500 LC.

[LC_BOTT]

Don't forget it was the start of the era, of race-rep 4 strokes, the first GSXR and soon to be FZ750. Believe these were also cheaper??

[copper99]

Indeed, the candle burnt bright for only a couple of years for the "big"2 strokes, with demand outstripping supply in 84 and 85 (less than 150 RD500s came into the UK in 84 IIRC) and the demand/hype meaning bikes selling for over list price but by 86, stock remained unsold, why have a 2 stroke when for a similar price, you could have a race rep 4 stroke which was faster & less maintenance heavy for a similar price.

I well remember having a jelly mould CBR600 in 1987 and my friend had an RD500 which he was forever mucking around with and it was no quicker, i also remember the fairing splitting on it back then!

I lost interest in 2 strokes from that point onwards ...how the tide has turned!

[Deleted]

My two bobs worth is that I ridden both the RG and RZ500, however owned neither

The RG was a lot easier to ride, couldnt get the RZ out of 3rd gear as the front wheel always seemed want to start pointing to the sky, it was a very peaky bike, the RG on the other hand was a lot nore tracktable and easier to ride

They go for stupid money now, there is an original solo seat RG for sale in Perth at $42000, the RC30 beside it is $40000 and the Rz500 is at $15000, mind you all have more or less 1000kms on them and are pristine

I’m glad I have my 83 & 85 350’s
I’m hearing you about the gixxers and FZ750’s, I’d love a slabby, however I’d be keen on an RS125 I reckon they would be a bit of fun

One more powerball !!

[petehodges]

I’d love a 500 as never had one back in the day always fancyed owning one , but a few reasons stop me , more or less all my mates & mates of mates say the same thing to me there a bucket full of trouble a fair few 2stroke bike mechanics I know won’t touch them , other reason is it would probably be like my other lcs & hardly ever riden
Left in the shed covered over in blankets my mate does have a lovely rg 500

[earthman]

Jun 26, 2019 16:32:56 GMT 1 copper99 said:

Indeed, the candle burnt bright for only a couple of years for the "big"2 strokes, with demand outstripping supply in 84 and 85 (less than 150 RD500s came into the UK in 84 IIRC) and the demand/hype meaning bikes selling for over list price but by 86, stock remained unsold, why have a 2 stroke when for a similar price, you could have a race rep 4 stroke which was faster & less maintenance heavy for a similar price.

I well remember having a jelly mould CBR600 in 1987 and my friend had an RD500 which he was forever mucking around with and it was no quicker, i also remember the fairing splitting on it back then!

I lost interest in 2 strokes from that point onwards ...how the tide has turned!

I never had a CBR myself but remember it well, the FZ and GPZ caught my eye more, this crop of middle weight 4 strokes killed off my desire for 2 strokes too.

[JonW]

Jun 26, 2019 17:03:54 GMT 1 @hblair said:

... and the Rz500 is at $15000, mind you all have more or less 1000kms on them and are pristine

That RZ is way under the market price if its under 1k kms and mint. thats a bike most people would ask getting on for double that now. Buy it if you can Howard.

[Deleted]

It looks like both the RG and RZ are sold

Wouldn’t have had the $15 in any case

[Deleted]

Jun 26, 2019 20:29:25 GMT 1 earthman said:

Jun 26, 2019 16:32:56 GMT 1 copper99 said:

Indeed, the candle burnt bright for only a couple of years for the "big"2 strokes, with demand outstripping supply in 84 and 85 (less than 150 RD500s came into the UK in 84 IIRC) and the demand/hype meaning bikes selling for over list price but by 86, stock remained unsold, why have a 2 stroke when for a similar price, you could have a race rep 4 stroke which was faster & less maintenance heavy for a similar price.

I well remember having a jelly mould CBR600 in 1987 and my friend had an RD500 which he was forever mucking around with and it was no quicker, i also remember the fairing splitting on it back then!

I lost interest in 2 strokes from that point onwards ...how the tide has turned!

I never had a CBR myself but remember it well, the FZ and GPZ caught my eye more, this crop of middle weight 4 strokes killed off my desire for 2 strokes too.

have to ask . I don't think the rg is light years away as far as looks go to the slabbie. But yes I know , its a 4 stroke.

[earthman]

Jun 27, 2019 10:37:24 GMT 1 @ken007 said:

Jun 26, 2019 20:29:25 GMT 1 earthman said:

I never had a CBR myself but remember it well, the FZ and GPZ caught my eye more, this crop of middle weight 4 strokes killed off my desire for 2 strokes too.

have to ask . I don't think the rg is light years away as far as looks go to the slabbie. But yes I know , its a 4 stroke.

I know that it's going up in cc but this bike is a good example to the point of, why would anyone choose to buy the RD or RG instead?

If you are looking for a daily ride, reliable machine then one of the previously mentioned 600's or this would win hands down in my opinion.

[dalmahoy]

Admit to spending more time out in the garage than I mean to.

The RG is fully stripped now but getting parts for it means Google is your only option.
I'm watching a container ship sailing across the Atlantic from Long Island with my nos body panels wrapped up inside a container.

Everything of the RD is just so much simpler.

[icarus001]

Jun 27, 2019 12:29:19 GMT 1 dalmahoy said:

[/a][/quote]

That RG is beautiful though, I remember back in the 80s they were super rare and I only ever saw one or two around.

I’d probably find it hard to resist buying one if I was stood in front of it and it had a sensible price on it.

The slabby GSXR is beautiful as well.

[stusco]

Jun 27, 2019 12:29:19 GMT 1 dalmahoy said:

Admit to spending more time out in the garage than I mean to.

The RG is fully stripped now but getting parts for it means Google is your only option.
I'm watching a container ship sailing across the Atlantic from Long Island with my nos body panels wrapped up inside a container.

Everything of the RD is just so much simpler.

I’m looking for a bellypan for my rg if you have a spare🤞

[Deleted]

I had an RD500 for years... was f**king awesome. It got used for everything from thrashing around to getting me to work. It would easily run with/beat the 750s of it's time, and would do the day to day stuff too. Didn't give me any bother, but it was well looked after.
Admittedly it sank some fuel when hammered, but what 2 stroke doesn't.

[justyr]

My mate says that the problem for mechanics at the time was that there were so few of them they couldn’t get so familiar with working on them. It meant that if they did a job it had to be done in a oner and couldn’t easily be left, picked up again later.
It’s fine when you can fart about with carbs and cables endlessly on a Sunday but when you’re on the clock it’s a different matter.
J

[earthman]

Jun 27, 2019 14:06:18 GMT 1 @duncanb said:

I had an RD500 for years... was f**king awesome. It got used for everything from thrashing around to getting me to work. It would easily run with/beat the 750s of it's time, and would do the day to day stuff too. Didn't give me any bother, but it was well looked after.
Admittedly it sank some fuel when hammered, but what 2 stroke doesn't.

Good to hear of your experience with the RD500, why and which bike did you swap it for in the end??

[icarus001]

Jun 27, 2019 14:06:18 GMT 1 @duncanb said:

I had an RD500 for years... was f**king awesome. It got used for everything from thrashing around to getting me to work. It would easily run with/beat the 750s of it's time, and would do the day to day stuff too. Didn't give me any bother, but it was well looked after.
Admittedly it sank some fuel when hammered, but what 2 stroke doesn't.

My mate had one for ages and I don't remember him complaining of any bother either, but then I rode a TZR250 all over the country, rode it to work every day, went on holiday down south on it, etc. That never gave me any bother and I just threw any old petrol and two stroke in it.

But nowadays people seem to have a lot of issues, maybe they don't last so long now because they're old.

[Deleted]

Jun 29, 2019 6:44:11 GMT 1 earthman said:

Jun 27, 2019 14:06:18 GMT 1 @duncanb said:

I had an RD500 for years... was f**king awesome. It got used for everything from thrashing around to getting me to work. It would easily run with/beat the 750s of it's time, and would do the day to day stuff too. Didn't give me any bother, but it was well looked after.
Admittedly it sank some fuel when hammered, but what 2 stroke doesn't.

Good to hear of your experience with the RD500, why and which bike did you swap it for in the end??

Sadly it ended up stuffed into the front of a rental car in Whitby... some Canadian t**t didn't quite understand not to turn right when I was coming the opposite way! It was written off, and not long after I moved to Australia.
The funny thing is... or not so funny really... it was an unrecorded write off, took me ages to get paid, I got 2500 minus 300 excess. They left me with the bike which wasn't that bad, as I had emigrated I sold the bike to a mate in the UK for the 300 to cover the excess. This was in 1999.... hindsight eh!

[Deleted]

Jun 29, 2019 8:18:48 GMT 1 icarus001 said:

Jun 27, 2019 14:06:18 GMT 1 @duncanb said:

I had an RD500 for years... was f**king awesome. It got used for everything from thrashing around to getting me to work. It would easily run with/beat the 750s of it's time, and would do the day to day stuff too. Didn't give me any bother, but it was well looked after.
Admittedly it sank some fuel when hammered, but what 2 stroke doesn't.

My mate had one for ages and I don't remember him complaining of any bother either, but then I rode a TZR250 all over the country, rode it to work every day, went on holiday down south on it, etc. That never gave me any bother and I just threw any old petrol and two stroke in it.

But nowadays people seem to have a lot of issues, maybe they don't last so long now because they're old.

I think they were relatively cheap, and we cared less.
I had TZR250 too, which did everything asked of it and more, with little bother. Funnily enough, I checked the DVLA website the other day and it's still registered. Great bike!

[icarus001]

Jun 29, 2019 9:30:12 GMT 1 @duncanb said:

I think they were relatively cheap, and we cared less.

Yeah I suppose they were, and the other good thing was that there were at least half a dozen workshops in every town that knew what they were doing with two strokes and they'd get you back on the road quickly - these days you're very lucky if you're within the same county as a two stroke expert.