How is this for international intrigue? Take a smoking two stroke iconic super bike built in Japan. Export said bike outside of the home market into Europe, the Pacific Rim or Canada. Later years on, that bike finds its way into the US and now lives in the state of Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark and…
The 1986 Yamaha RZV500R was the neighborhood knee dragger’s chance to ride the machine that carried Kenny Roberts to three world titles and helped Giacomo Agostini break MV Agusta’s ridiculous streak of 17 Grand Prix titles. It was billed as a 500cc GP machine with headlights and blinkers, though the similarities were actually pretty tenuous.…
This 1985 Yamaha RZ500RN is a bread-and-butter bike for us here at RSBFS. It’s an old, rare, iconic Japanese sportbike in excellent shape topped off with a few unique touches to separate it from the rest of its thin herd. What’s not to like? It has covered fewer than 5,000 miles (just over 7,000 kilometers)…
The seller of this 1985 Yamaha RZ500 keeps the details light in his eBay posting, but the details he does share are certainly intriguing. The iconic GP replica sports a set of very nice aftermarket Lomas pipes, upgraded forks and wheels from a four-stroke Yamaha FJ, and a top-end rebuild. You cannot really say fairer…
Update 7.30.2018: Ted has updated us that this bike is sold. Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc Yamaha threw their hat into the Grand Prix race replica ring with the… Well what this bike was called depended on where the thing was being sold. In Canada and Australia, it was an RZ500, which fits since…
[1.30.2018 – The eBay listing on this nicely-described RZ500 was pulled before we could post. The bike does not appear to be available, but enjoy the right way to present a bike. MI] Every once in a while RSBFS staff come across a bike that is both rare AND honestly represented. The latter is often…
‘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,…