1984 Yamaha RD500 YPVS *Sold £17,750*

Description

• Over 3K spent on recommissioning
• Stored by our Vendor for 28 Years
• Owned since 1991
• Full UK high horsepower output model
• Rides perfectly
• Very early collectable example
• Soon to be MOT, Tax & ULEZ Compliant

In a world of Superbike racing, we’ve all become used to the idea of running a road bike that’s based heavily on the racers we watch on TV. In the last 35 years we’ve seen a handful of ultra-expensive road legal Moto GP replicas from Ducati and Honda, but back in the early 1980s Yamaha stunned motorcycling by announcing what looked very much like a road legal version of their then-new V4 GP racer, for a price that pretty much any 25-year-old rider with a full-time job could afford.

Yamaha already had the lightweight two-stroke market sewn up with their LC range. The introduction of the second generation YPVS models in 1983 cemented their dominance.

Launching the V4-engined Yamaha RD500 just six months after Kenny Roberts and Eddie Lawson debuted the race bike was a master stroke for the company. Demand for the new bike was massive with all stock sold well in advance and some customers re-selling their place in the queue at well above RRP before they’d even arrived.

Our vendor, who has owned this bike since 1991, was one of the many that always wanted that “bedroom wall” bike but never quite managed to fulfil that ambition until later in life. Eventually achieving that ambition and thoroughly enjoying its ownership, he now finds he has scratched that itch so to speak.

Originally purchased in 1991, our vendor enjoyed the bike for a year or so before dry storing it for 28 years – yep, you read that correctly. In 2020 our Vendor decided to recommission the bike and sent it to a local reputable bike shop, over £3K later it was ready to ride again.

Now nearly 40 years old, the iconic RD500 YPVS will shortly be MOT, Tax and the dreaded ULEZ exempt.

Although it will be supplied with very little paperwork, it will come with our vendors original purchase receipt, receipt for £3K recommissioning in 2021, all the early MOTs up to 1991 and all the MOTs from 2020 to date, a handful of old tax discs, and the V5 in our vendors name as well as both keys and the original tool wrap.

Currently registered with an A registration number plate but first registered in July 1984 it does raise a few questions about how special this bike is. So far unable to unearth the full story it could be that the bike was originally a press bike, or maybe a prototype, who knows? What we do know is that it is a very, very early 47X version and worthy of further investigation.

The Bike

Spend some time in the image gallery and you will struggle to pull yourself away, the RD500 looks fantastic and is just a joy to behold. Our vendor has shared that the bike, barring the consumables, is entirely original with the plastics and paintwork never being replaced. It even has a very early dealer sticker on it.

He did mention there is a cap missing from one of the mirror fittings so he has sourced a new pair, these are still in the box and will be supplied with the bike should you wish to fit them. He chose not to as he wanted to keep the bike as original as possible.

Once he decided to recommission the RD500 he did his research before choosing a local bike shop to take on the task. As expected, the task was not too taxing as it had been dry stored and looked after during those 28 years. The list of works included:

• Two brand new tyres
• Brake callipers overhauled
• New seals and pads
• New Fork seals and Oil
• New Oil and filter
• New spark plugs
• New Air filter
• New Horn
• Coolant replaced and bled

Now riding perfectly, we envisage our winning bidder will enjoy many miles of carefree riding – that is if they decide to use it and not store it again such is the nature and originality of this bike.

Our view 

For those starting a motorcycle collection the Yamaha RD500 is very likely to be the first on your list. At the very least they really do have to be in your top five bikes as they genuinely are a groundbreaking iconic bike, one that pretty much started the race replica movement.

Personally, if we bought it, we would struggle not to ride it such is the exhilaration that is delivered as the power band opens – but also accept that this example may be classed as “too good” to ride. That’ll be for the winning bidder to decide, either way how can you not envy that choice…

We believe that you are going to be very hard pushed to find a more original example on the market. We fully expect this to have a lot of action so feel free to do your research and then come back and buy the best Yamaha RD500 on the market. Yes, we accept that may be a very big claim but hey, this very early example is genuinely the same bike that came out of the factory.