RZ500 models from Yamaha are a continual RSBFS fan favorite, and here is an interesting one. Purported to be stock with the usual wear and tear, this one has 20k+ miles, with an engine rebuild fewer than 500 miles ago. The seller doesn’t state how comprehensive the rebuild was (top end only? rings? overbore?), but the bike appears to be in extremely clean condition for the age and mileage. The seller is pretty up front about some of the minor nits, and has a whole bag of exciting NOS spares and more that go along with the sale. The bike looks great and should be interesting to anyone lusting after the big RZ.
1985 Yamaha RZ500 sale on eBay
From the seller:
1985 RZ500. Canadian Model. All original. It’s been well taken care of and maintained over the years. Bike is in excellent condition both running and appearance. One small crack on middle left fairing, (which were brand new NOS). Otherwise very very tidy. 23,400 miles, (37,380 km). This bike has had an engine rebuild 400 miles ago. Recent new front tire, clutch, battery and fuel petcock. 400 trouble free and nostalgic miles. The bike was amazing to ride. Full set of brand new never used stainless JL expansion chambers to go with bike along with many NOS bits worth a lot of money, the most interesting of which is an amazing NOS fuel tank, (imagine how much that cost and how rare it is). Always stored in climate controlled environment, maintained no matter the cost.
Beautiful bike. Shame to do all that work and then get the speedometer and gas cap wrong. It’s those little obvious things that make me wonder about the rest of it.
To follow up on the above comment; the speedometer is from a Canadian RZ350. That calls in to question the actual mileage on the bike. It clearly isn’t 37,000 km as the sells says. What was on the RZ500 speedometer when it was removed, and why was it removed and replaced with a 350 speedometer? The condition of the clock fasteners suggests more than is claimed. As always, it is the little things that give the big picture.
how can I make any reservation of motorcycles?
Easy. Money talks,bullshit walks.
speedo looks correct to me. I ordered a replacement fuel cap for an RZ500 and it came in black. I’ve owned 2 RZ500’s and one RZV500. It looks very correct/stock to me. I also owned an RZ350.
Speedo and gas cap are correct, maybe not original but OEM for a RZ500. Good looking bike, still rather have a RG500 for that money.
[…] day, another good looking RZ500. Life at RSBFS is good. This particular example is not as clean as the RZ500 in Canada posted earlier in the week, but it is still a freaking RZ500, and the fact that it is already […]
Look again. That is a 200 KPH speedo. The RZ500 NEVER came with a 200 KPH speedo. That is an RZ350 speedo. The Canadian RZ350 speedo is 200 KPH and reads KPH only. The Canadian RZ500 has a 240 KPH speedo and also reads in MPH. So the Canadian RZ500 is both 240 KPH and 150 MPH. I have several 350s and several 500s. I also have 10 sets of RZ clocks here. Trust me, that bike is wrong. Do a Google search and you’ll soon see for yourself.
The gas cap is an RZ500 gas cap, but the Canadian RZ500 never had a black cap. The correct Canadian cap is polished. They are NLA from Yamaha but the $200 black cap is. So yes, it is a correct RZ500 cap, but not for a Canadian RZ350.