Nothing screams “it’s the weekend” quite like a two-stroke street tracker. All the more if it’s a Yamaha RD400, and it’s dressed in a traditional black and yellow uniform—with speed blocks, of course.
This svelte little number, dubbed ‘427 Tracker,’ is the work of Smyth Innovations. Based in Ontario, Canada, the workshop is run by Cam Smyth—an industrial designer-turned-custom bike builder. He’s been at it full time for a decade already, and works with a network of friends and local businesses to get things done.
The 1976-model Yamaha RD400 made its way onto Cam’s bench along with three other RD400s of the same vintage. One client had bought all four donors, with a view to mixing and matching the best bits to build two complete bikes.…