Based out of North Hollywood, California, Moto Carrera was a specialty shop for 2-stroke sportbikes. They were probably best known for the development of some aftermarket parts (especially for Yamaha RDs) like their rearsets and Millenium GP exhausts, but their most significant accomplishment was the creation of the “Del Mar”, a limited production run of RD350-based street trackers. 11 were built over several years – here’s #7.
Per the Moto Carrera “About Us” page, the prototype bike was named after the Del Mar Concours d’Elegance. They started the build 11 days before the show, won an award, and then created a few to sell to the public. In September of 2004, Cycle World did a story about this model and Moto Carrera claims “this was the first time a custom RD had ever been featured in the 50 year history of the magazine.” Here’s a scan of the article, which notes that this weighs just 275 pounds and produces 65 horsepower. Original cost was about $12,000:
Highlights of this example include a ’70 Yamaha R5 frame (which mean you don’t need turn signals for it to be street legal), Excel rims wrapped by Continental dirt track tires, Works Performance shocks, Moto Carrera aluminum swingarm, Magura controls, Baja Designs headlight, Yamaha R1 tailight, Trail Tech Vapor gauges, a carbon fiber tank and the original Moto Carrera tank, 32mm Mikuni flat slide carbs, DG heads, electronic ignition, Moto Carrera’s Millenium GP exhaust, and plenty more. Of the two fuel tanks, the “bumbleebee” leaks and is only being used for display right now. The seller picked this bike up almost a year ago and shared his excitement on a bike forum. In that post, he notes that it probably produces around 50+ horsepower and that it needed some work “on the mid range jetting”, so make sure he’s got that sorted and then enjoy yourself a hell of a custom Yamaha!
Find this Moto Carrera Yamaha for sale here on Craigslist in Santa Cruz, California for $8,500.
This bike-uriousity brought to you by Frank S!