‘Tis the season for seasons greetings, wish lists and good old fashioned commercialism. RSBFS tends to see a lot of great bikes in the week prior to Christmas, and this RZ500 is no exception. With clean plastics, upgraded suspension, a Rick Lance rebuild and an impressive list of updates, this particular RZ promises to be…
The Yamaha RZ500 promised GP-bike glory for the every man when it hit the scene in ’84, with a quartet of exhaust pipes poking out at odd angles producing a biblical scream. By ’85, Suzuki had rained on the parade a little with the RG500, which was lighter, more powerful and a few notches crazier,…
12.13.2017: Bob has decided to upgrade to a Featured Listing after we first posted this bike on November 30th. Links updated to latest auction. Good luck to buyers and seller! -dc When Yamaha and Suzuki dropped their 500cc two-stroke race replicas in the middle of the 1980s, the bikes effectively stopped the oil-burning horsepower wars…
Yamaha’s two-stroke Grand Prix replica went by a few different names, depending on where it was sold: RD500LC in Europe, RZV500R for the Japanese market, and RZ500 in Canada and Australia. You’ll note that nowhere do we mention which version we got here in the USA. The reason? We didn’t: this wild, two-stroke four-cylinder was…
RSBFS is all about the rare machine in exceptional condition. This is NOT that kind of post. This is, shall we say, an experiment. As many of our readers exhibit extensive mechanical knowledge, how about a rare and desirable bike that requires a little bit of work? Put on your rose-colored “I can see the…
I will freely admit – having been born and bred in SoCal – that I have absolutely no idea what a New York state of mind might be. However I imagine it a series of dichotomies; hot and humid summers, cold and snowy winters, and the world’s most crowded (and motorized unfriendly) city. That pretty…
There is no doubt that RSBFS show the love for the big RZ. One of the most popular bikes searched for on the site, the Yamaha RZ500 combines race-boy naughty looks with a twin-crank V4 two-stroke, enough pipes sticking out the back to warn off possible tailgaters, and a GP-inspired 16″ front wheel to reduce…
Developed to capitalize on a 500cc GP championship, the RZ500 promised the world and then delivered. For all its street equipment, it was a close to a Grand Prix machine as a generation would get. Thanks to careful updates and maintenance, a new generation might now experience this 500cc machine with liter-bike power. 1985 RZ500…