How could you not want this?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yamaha-R...m=263783063705&_trksid=p2047675.c100008.m2219

Look at the price though

 

Now that was an urban missile - rode one once back in the 80’s and it was a rocket

 

My mate Ken had one , sounded ace

 

Not worth £14999.00 no way

 

Beauty of a machine but the price made my head hurt.

 

That is the problem with a lot of these relics. Dealers put a thumping price on them and somewhere or another, someone will pay damn near asking price. That affects the whole market so we then see a gently rise in private sales.

 

Will get a Rg500 instead , globally better in every component.

 

I wouldn't dispute that, but sometimes these bikes of historic significance - groundbreakers in many respects - are appreciated not so much for quality and manufacturing kudos but for their mark on motorcycling in general.

For those of us old enough to remember these as new, I think we also reflect on what they meant to us at the time. Out of reach financially (for me, at least) I saw them (along with the Suzuki and Kwaka H1) make a major imprint on Production Bike racing and in their factory guise, the 500cc World Championships.

 

I had rg and rd 500 at the end of the 80` , the rd was born already old .

 

Anti dive front forks. Never did catch on

 

Remember Honda's VF1000R introduced that (TRAC "Torque Reactive Anti-dive Control") in 1984.

Given that I have an '85 model of this particular bike, I can honestly say the whole TRAC thing is a gimmick. Apply front brakes, forks compress. Pure physics, UNLESS I'm missing something. Sure sounds impressive though!!