History
Built to cash in on the popularity of the 500cc motorcycle grand-prix racing in the 1980’s, Yamaha’s RZ500 was one of only two four cylinder two stroke road bikes ever produced (the other being Suzuki’s square four RG500). The liquid cooled V4 engine was basically two 250cc parallel twins geared together and tightly packaged in a steel frame with four expansion chambers exiting out the back, wrapped in a (rare for the time) race styled full fairing.
This restored bike is a higher spec Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) bike which featured the very new (at the time) use of full alloy (rather than steel) frame, clip-ons, foot-peg brackets and rear suspension body, making it 9kg lighter than the rest of world models. The JDM bikes also featured adjustable front forks and of all things a fuel gauge within the housing of the water temp gauge (activated via a button on the switch gear) so the rider could visually see the amount of fuel his or her thirsty and dirty two stroke was consuming.
Not a huge sales success at the time, the value of these four cylinder two strokes has sky-rocketed in recent years along with many other two stroke engined bikes of this era and are now highly sort after as a result.
Modifications
This particular example was imported from Japan 5+years ago and was subjected to a high level cosmetic restoration by the previous owner who then never really used it. Purchasing the bike several years ago I was disappointed with the way it ran, handled and braked and thus a slow two year process commenced to get it sorted and make it an enjoyable to use.
This entailed the following modifications:
- Full Jim Lomas stainless steel exhaust chambers
- Ivan's Needle / needle jet / jetting kit
- Front forks fitted with cartridge emulators & resprung to suit rider weight
- Fully adjustable aftermarket Fox rear shock absorber sprung to suit rider weight
- 1992 Yamaha FZR600 3-spoke wheels (allowing fitment of modern radial tyres)
- 300mm dual disc brakes; Brembo goldline calipers; remote Nissin brake master cylinder
- 520 chain & sprocket conversion
- Daytona Steering damper & fitting kit
- Many & various minor cosmetic changes to enhance appearance
