I started building my little 400 in 2008 and have been working on it on and off ever since. I don't think I will ever finish it as there is always something else I would like to add to it. The bike started off in life as one of the bikes used in the Chas Mortimer race school. I bought it from a fella that attended the school back in the 80s - he loved it so much that when the school closed he bought it.
I started by stripping the bike and removing any extra weight and adding a small amount of bracing to the frame. The frame was then blasted and powder coated, the swing arm was widened to take the wider Astralite rear wheel. I tried to keep the bike reasonably period correct apart from the modern brakes, but you always need good brakes. I had a local engineer make the yokes, hubs and rear sets and a friend did the paint work, but apart from that, I did all the work my self. I really enjoy working on my bikes and have a love for old Yamaha two strokes. The bike is on a day time MOT and I used the bike at my wedding.