Australian RZ500 rescue.

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hobbsy86
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Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2017 8:35 pm

Australian RZ500 rescue.

#1 Post by hobbsy86 » Wed May 10, 2017 7:17 am

Hi all,

First time posting on this forum, and can I just say first up, damn there's a lot of good information here, for which I will be forever thankful for. I found the same thing when I was rebuilding my '81 XS1100, an active forum makes a project about 200% easier. So as a quick introduction, I'm from Sydney, Australia, and I've only just recently bought myself a new project bike that I've wanted since I started riding. It's a 1984 RZ500, but as the title and pictures below suggest, this is seems to be more of a rescue than a rebuild. It'll certainly be a labour of love...

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The rest of the bike parts are in boxes just out of the picture.

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From what I can tell so far, there's a few 'non-essential' bits missing such as the tank heat shield and the radiator thermo-fan, but most of the bike is there. I'll just have to track down the missing parts as I go along. Judging from the condition of the output sprocket and the mismatched fasteners all over the bike, I'd say its had a pretty hard life from its previous owner. But I've definitely seen worse!

Examination of the engine (matching numbers, thankfully) shows I've been pretty lucky there at least, since the engine casings look good and the cylinders don't have any horrid gouges in the walls. If the speedometer is to be believed, the bike has around 66,000 kms on the clock, but the standard pistons were still being used. The cylinder bores have gone beyond the stock piston tolerances, but I wouldn't have thought an original bore would last that long? Also, the gearbox cogs show next to zero wear on the dogs, so perhaps some internals have been replaced over the years. I do believe the bike has been dropped on the left side at some point judging from the crack in the generator casing and a bent/repaired front fairing cage, but it doesn't seem to have been anything spectacular. I've completed stripping and repainting the frame since these photos were taken, I'll post photos of that a bit later on once I've taken some.

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The fairing mounting cage has had a home-job mounting point re-welded onto the left side of it. Hmm.

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One engine, taking up a lot of table space.

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I don't think that tooth is missing for weight saving purposes.

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Note the grinder marks in the bolt at the bottom of the engine...

As for my plan for this poor neglected specimen, I'm not really one to do a nut-and-bolt NOS part rebuild, but I do like to keep things stock and looking as they were originally intended (within reason). And this leads me to a couple of questions I hope someone can help me with.

Firstly, does anyone happen to know an engine builder in the Sydney area that would could rebuild both cranks and do the cylinder rebores? The crank bearings are shot, and a couple of the conrod big-end bearings are a bit noisy for my liking. I have the replacement bearings, conrods, labyrinth seals and a 1st oversize OEM set of pistons ready to go.

And secondly, how do you go about getting the forks re-chromed on these bikes without destroying the plastic oil valve pressed into the bottom of the forks? Some searching around here found a post that suggested the rolled lip of the fork bottom needs to be ground off and re-welded? Just thought I'd best confirm this is the way before I go chasing a hard-chromer.

I'll be updating this thread as I go along, can't wait to get back onto a 2-stroker again. I miss that spectacular sound.

Cheers!
-Hobbsy

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jackson.40
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Re: Australian RZ500 rescue.

#2 Post by jackson.40 » Wed May 10, 2017 12:05 pm

Hi Hobbsy and welcome :cool:

Keep the photos coming :grin:

Leave the plastic bit in the forks, it is not meant to be removed and it wont stop you getting them hard chromed.

Image


Steve

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Kalim
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Location: France - Nantes

Re: Australian RZ500 rescue.

#3 Post by Kalim » Wed May 10, 2017 6:40 pm

Welcome !

That's a nice rescue project.
There must be mixed parts on your bike, the top triple is not from a 1984 bike, but 85 and later.

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hobbsy86
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Re: Australian RZ500 rescue.

#4 Post by hobbsy86 » Thu May 11, 2017 6:40 am

Kalim wrote:Welcome !

That's a nice rescue project.
There must be mixed parts on your bike, the top triple is not from a 1984 bike, but 85 and later.
That's interesting, I wonder if a few things have been changed out in the front end after some sort of accident? The frame doesn't look like it's been damaged, but the front fairing stay certainly does.

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Kalim
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Location: France - Nantes

Re: Australian RZ500 rescue.

#5 Post by Kalim » Thu May 11, 2017 7:32 am

The clip ons seem to be 47X model.

You'll find more hints in this thread:
http://www.rzrd500.com/500phpBB3/viewto ... =14&t=7312" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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phildu31
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Location: Toulouse France

Re: Australian RZ500 rescue.

#6 Post by phildu31 » Thu May 11, 2017 10:12 am

Hello.
It's easy to know if your bike is from the first (47X specs) or second (1GE specs) lot of production with your serial number.
If it is of type 53G-000xxx, it is from first one (47X).
If it is of type 53G-004xxx, it is from second one (1GE).

Critchlg
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Re: Australian RZ500 rescue.

#7 Post by Critchlg » Fri May 12, 2017 9:37 am

Hi Hobbsy, I have the same bike in a very similar condition but with the engine complete. I'm just starting the rebuild. Where in Sydney are you? Re the engine man - the guy I was put onto is Dudleys performance on the central coast. He has a web page and is on Facebook. Gavin


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RZ 500(53G) - Rebuild project: RZ 250F - Finished
Triumph Street Triple R - town bike

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hobbsy86
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Re: Australian RZ500 rescue.

#8 Post by hobbsy86 » Fri May 12, 2017 10:49 am

G'day Gavin,

Central coast is definitely within the range I was hoping for, I'll get in contact with them and see what they reckon. Thanks for the heads up, its funny how quickly a build can suddenly stall when you come across jobs that need an expert! I'm out near Richmond, at Riverstone. Are you around Sydney way as well?

-Hobbsy

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adr1an
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Re: Australian RZ500 rescue.

#9 Post by adr1an » Fri May 12, 2017 4:55 pm

Hi Hobbsy,
I can certainly recommend Dudley. Its worth a visit and a chat. He has done a few engines for me and he knows the RZ very well. Most importantly he is very meticulous. I'm near Terrigal so send me a PM if you want a chat.
Adrrian

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