Kenny Roberts tribute bike

[s_morrison57]

Yamaha made a small, 80cc ?? bike as a tribute to Kenny after he won the world championship, what year was that and did they make it for only one year. any details on it would be cool, always wanted one.

[71T Targa]

There was a Kenny Roberts RZ 350 in '84.

[LakeCleElum]

[crustychief]

The smallest street legal bike they made was the YSR50 www.ysr50.com > the ysr connection I remember seeing a couple that looked like Kenny Roberts' 79 500.

[71T Targa]

I didn't know the YSR50's were street legal... Cool!

[juan ruiz]

I had a RZ 350 white and red, that was by far the best bike I ever had at 360pounds 2 stroke street rocket!

[Tobra]

Those were great bikes

[Noah930]

The RZ350 was sold from '84-'86. IIRC it was the last street-legal 2-stroke street bike sold in America. I think the yellow/black livery (also came in red and white) was imported all those years (not just 1984).

[71T Targa]

There is a mint '85 for sale by me. Asking $3800

[Noah930]

That's the going rate I've seen for them. Roughly $2-4K. It's been that way for the last 15 years or so.

[BeyGon]

I didn't think you could buy an RZ 350 or RZ 500 in the states, I thought they had to come through Canada and it was a big deal to get them legal, maybe it was just the RZ 500?
A RZ 350 sold in Atlanta not long ago for $3,800, or at least the was the asking price.
I always wanted an RZ 500.

[tchanson]

Originally Posted by BeyGon

I didn't think you could buy an RZ 350 or RZ 500 in the states, I thought they had to come through Canada and it was a big deal to get them legal, maybe it was just the RZ 500?

I don't know about California at the time, but you could buy an RZ350 from your local Yamaha dealer in the rest of the US. I know because I almost bought one new, but opted instead for a new Honda VF750F Interceptor back in '84.

I don't think the RZ500 was ever sold in the US, though.





Tim

[BeyGon]

I don't think the RZ500 was ever sold in the US, though.

Tim

Maybe that's what I was thinking, but I know people that had/still have RZ 500s and they were tough to get. I think Suzuki made one similar, 4 cylinder two stroke rocket.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by BeyGon

I think Suzuki made one similar, 4 cylinder two stroke rocket.

Are you thinking of the Suzuki RG 500 Gamma?

[BeyGon]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Are you thinking of the Suzuki RG 500 Gamma?

Probably, I didn't remember the name but saw one at a collector friends one time he had the Kenny Roberts RZ and one of the Suzukie 4 cylinder liquid cooled two strokes too. He had some nice stuff. Before I saw the Suzuki I didn't even know they existed.

[Tobra]

Had a buddy with a two stroke triple, think it was a Kawasaki RD400 if memory serves, brutally quick and light.

[Noah930]

That was the KH series. My first bike was a Kawi KH400A two-stroke triple. But the (in)famous ones were the 750s. The RD400 was a Yamaha two-stroke.

[BeyGon]

Yeah, the 500 and 750 threes were quick but they didn't handle in corners. I raced a couple one time through Carbon Canyon and smoked them. They had a problem with frame flex.
I saw a hot rod Kaw three at the Colorado Mile (Pikes Peak Turf Club I think) once, fast but not good enough.