Right now I'm working on two RZ350s:
(Obviously that's not me in the pic. That guy's name is Kenny)
For those without the oddbike mental disorder that I'm afflicted with they are the last road legal 2-strokes sold in the states, two years only- 1984 & 1985. At the time they consistantly outperformed 750 four strokes and with some thoughtful modification (and more $$$ than I'm going to spend) could probably rival some modern 600s. They were and are much more popular overseas where they were called RD350LC YPVS. The LC is for liquid cooled as opposed to earlier RDs and the YPVS is for Yamaha Power Valve System, a simple ingenious method of varying exhaust port timing. Gives you more top end power without sacrificing low-end grunt. I bought one here in Vegas (almost 20 years living here I've NEVER seen one on the street). The other I bought in Colorado and brought home. Interesting note is that the bike here had a black frame, meaning that it was originally a black and yellow bike, but it had the red and white tank and plastics. the Colorado bike has a red frame but the yellow and black tank and plastics. How's that for luck? 30 minute switcheroo and I've got 2 proper bikes. I vastly prefer yellow and black (matches the R1!) but I'm not going to paint the red one or anything. Both are losing the handlebar mounted fairings, those are bad news for high speeds, plus they look wrong with lower bars/clip-ons. Both already have Toomey expansion chambers which aren't as good as the best new technology ones, but they are supposed to be among the best of the period stuff. Several company's pipes today are still copies of Toomeys. The red bike will be track only, stripped of all non-essentials. I'm shooting for 300lbs dry weight, we'll see how close I can get. I wish there were some modern lightweight bolt-in wheels, that would help a lot. At this juncture I'm really not considering fork or swingarm swaps, too many unfinished projects already. One bike has a Fox shock, they are out of production but totally rebuildable. Some R6 rear shocks bolt right in and are cheap on ebay, so that will do for the other bike. Both front ends will get stiffer springs and race tech cartridge emulators -not too pricey/involved and a good upgrade. Both bikes already have fork braces, one has rearsets and swanky billet side covers. paint is bad on both, but what the hell. Here's a pic of the Vegas bike before swapping tank & plastics which are actually the Canadian red blue and white variety:
I'll take some more of both shortly.
And here's The Greenhornes, some hometown Ohio kids that make me damned proud. Sorry neither is actually video footage of them, I just think their recorded stuff is so awesome none of the live footage captured it well enough for unfamiliar ears.
(Obviously that's not me in the pic. That guy's name is Kenny)
For those without the oddbike mental disorder that I'm afflicted with they are the last road legal 2-strokes sold in the states, two years only- 1984 & 1985. At the time they consistantly outperformed 750 four strokes and with some thoughtful modification (and more $$$ than I'm going to spend) could probably rival some modern 600s. They were and are much more popular overseas where they were called RD350LC YPVS. The LC is for liquid cooled as opposed to earlier RDs and the YPVS is for Yamaha Power Valve System, a simple ingenious method of varying exhaust port timing. Gives you more top end power without sacrificing low-end grunt. I bought one here in Vegas (almost 20 years living here I've NEVER seen one on the street). The other I bought in Colorado and brought home. Interesting note is that the bike here had a black frame, meaning that it was originally a black and yellow bike, but it had the red and white tank and plastics. the Colorado bike has a red frame but the yellow and black tank and plastics. How's that for luck? 30 minute switcheroo and I've got 2 proper bikes. I vastly prefer yellow and black (matches the R1!) but I'm not going to paint the red one or anything. Both are losing the handlebar mounted fairings, those are bad news for high speeds, plus they look wrong with lower bars/clip-ons. Both already have Toomey expansion chambers which aren't as good as the best new technology ones, but they are supposed to be among the best of the period stuff. Several company's pipes today are still copies of Toomeys. The red bike will be track only, stripped of all non-essentials. I'm shooting for 300lbs dry weight, we'll see how close I can get. I wish there were some modern lightweight bolt-in wheels, that would help a lot. At this juncture I'm really not considering fork or swingarm swaps, too many unfinished projects already. One bike has a Fox shock, they are out of production but totally rebuildable. Some R6 rear shocks bolt right in and are cheap on ebay, so that will do for the other bike. Both front ends will get stiffer springs and race tech cartridge emulators -not too pricey/involved and a good upgrade. Both bikes already have fork braces, one has rearsets and swanky billet side covers. paint is bad on both, but what the hell. Here's a pic of the Vegas bike before swapping tank & plastics which are actually the Canadian red blue and white variety:
I'll take some more of both shortly.
And here's The Greenhornes, some hometown Ohio kids that make me damned proud. Sorry neither is actually video footage of them, I just think their recorded stuff is so awesome none of the live footage captured it well enough for unfamiliar ears.
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
Hell, look at Kawasaki! The new ZR-7S uses the same engine as my 28 year old KZ! I guess go with what works, eh?
I looked around a little online but haven't found any servo eliminators for under $100...
Know anything about Yamaha's EXUP system, specifically servo eliminators for people who've switched to a full aftermarket exhaust?
He says:
Don't know much about it unless it's like their other crazy exhaust schemes like the YPVS servos. Yamaha tries too many Rube-Goldberg inventions in my opinion.
Yeah, what you got there is a Devil's Light Switch. My Seca Turbo was like that after I bumped it up to 750cc and 14psi boost. It made a lot of power, but that power could be tricky to apply:
boring boring boring INSANE INSANE INSANE
Now consider how much the RZ350 weighs compared to the Seca Turbo, and what a spindly frame the Seca Turbo had (it used the stock Maxim 650 frame).
I wish I were a little feller so I could ride bikes like that. Hell, I'd accept being six inches shorter if it meant I could weigh 60 pounds less. Just to be... normal sized.
So are you going to put those stink wheels together ala Allen Millyard and make an RZ700? How hard is it to find an actual RZ500?
PS You do know that the Yamaha Banshee used the same engine as the RZ350, right? Lots of go fast parts floating around for those...