Import-ant

With this issue seeing a test of the rare RZV500R, we ask about the relevance of imports and why two-strokes are going up in value.

- Paul Jayson

Is the Japanese-market RZV500R –and other imports – less valuable than the home-market models? The RZ with its ‘hand-crafted’ aluminium frame, restricted motor, gold wheels and self-retracting sidestand, is the holy grail of road-going Yamaha two-strokes. Yes, there’s an irritating red light that confuses the rider when it comes on at 55mph, eliciting fears that your two-stroke oil tank has run dry, but this can easily be disarmed and the bike can be de-restricted so you can enjoy the full (claimed) 90bhp.

There are conflicting stories about how many of these particular 500 fours were produced, but it seems that fewer than 2000 ally-framed, Japanese market machines left the factory, which makes them very rare and very desirable.

The RD500 and RZV500 are derived from the track bikes that Yamaha pioneered in the 1970s. The RZ is surely the pinnacle of this story, as it has that aluminium frame and is rare. But so many people will cry out: “But it’s an import! It’s not a UK bike!” So what? They’re all imports. They came from a factory in another continent. All of them. The fact that these particular motorcycles weren’t imported by Yamaha UK makes no difference to their desirability and they have never built higher specification motorcycles in the Yamaha factory solely for the UK market. They are the rarest of the 500cc Yamaha two-strokes.