Opportunity for a legendary bike

FreshTopEnd
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FreshTopEnd
Edited Date/Time 1/29/2018 3:19am
https://sacramento.craigslist.org/mcy/d/1971-suzuki-tm400-vintage/6450926271.html
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Bigfoot
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Bigfoot 1/18/2018 3:45pm
1/18/2018 3:45pm
Bman_145 wrote:
From the headline I thought it might have been [url=https://www.mecum.com/lots/LV0118-315172/1985-kawasaki-sr250-jeff-ward/]this[/url] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2018/01/18/238872/s1200_Screen_Shot_2018_01_18_at_1.56.34_PM.jpg[/img]
From the headline I thought it might have been this


The difference between something you'd be afraid to ride and something you'd be AFRAID to ride.

The Shop

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BRT771
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BRT771 1/19/2018 8:45am
1/19/2018 8:45am


If the ad disappears, it is/was this.
omalley
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omalley 1/19/2018 7:05pm
1/19/2018 7:05pm
The bike that pioneered the ad phrase “injury forces sale”...
JPT
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JPT 1/20/2018 8:22am
1/20/2018 8:22am
BRT771 wrote:
[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2018/01/19/238987/s1200_TM400.jpg[/img] If the ad disappears, it is/was this.


If the ad disappears, it is/was this.
That bike always reminds me of a girlfriend I had in college. She looked real good, she sounded real good and while it might be fun to throw a leg over a couple times, eventually she would hurt you.
Paw Paw 271
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Paw Paw 271 1/20/2018 11:01am
1/20/2018 11:01am
It was a dangerious bike new and would still be now.
Ride only if you want to find out just how good your medical coverage is.

Paw Paw
MaxPower
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MaxPower 1/20/2018 11:52am
1/20/2018 11:52am
I imagine with a better swing arm and or braced frame it would become a little more stable. I've never ridden one. I know that was a time of huge development in my and big hp and light weight still needed to find balance.

The more modern version of that bike is the 97 CR250. Practically every one I know (but Ronnie Mac) who has owned one has wadded hard .
FreshTopEnd
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FreshTopEnd 1/20/2018 12:27pm
1/20/2018 12:27pm
The TM400 may have been the most disappointing mx bike ever on arrival. People weren't looking for an RN works bike, but something at least capable of making them look like RD. I not sure the gulf between expectation and reality has ever been so wide for a bike.

My buddy bought a second year model and broke the frame at the swingarm pivots within a couple months

That said, it is a legendary bike and there aren't a lot of survivors of the first year orange tank in as good a shape as that looks (overpriced though)
FreshTopEnd
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FreshTopEnd 1/21/2018 5:16pm
1/21/2018 5:16pm
Boyd and Stellings made frames for them, right?

That strikes a memory of when you could order a titanium frame for your Husky from the earliest Hallman catalogs. So many builders back then is one of the things that made the era so interesting.
oldsocalmxr
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oldsocalmxr 1/22/2018 7:04am
1/22/2018 7:04am
MaxPower wrote:
I imagine with a better swing arm and or braced frame it would become a little more stable. I've never ridden one. I know that was...
I imagine with a better swing arm and or braced frame it would become a little more stable. I've never ridden one. I know that was a time of huge development in my and big hp and light weight still needed to find balance.

The more modern version of that bike is the 97 CR250. Practically every one I know (but Ronnie Mac) who has owned one has wadded hard .
Darryl Bassani built a pipe for mine back in '71.... helped with the power. I used to hang out at Chip Chalmers' fab shop in Laguna Beach when I was in High School. Saw lots of cool stiff come through there. He built a sub 200 lb Husky for Mark Blackwell that was awesome. A set of Koni's on the rear of the TM400 helped a lot back then as well...... you just had to be good at guessing which way it was going to hop.....Wink

PS. I had a '97 CR250 as well......and the scars to prove it.
RBrider
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RBrider 1/29/2018 3:19am
1/29/2018 3:19am
My riding buddy & I had them back in '73/'74. He had a 4 lb fw weight on his, I had a 2.5 lb'er on mine. We both used 5' travel Curnutts (sp?) Both mods really helped. i wasn't fast enough to break my bike, my buddy was faster & rode harder. He managed to break the frame & the transmission.

Another friend had that Bassani pipe on a '71 TM 400. That had to be the loudest pipe/bike combination ever inventedWoohooSmile

RB

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