The RZ market is pretty crazy right now. RSBFS staffers have seen bikes of all types of condition with pricing all over the map. We’ve seen bargains, we’ve seen riders and we’ve seen basket cases. We’ve come across amazing time capsules of authenticity, and seen the results of ambitious projects (sometimes gone bad). The bottom…
The last street-legal production two stroke sport bike officially imported into all 50 States of the US by a major manufacturer, the RZ350 holds a special place in the heart of motorcycle enthusiasts. It was Yamaha’s valiant move to bravely keep the two stroke spirit alive and kicking in the face of tightening emission and…
Update 8.28.2018: This bike has SOLD! Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc Although two-stroke sportbike production continued well into the 1990s in much of the world, here in the US the Yamaha RZ350 was pretty much the end of the line. Blame stricter emissions laws and progressively bigger and faster four-strokes in a country with…
Update 4.24.2018: This bike is SOLD, and to an RSBFS reader as well! Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc As far as two strokes go, the RZ350 (also known as the RD350LC in some geographies) needs no introduction. Available in various markets and configurations between 1983 and 1995, this peppy two stroke was legally imported…
The Yamaha RZ350 represents the last available road-going two stroke available in the U.S., and it brought to bear the full might of Yamaha’s research and development into oil burners up to that point. In ’85, the bikes paid tribute to King Kenny Roberts, sporting his factory bumble bee livery and his signature on the…
If you live here in the US and have a hankering for a two-stroke sportbike the choices, assuming you don’t want to monkey about with a grey-market import, are few and far between. 70’s two-strokes were relatively light and nimble, but still limited by the suspension and frame technology of the time, and by the…
This RZ350 has just under 4k miles, is almost all original, and not restored. The pictures show not only an uncut bike but one that has been kept in great condition behind the plastics. With over 50 watchers there is strong interest, but no one has pulled the trigger on the $10,500 buy-it-now — yet.…
At least in the USA, the two-stroke engine was winding down in the mid-1980’s, as the State of California ratcheted down emissions, and the Federal Government applied the fleet concept to motor vehicle manufacturer’s emissions. The final few years were a hodgepodge of catalysts and evaporative emissions canisters, but the sweet handling bikes were quite…