RG500 - RZ500 - NS400R

Got your attention? If so, hopefully you can help me.

I'm looking into these bikes, but damn they are hard to find in Aus. I
want to find out what the bikes are like :

compared to one another?

What about reliability?

Performace?

Cost?

They're all pretty rare now but what would you pay for a reasonable one
today? I'm leaning towards the RG500 as I have an RGV250, love it, and
there are possibilities of an RG500 engine in an RGV chassis, but that's
a long way off. More interested in the basic bikes at the moment.

Any opinions / ideas welcomed :0)



James

VTR1000 1997 - "Black Betty"
XJ750 '82 - Tammy Yammy
RGV 250 proddy race bike - "Suzy"
Honda Rebel 250 - Something for the Missus ;0)

 

No value add, but dog I would have given up blow jobs for a RG500 back
in the 1980s. Christ what a bike. Hell, I'd pay dearly for one now,
even though it's inferior to what's coming off the production lines
nowadays, just for the uniqueness factor.

Bob
Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Watching the thread with bated breath....

 

James,

I went through a similar evaluation in 1985/86, and ended up buying two
(don't ask) RG500s.

I reckoned they were more powerful and better handling than the RZ500. I
didn't try the NS400.

Put up a few kilometers on them, even went touring. I wish I'd kept one,
oh well.

Good luck
David

 

There's a reason for that...

Well, if we take the RG500 as chalk, the RS250 would be cheese, and the
NS400R would be a different, cruddier type of chalk.

Must... resist... temptation... so... difficult...

A guy I know recently completed that exact project. It took almost three
years, and, with the money he spent, he could've got a brand-new 1000cc
race-rep.

There are projects, and there's throwing your money down a deep, damp hole.

The RS250 is the one to buy if you want a bike to razz up and down racer
road on the weekend. The other two you'd buy if your aim was to hang out
on two-stroke forums and swap stories about how fast your bike'll be
once it becomes something other than a collection of parts scattered
around your and other people's garages.

 

<chuckle> You don't buy a 20 year old 2 stroke and expect it to be
particularly reliable.

For the era they're a great bike, recognising that any 5 year old 600 SS
is a far faster bike, by all means get one but don't do it for any
reason other than nostalgia.

If you REALLY want a large bore smoker, get a 1000cc Polaris snow mobile
motor shipped over from the US, apparently they'll fit into a GSXR600
frame (some mad canuck did that according to his website - didn't look
photoshopped, and I've seen a 700c 2 stroke (don't know it's origins)
crammed into an RGV frame (I think).

Either way, using a modern SuperSport or superbike chassis to team up
with a smoker is going to give you a far better result than trying to
make a 20 yr old bike go well.

JL

 

I've owned an RG & an NS - the NS was prettier of the two and I actually
liked driving it more. The RG was real skittish especially above 180 but it
pulled so damn hard.... (wouldn't know compared to todays bikes) I haven't
driven bikes for about 15 years now. The only thing I hated about the 2
strokes, they sucked with passengers, I used to always swap my bike with my
roomate to take chicks for cruises.

I've driven a few RZ's and I would rate them at the bottom of the pack, but
they must be more reliable as I've seen a few them around even today.

 

John Littler wrote:

John, for your edification, there is an aquaintance of mine, who has a
Cagiva Mito, and is planning to graft in an RZ350 Yammie motor.

OK, in the scheme of things, it's not super big, but, could be a fun
package.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

In aus.motorcycles on Thu, 01 Sep 2005 06:59:49 +1000

I want to see how he goes... because I want to know how hard it is to
get such hybrids registered.

I think I know where there's a cheap Laverda Formula rolling chassis you
see....


Zebee

 

Zebee Johnstone wrote:

Don't hold your breath! ;-)

I have the 'orrible suspicion that it'll end up being the "project bike
for sale" in a few years time. :-(

To protect us from ourselves, I expect the the rego authorities will
make it impossible to register it.

What's one of those?

regards,
CrazyCam

 

In Qld its easy , just needs a test for noise and emmisions .

 

There's a RZ500 on EBay.

 

Patience, they come up on ebay/bikepoint etc though I've only ever seen
one NS400R, several RZ500's and no RG500's but then I wasn't looking
for the latter.

Sorry can't tell you. I expect that after 20 years of abuse by two
stroke ignorami they're probably all pretty much the same: rooted.

My RZ500 is as reliable as any bike should be, i.e you wake up, it's a
nice day so you decide to go for a ride. Dust it off, wheel it out of
the shed and kick it over and away you go. Even with stuffed crank
seals which means it is consuming a small amount of gearbox oil. I
commuted on it for a while, but found the gigantic clouds of smoke
produced by aforementioned gearbox oil (at least until the motor warms
up) to be too embarrasing.

Precisely what you'd expect from a 20 year old bike. By modern
standards it's overweight, underpowered, underbraked and generally
woeful, but then it's not a modern bike is it? Mine is bog stock and
performs admirably, certainly I had no trouble keeping up with/seeing
off CBR1100XX's and ZZR1whatsits through the twisty stuff, but this is
more about how much the rider is prepared to push than the capability
of the various machines. Needless to say that while you will keep up
in a straight line it's only while they allow you. The RZ500 is around
200kgs and barely 70hp, you're not likely to see off machines of
comparable weight producing almost double the horsepower. Still, I
enjoy riding it and couldn't really give a shit if I get hosed by a
ZX12 or whatever, if I wanted a modern sportsbike I would have bought
an R1, I wanted an RZ500 so that's what I bought.

Too bloody much. I saw a Kenny Roberts rep go on ebay for about $3600,
there's a tidy example on there at the moment painted black for $3700
reserve not met. Mine cost much less than that but was proportionately
shittier too.

See above though I'm given to understand that the RG500 could fetch
slightly more subject to condition of course. Bear in mind that even a
well maintained 20 year old bike is going to be up for some bits, even
more so in the case of a 20 year old two stroke. Parts (assuming they
are still available) can be horrendously expensive. For example, all
three discs are completely rs on my RZ500, well below the service limit
(makes for some careful braking untill I save some $) here's some
geniune pricing: Disc brake left $323.29 (right hand side same price
but NLA), Disc brake rear $408.47. I can get aftermarket cross drilled
rotors for aprox $200 each but they don't look original which will shit
me no end but it's better than dying...

As for the crank seals, well on the RZ it's time to split the cases
which is a prick of a job, not to mention the ~$300 worth of gaskets.
I'll be topping up the gearbox oil regularly for now. Thankfully
FZR600 headstem bearings fit and were an aftermarket item.

Forget the naysayers, I'm sure you realise that a ZZCBRRRRXXetc will
blow the doors of anything, especially a 20 year old two stroke, and
that for the same money as an NS/RZ/RG you can get a late model
ZXRRRRXXCBetc which although it won't have an underseat exhaust (for
shame!) and will have 5 year old stickers (gasp!) and pathetic non USD
forks (you peasant!), will still be sooo much better than the NS/RZ/RG.
So what? If you want to impress your mates, buy the latest and
greatest, if you want to buy a 20 year old two stroke and ride for your
own personal pleasure, it's your money.

Cheers.

 

Awesome! Best reply so far. Exactly how I feel. Keeping an eye out
still. We'll see what comes up.

Thanks for the honestly, very refreshing :0)



James

VTR1000 1997 - "Black Betty"
XJ750 '82 - Tammy Yammy
RGV 250 proddy race bike - "Suzy"
Honda Rebel 250 - Something for the Missus ;0)

 

In aus.motorcycles on Thu, 01 Sep 2005 08:29:09 +1000

A lucsious small stiff frame with top drawer suspension and running
gear, wrapped around a handgrenade of a 70s Montjuic parallel twin
reamed out to 750 and made of pot metal.

The motor's utter rubbish. The rolling chassis is to die for...

Zebee

 

So what kinda motor would work good?

regards,
CrazyCam

 

In aus.motorcycles on Thu, 01 Sep 2005 16:07:38 +1000

I was wondering if it would fit a TRX motor. If not, then it would
have to be one of the singles, as even a narrow V probably won't fit
(not that there are any worth using that are cheap enough to put in a
special) and anything wider than a twin certainly won't.

A breathed on Rotax might be fun, plenty of hotup bits about if you pick
the right Rotax.

Zebee

 

If you are around Melbourne, I might sell you an RZ500 for 2k.

Partially dis-assembled. It needs a new water-pump seal, which I
have, but still have not gotten around to installing. (and may never
do so)
The fairing is junk, but at what I want for it, you could probably get
an after-marked one and paint it in your own colours.

Rob.

 

Only hassle with a T-Rex motor is the extreme lean forward of the block,
good choice though.

Al

 

why bother with the laverda frame? by the time you fix the wheels to run
modern rubber you are going into big dollars. and then you have old
brakes to deal with...

 

Hehe nice, but why use an old heavy low HP donk like an RZ ? Why not
grab a motor out of a newer motoX bike - there's some brilliant donks
available (CR500 anyone ?)

JLj