THE FACTORY GRAND PRIX MISSILE

Roland Brown rides Yamaha’s thrilling 500 V4 and finds it still makes his hair stand on end.

More than two decades after its debut, Yamaha’s stunningly faithful grand prix replica can still make the hairs of the back of your neck stand on end. Approaching a mini-roundabout somewhere in Berkshire I braked hard, tap-tapped down through the gearbox, then flung the lightweight Yam left-right-left through what on this bike could only be described as a chicane. When I wound back the throttle the little fully-faired two-stroke shot down the next straight, its 499cc V4 engine racing to its 10,000rpm redline through the gears, the bike still accelerating mighty hard at over 100mph, and the high-pitched scream from four expansion chambers adding to the authentic mid-80s GP experience. Magical. The red-and-white race-rep stroker still seems fast, light and agile now, so it’s no surprise that the RD500LC made plenty of headlines when it was launched back in 1984. In fact it’s no exaggeration to say that few machines in motorcycling history have been so eagerly anticipated as the big brother of the legendary twin-cylinder RD350LC. Monthly mag Which Bike? had even published a spoof ‘test’ of a 500cc V4 model in its April issue the previous year (also see May’s Mechanics! – Rod). Few people were disappointed when the real thing hit the streets, because Yamaha had made an impressive effort to replicate the red-and-white factory grand prix missile that Eddie Lawson was racing to victory in that season’s 500cc world championship. Like the works OW76, the RD was powered by a twin-crankshaft V4 with cylinders spaced at 50 degrees, and it shared such features as exhaust power valves plus near-identical dimensions of 56.4 x 50mm. Many other parts were also heavily influenced by Yamaha’s recent works machines, including the full fairing and large, aerodynamic seat unit, plus the suspension combination of anti-dive equipped forks and monoshock rear suspension. The one significant difference between Lawson’s bike and the RD was that while Yamaha used aluminium for the factory racer’s frame, the RD made do with square-section steel. Not that even that criticism could be levelled at this RZV500R, a Japanese-market RD equivalent on sale for £3995 at Reading-based dealer Caversham Bridge Motorcycles (01189 505005). The RZV had a few obvious detail differences from the RD500LC that I still vividly recall riding shortly after its launch back in 1984. As well as different graphics and clocks (including a button on the right handlebar that turns the temperature gauge into a fuel gauge), the Japanese-spec bike has damping adjustment knobs on the top of its forks, and no pillion grab-rail. But the differences between the two models are much more significant that that. The two models’ frames look similar, but the RZV’s is made from hand-welded aluminium instead of silver-painted steel. The Japanese-market machine also uses aluminium for its top yoke (quite badly discoloured on this bike, which was otherwise in good nick apart from a few small cracks in its bodywork), kick-start, footrest hangers and swing-arm.

Classic Motorcycle Mechanics September 2005 edition

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