 is so popular," says Acerbis' Bill Berreth, ad ding that his company's products specifically for th e 400 are as much in dem an d as are those whic h fit th e two-s troke YZl25, YZ250 and WR250. 'ever before has one mod el (okay, techni cally two) so compl et el y taken o ver th e dirt -b ik e industry . Tha t fact was made clear to me as I po ured over th e past ye a r's w orth of motor cycle ma gazines upon returning tempor arily from a stin t living in Mexico. From the press the Yamaha thu mper is ge tting, you 'd think it was the on ly motor cycle bein g built these days. Come to think of it, there are p robably a few edi tors u tterin g prayers of appreciation as well . What's especia lly impressive is that this bike - a low ly fou r-stroke, mind yo u - is achievi ng success in so many different a re nas. While Doug Henry, Andrea Bartolini and Peter Johansson collect wins at the top rungs of supercross and motocross, Ty Davis, Randy Hawkins, Kevin Hines and Donn ie Book run at the front in eli te -le v e l desert races , end uros and hare scrambles. Bu t with all its conquering of two-s trokes, it seems Yamaha's lauded four -honey has o ver looked the one a rea w here you'd especia lly .expect a thumper to concentrate: dual spo rt. Worry not. Jus t beca use Yamaha is content if the 4()()'s tires never touch pavemen t, tha t doesn't mean the lauded bike is condemned to a life of pure dir t. As they' re wo n t to d o, the aftermarket companies have enthusiastically filled the void , giving the m yet ano ther reason to tha nk their de ity of choice. As race-orient ed as it is, the WR400 is act ually a surp risingly goo d base from whic h to begin a d ual-spor t conversio n. Stock, the bike already has man y of the components requ ired by most states for highway legality. Of course, Cali fornia isn' t most states, and there the WR isn't eve n legal for off-road ; in fact, Yamaha doesn't. sell it in Califo rnia this year . (It doesn't plan to in '99, either, though tha t could change if the emissions stand ards are repealed on September 2.) Why no t? Although the motor cycle meets all of the requirem ents laid ou t by the EPA, its dearth of em issions-co ntrol devices prevents it from passing mu ster with the Ai r Resources Boa rd . Si nce new, stricter guidelines preven t such a machine fro m bei ng sold w ith a green sticker, Yamaha opted not to ship th e blue strokers to the Golden State. Does that mea n it ' s impossible to own a Yamaha WR400 with a California gree n sticker? Not necessa rily; th e Air Resources Board and the d epartm ent of motor ve hicles are n o t one a nd th e same, an d I've h eard of Ca li fornians w ho boug h t WRs out of sta te a nd procured the coveted ad hesive at their local DMV. And since stree t-legal conversions are subjec t to more-lax guide lines than vehicles w hich are sold for high way use, achieving lega lity should n't be much harder with such a bike than it wou ld be in the other 49 sta tes. Ano ther o p tio n is to s tar t with a YZ400 (which is ava ilable in Californ ia), acquire a gree n stickie fro m the DMV, a n d th en ins ta ll a n ex te rna l s ta to r asse mblv to allow the ad d ition of stree tlegal lighting (Baja Designs sells such a stator for $489). My rid ing bu dd ies and I are devoted ad herents to the di rt-orie n ted d ual-s po rt creed, and have for years thumbed our collective nose at the host of dual-sport- ready (bu t hefty, gu tless and softly suspe nde d) mounts offe red by the manufactu rers. Ins tead, we've opted to sta rt w ith d ir t-only thumpers a nd co nvert them to stree t legality. This p ractice has become significan tly eas ier si nce Ba ja Designs appeared six years ago w ith its d ua l-s po rt-co nvers io n kit s, which are more sa nitary, mor e (i.e ., completely) legal and simpler to install than ou r typical home-mad e concoctio ns. Ba ja Des ign s' b a s ic WR 400 kit includes a license-plate light and hold er; turn signals; a rear-brake-light switch; a voltage rectifier; a batt ery; a field -effects transistor; a horn; a halogen headlight bulb;" a wirin g harn ess; a handlebar swi tch; and a power switch. This should be plent y for most folks, but resid ents of mo re-strict sta tes sho u ld op t for Baja Designs' pricier kit , w h ich inclu des a Dep artment of Transport at ion-approved Ace rbis H P head lig h t a nd drop-d own taillight. In stall ati on of th e k it is rath er invo lved, but th e' excellen t, d et ailed ins tru ctions make it fa irly stra igh tfor-