Location: Evanston, Wyoming
Mileage: 1,500
Price: Auction, BIN $6,500
The Yamaha RZ350 Kenny Roberts edition is featured a lot here on RSBFS. The bike only made it to the U.S. for a few years and was a rare two stroke you could ride on the street in the U.S. They are awesome bikes and offer riders the stellar combo of low weight and great power.
You’ll notice this machine has the awesome Yamaha/Kenny Roberts yellow and black paint. But this is a full faring bike and I dig it. It’s a look you don’t see on all that many RZ’s here in the States. Here’s what the seller has to say-
Yamaha RZ 350
The build of this RZ 350 was completed of September 2010.
living in Wyoming the winters being seven months out of the year,
the bike has very minimal miles on it. The motor was completly overhauled which included.
Scott Clough stage III porting and polish with ported ProCross pistons
Milled Head, cleaned and polished YPVS w / new seals also new servo cables
Complete rebuild Crank, new bearings, rods, seals and V blocked and welded
Flywheel lightened and balanced
New Barnnet Clutch plates, Friction plates and Springs
New lower seals on intire lower case
New intake manifolds w / V Force 3 carbon fiber reeds and Moose Racing crossover boost bottle
New Mikuni 30mm round slide carburetors w / pod filters
Rebuilt front suspension with Progressive springs, new seals, Paolo Tarozzi front fork brace,
NK front fork dampner (stabilizer) and Vortex clip-ons w / Motion Pro quick throttle, custom cable and Nissin front master cylinder, reservoir and adjustable brake lever.
New Battlax BF45 tires F/R, rebuilt brake calipers F/R, new brake pads F/R
Custom maid Braided lines F/R
Showa variable dampner (adjustable) rear shock
Airtech RZ350 YZR GP Conversion body kit w / smoke color shield
Colorite Factory replica paint
custom billet aluminum gas cap w / beather tube
New clutch cable, new O-ring chain
Custom Moto Carrera GP Millenium chambers
Paolo Tarozzi rear sets
This is all making me sad to do, I dig this bike and it rides like a dream. The concept of this build was to upgrade and modify just enough to keep within the era that it was made, in other words I still wanted the build to reflect the time it is from without not being able to tell what it was that just blured past you. : )
When I remember more of what I did to the bike I will post.
And the few available pics-
This bike looks to have had some major work done to it so hopefully you’ll be getting a bike in good running order. Plus, it looks like a lot of the work is in upgraded performance parts. So you’ll get a good running bike that also kicks some ass. While some folks want all stock rides, solid performance upgrades isn’t a bad thing either. It’s really comes down to what you want out of the bike.
The seller is asking a pretty penny for this bike, so you’ll have to decide how much it’s worth to you. But if a fun two stroke ride is where you want to be, you should give this RZ a look!
-RN
I owned 2 of these before. Great little smokers, constantly had the front tires in the air. But thjey are just plain ugly. In stock trim, the belly pan, round mirrors, catalytic converter pipes and centerstand just make the thing look goofey as hell. I remember a magazine article with Kenny Roberts riding one off the Santa Monica pier right into the ocean! Even he kinda disliked them. That being said, this one looks awesome, the way they should have looked when they left the factory.
Appears to be missing a headlight……
Judging by the UK, modified bikes are selling better than stockers. as long as the mileage isn’t to the moon. This is one of the better looking RZ’s I’ve seen. We Yanks need to embrace the”Ride ’em,don’t hide “em” attitude a little more!
This AirTech faired version is not really as good looking as the factory fully faired RZ250/350 looked.
If one is going to go the fully faired rout with after market fairing, perhaps one should source the copies based on the factory full fairing.
And as for the stock bike being good -not so much really, I had one new in 1986 (the clumsy bikini faired version) and looking back it was one of the worst handling stock bikes I ever owned. The chassis migth have been more rigid with an actual hinge behind the tank. 😉
That being said, after they get sorted out they are great bikes – albeit a little heavy and slow turning. My lower powered RG250Gamma could run circles around the RZ350 once the roads got twisty.
All in all $6500 is not bad for what you get. A great way for someone to either relive the 80’s or for a youngster to see just how us oldies used to get around as kids.
Ying Ding Ding……… and that sweet smell of 2-Stroke oil …..harkens me back to the day ! It always seems to take 20 yrs to really appreciate what we had back then …..and now they are worth a pretty penny !!!