Even by today’s standards, the numbers are impressive… a claimed 95hp to go with a dry weight of just 340lbs would have this little 500 hanging right with the best of the modern 600s. And they don’t sound nearly this cool! The RG500 or “Gamma” was a legitimate monster back in it’s day. Yamaha had similar offerings in the RD500/RZ500, but they claimed right around 80hp (give or take). The Suzuki’s 95hp was the big number on the block. Suzuki had a fair amount of success with the RG500 in Grand Prix racing, taking 4 Championships in 10 years and allowing numerous privateer teams a real shot at dethroning the factory Yamaha and Honda teams. It’s no wonder that the Gamma has such a rabid following among both vintage race fans and those determined to terrorize the streets.
This isn’t a museum piece, but it’s still in very nice condition with a few modifications, including fitting more modern Suzuki GSXR-750 suspension both front and rear. We all know that suspension and braking technology from the early years was a limiting factor, so this RG should be even quicker around the track and a little less scary on the street. Suzuki only made about 1400 RG500s in 1986, so it may be a while before you see another one for sale. The seller is very descriptive and has even been kind enough to include a video of a one kick start that you can see here: 1986 Suzuki RG500 on eBay
For sale a very hard to find 1986 Suzuki RG500 in good overall condition with lots of modifications to improve the handling and the power plus also change the look of the bike a bit.
If you are looking for something unmolested and something that looks like it came out of the show room this bike is not for you. Keep in mind it is a 29 year old bike and they are known for having a lot of cracks to begin with.
I am selling this to Canada, USA, Mexico and any other countries too but I could not get it to change it when I listed the bike.
I had this bike in my collection for 15 years and I never even rode it once. I figure why not let someone enjoy it instead of keeping it in storage.
They will only go up in value so when I do sell it I would get way more than now.
The bike is not mint and it has it’s shares of small cracks here and there mostly on the upper and tail section, but there are also some cracks on the lowers that are very hard to see. It also looks that the paint was touched up here and there but as you can see by the pictures the bike still looks very, very good for a 29 year old bike.
The front end and rear end were replaced by the previous owner who was a mechanic and he did all the modifications and fabrications of what needed to be done to bolt the 1999 GSXR750 front end and rear end on to the bike.
I like it, though that fat rear tire sure looks strange!
Those Jolly Moto pipes sound very sweet indeed. I like the swingarm, I think it fits well.
Very nicely done. I did notice the tach was not working in the videio.
Possibly a dead battery. They will kick over with a dead battery but tac wont work.
“Even by today’s standards, the numbers are impressive… a claimed 95hp to go with a dry weight of just 340lbs would have this little 500 hanging right with the best of the modern 600s.”
Ha, ha, ha, right. Please don’t make ridiculous claims. It is a nice bike on its own, but a modern 600 would blow this thing away. Stick to the facts and leave the exaggeration to the eBay listers.
Joel
It’s about 70lbs lighter than a modern 600, down about 20hp to a modern 600, and updated on modern suspension. It would definitely be capable of hanging with a newer 600
You have never ridden a 2 stroke…
Me at 265 lbs on my 1998 Rs 250 with it’s realistic 55 horspower have put more 600″s 750’s 900’s and liter bikes behind me then you have even looked at over the course of your lifetime!
Your numbers are off. RG500 is 95hp and 343 lbs dry. An R6 is 122hp and 366 lbs dry. The R6 has an extra 20lbs, but also 27 more hp. On a track, the RG would be very much slower as the suspension is sub par compared to modern bikes like the R6. I’m all about the 2 stroke bikes, but let’s keep it real. An NSR 250 would likely lap faster than the RG500 and a 250gp bike would lap the poor thing.
Cheers,
Joel
Yes, I have ridden 2 stroke bikes. I have 3 now and have and do race them. It’s just not justifiable to compare a 30 year old bike to a modern one. I have no doubt that the RG is much more fun to ride, but they wouldn’t be competitive. Congrats on your prowess on the Aprilia. There are a lot of guys on big bikes that aren’t very fast. I have won 2 class championships on 125s and won many races with my 250gp bike so your comment about my lack of experience might be wrong.
In any case, I don’t want this to become personal and I am not attacking anyone in particular, just stating my opinion about the bike and the author’s misplaced exuberance.
Joel
Ok, Cool! You get it then.
You know what it is like to pass guys on the inside when they sit up at the 5 marker shifting a gear higher as you go past looking for the paint mark down by the 2 marker
You have to admit that even a reasonably talented rider on the Rg ( ie someone with some track experience or a race license) will shame most street riders regardless of what they are on
I apologize for lumping you in with the novice-street group.