For a significant number of riders across a wide swath of age ranges, the Yamaha RD series represents the pinnacle of the adolescent hoonabike. Sporting a minimalist profile with sporting intent, the lightweight two stroke twin has been a longstanding favorite – be it the classic air cooled RD, the not-imported-into-the-US liquid cooled RD-LC, or…
Laverda is a company that went through some pretty distinctive periods; from being family owned through the mid 1980s to the various government, corporate and investment teams that brought it back to life, to the Aprilia-owned years that saw its eventual demise. But it is the latter half of the ownership story that interests us…
The Yamaha RZ350 was the last of the federally imported two strokes into the EPA-heavy state of California. With precise oil injection, the Yamaha Power Valve System (YPVS) to maximize efficiency, and air-injection and catalytic converters in the exhaust stream, this was the cleanest factory smoker on the planet in 1984. Sadly this was not…
Another beautiful summer’s day, another beautiful Yamaha RZ350. Every year – like clockwork – when spring has sprung the RZs pop up out of hiding like dandelions. Few bikes are as coveted as the last of the factory, street going two-strokes, and pushing nearly 40 years on in the US these are getting harder to…
Most often we find the junior two-strokes in a much sadder state, but this one has been given some recent attention. This Canadian example might be a good entrée into the smoky side of sportbikes. 1987 Suzuki RG250 Gamma for sale on eBay Suzuki seems to have had a 247cc two stroke twin in the…
With spring in full swing and summer right around the corner RZ350s are popping up like, well, weeds. Scare in quality and quantity, 2022 has brought out a spate of strong contenders; bikes that present as well as any we have seen. So too is today’s find, a 1984 bumble bee 350 out of Montana…
In an earlier post, RSBFS Staff Writer Donn notes: Hardly a week goes by that a new RZ350 doesn’t pop up these days! I would like to take this opportunity to upgrade that statement considerably. Because today we have a double RZ350 Friday (take two – they’re small)! Forget Friday the 13th. This is Friday…
There seems to be a marked increase in available RZ350s as of late, a clear sign that Spring has officially sprung. Amongst the frenzy of activity with trading, selling and buying (not to mention how hot the collector market is these days), this is a quickie smoke break from the high dollar exotica and represents…