I’m an old Canadian crosser from the 80’s. I raced 80’s, 125, 250. I remember looking at the guys who rode open class (500cc) and their bikes back then. They were a small clique of these weird guys who raced strange huge beast machines., I was actually terrified of them ha ha.. I don’t ever remember seeing a RM 500 back then, just Maico, Husqvarna, and a few Yamahas. The good ole days for sure.
I have a 1985 Suzuki dr 200 in perfect condition. One kick start. With compression relief . I love riding it with my 3 year old girl. She loves it also.
I had a 1981 RM125X that I raced local MX in the Macon and Warner Robins GA area 1982-1983. I remember these RM500s burning up the track back then. What a prime example you have there. Love it!
As of 12 hours ago here in Melbourne Australia we are entering stage 5 lockdown and its kicking off here with mass protests with all of these restrictions,THANK GOD for your channel as it really really has been a shinning light for alot of us DOWN UNDER,the 250 version of the D model has been my all time favourite motorcross bike but the older brother was jusr too much of a handfull for the not so brave ,Thankyou for all you and your staff do
Stay strong mate, I'm in Newcastle Australia, it's beyond a joke, I know you guys have had what 200 plus days in lockdown, we've only had 2-3 weeks & I'm going freakin nuts
@@dasmuss6174 yeah it's screwed up, what ever you do don't get the experimental vaccine German doctors have found some disturbing stuff in their patients blood from the vaccine, all I can say is Nuremberg code 2.0 & then watch Scott bloody Morrison blame everyone else when the truth comes out
Those RM are sweet too. I had a pe 250 and an rm 125 1984. These old bikes air cooled seem to be stronger and built better than today's bikes just like cars today , cheap plastic and even metal is weaker and rusts faster on new cars now . The bikes of the 1980s and early 90s are my faverate bikes. Thanks for share your passsion for motorcycles with us. Awesome bikes
What a classic I remember buying my brand new 1980 rm400 I think it was $1,100 a lot of money in those days but the RM series was always a professional race bike it has a distinct sound
I'll say it again, the 80's had the best dirt and street bikes. It didn't even matter what brand..they were all great! I remember seeing this bike and the Suzuki DR 500 for the first time back in the day..😲😲😲 Great video once again!
Had a 1983 RM125. Back in 1984 being 13 years old, I felt like I was on the fastest bike out. I remember the seat being comfy and the suspension was awesome.
@@KaplanCycles omg i didn’t even know that i hope ur healing comes fast and better than ever wuick i broke my collar bone on a 85 490 in november that wasn’t fun !
🎶 🎵 🎶 🎵 Awe she sounds so beautiful with a headset on! 💘 😍 The echo from the forest was so crisp! Awesome piece as usual from Kaplan America 🇺🇸! God bless you all!
How could anyone put a dislike on this upload ?? Out of the big 6 bike makers , I've never owned a Suzuki. Not because l dislike them.. Not at all ! Now days if l was to buy one.. This would be the bike !!! How much would it cost to ship this beautiful piece to Australia ?? A dyno of this bike would be so awesome !!!! Visiting you guys in the US is on my bucket list, I've watched so many hours of you guys that it makes me feel like that l already know you lol !!
I actually had a chance to buy one of these right up the road from me from where I live in croom Florida and it was a total roach.....before the guy started it he grabbed a bottle of ether starting fluid and sprayed the intake boot area so right off jump street, I knew I was in for a real treat!!!! Lmao........ Took him 50 kicks literally to start and literally felt like the power of a well tuned xr100 ,no joke the top end was sooooo worn it was comical, I can't believe it even ran !!!!!...he was asking ng 3k for that even at it's condition.........so crazy how u guys keep finding these PRISTINE RM500S since like u say, the majority of them were ridden into the ground and since production ended in 84.....that means rm 500 is 25. Times more rare than a kx or cr500, not that it's a better machine, but def has better suspension when it came from factory,
Love how you always have white wall tires I have done a couple bike I just sold my 1983 Husqvarna CR500 beast 4sp race bike fastest thing I have ever rode
Had the RM500 and the Cr500. Seemed like always turning wrenches on the RM and it wasn't as torquey or as fast as the CR. Bought the 87 CR in 92 and ran the shit out of it till 2000. Fork seals and rear shock service is the only shit I ever had to do to. Mainly cause I'm a chubby fucker. Honda back in the day was bullet proof.
Hello there Kaplan crew. I've been watching your videos for months and just subscribed today not because you're not worth it right away but I just forget stuff like that. What I don't forget is when I see a 79 bultaco on Hudson valley Craigslist for $3,800 bucks. I think it was a 350cc 2-stroke (as they are), and it was going for like $3,800 bucks which to me seemed cheap because the bike is supposed to be a survivor and it's in great shape from the pictures. I would snatch it up for resale if I had the money for it but more importantly it should go to somebody who will preserve it and pass it on to other people who enjoy them. You guys seem to be extremely good at that and I have a lot of respect for what you guys do. Like I said Hudson valley Craigslist is not far from you guys over here I think I used to get to West Cornwall in 45 minutes from where I'm at on the west side of the Hudson River across from dutchess county. Anyway keep ripping guys.
While I would like one for my collection/stable, Id like to ride one just for the experience. Get a taste of its certain special flavor of power delivery, and how much it makes..
That would be disappointing but believable. Depends on what shape it's in. I got 40 horsepower at the wheel from a stock air cooled Yamaha XT 600, with an after market muffler. I would expect a lot more from the rm.
@@bgjb-r1499 I had the 1982 RM 465Z for 8 years from 1982 to 1990, and the stock HP was rated at 51hp. Not sure if that was accurate, but that is what Suzuki said it was at the time. Then I added boysen reeds, a wiseco piston, and a white bros works air box and the thing was a beast, you could not keep the front wheel on the ground in any gear but 4th, and btw, it was only a 4 speed in 1982.
This would be great to see. In fact a dyno run of any air cooled 500 would be interesting to see. My guess is it'll make around 5hp less than its liquid cooled counterparts.
I'd love to race this on the natural terrain motocross at the 2022 Centralian Masters Games (Northern Territory, Australia) or something like it. What a classic.
@@CainSample I do think you are right about the 84 in general as most people were waiting for the water cooler to come out in 85. I had a friend who rode the 83 480, but I've not seen many 84s.
WoW BiKe ~ HoT RiDe ~ WiCkEd ~ the last bike on my list is a '78 125 model, the last bike my dad bought me the bully boys blew up, I had to sell that caught fire went up in flames by the lad that rebuilt it.
sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet ken you dont see many u remember i told you about that one i had with a XL 500 motor in it . i only seen 2 others over here beside that one
I wonder how hard these were to start compared to an 88 Honda CR 500. I don't know if mine was modified but there were times sometimes you couldn't even get it to go past the compression stroke. As far as I knew it was bone stock but what a beast.
ah, rode the aussie factory race team RM 500 of 1983 back in 1983, as ridden by Ray Vandenberg. ua-cam.com/video/pCn0PRAPHIw/v-deo.html Have the full size factory part numbered gloss roll poster of the 1983 RM 500, 250 and 125. cheers.
You should put that on the dyno. You should put all your bikes on the dyno to get good reference baselines. I mean.... how many other RM500 are ever going to get dynoed.
“Bike didn’t need that much work done to it when it got here”, so here is a work order for $3000 ! 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Hey Ken, you should definitely re-evaluate your idea of “doesn’t need much”, compared to the general public’s idea of “doesn’t need much”. AT LEAST HERE IN TX....$3000 doesn’t fall under the “doesn’t need much” category. 😎
Soo was the previous owner like 5 ft 2 or a flat tracker or does the rear shock seem to be sagged out a bit..??.....lol...rear end also looked stiff and busy on the grass track!!!....lol..... I know some riders like to have bike as low as possible since the more weight down low, the better a bike handles but as for me, being 6ft 4 250 pounds,....I usually set my preload pretty stiff and high for my height.....but it looked awfully stiff for how low the tea end was....had to be no more than 5 inches rear wheel travel when I pretty sure the stock 500 came with 11 inches so Just curious if it was a deliberate mod or was it a shock needing to be rebuilt soon since u didn't mention anything about it, I figured it was just set up like that
Ahh I see I know us tall guys like a nice plush shock with plenty of travel and no harshness in the mid stroke...I've never ridden a fresh full floater rear shock setup but I hear when set up right, it's like gliding on fluffy clouds!!!...lol
I’m an old Canadian crosser from the 80’s. I raced 80’s, 125, 250. I remember looking at the guys who rode open class (500cc) and their bikes back then. They were a small clique of these weird guys who raced strange huge beast machines., I was actually terrified of them ha ha.. I don’t ever remember seeing a RM 500 back then, just Maico, Husqvarna, and a few Yamahas. The good ole days for sure.
I have a 1985 Suzuki dr 200 in perfect condition. One kick start. With compression relief . I love riding it with my 3 year old girl. She loves it also.
I had a 1981 RM125X that I raced local MX in the Macon and Warner Robins GA area 1982-1983. I remember these RM500s burning up the track back then. What a prime example you have there. Love it!
As of 12 hours ago here in Melbourne Australia we are entering stage 5 lockdown and its kicking off here with mass protests with all of these restrictions,THANK GOD for your channel as it really really has been a shinning light for alot of us DOWN UNDER,the 250 version of the D model has been my all time favourite motorcross bike but the older brother was jusr too much of a handfull for the not so brave ,Thankyou for all you and your staff do
Stay strong mate, I'm in Newcastle Australia, it's beyond a joke, I know you guys have had what 200 plus days in lockdown, we've only had 2-3 weeks & I'm going freakin nuts
Ian Robinson yeah I’m in newy too mate, it’s bullshit hey 🍻🇦🇺
@@dasmuss6174 yeah it's screwed up, what ever you do don't get the experimental vaccine German doctors have found some disturbing stuff in their patients blood from the vaccine, all I can say is Nuremberg code 2.0 & then watch Scott bloody Morrison blame everyone else when the truth comes out
@K 9 thanks mate God bless
God bless everyone involved. Fight back!
1983 was the best year for air cooled 2 strokes
Had a 83 rm 250 loved that bike, good ol'days. Graduation present from my dad. God bless him and God bless America
Those RM are sweet too. I had a pe 250 and an rm 125 1984. These old bikes air cooled seem to be stronger and built better than today's bikes just like cars today , cheap plastic and even metal is weaker and rusts faster on new cars now . The bikes of the 1980s and early 90s are my faverate bikes. Thanks for share your passsion for motorcycles with us. Awesome bikes
Bella un 500 RM dell'83, è come ritornare a quando avevo 15 anni.
💪👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🇮🇹🖐️
What a classic I remember buying my brand new 1980 rm400 I think it was $1,100 a lot of money in those days but the RM series was always a professional race bike it has a distinct sound
She got a nice growl.
I wish i could get my hands on a RM-ZILLA.
I'll say it again, the 80's had the best dirt and street bikes. It didn't even matter what brand..they were all great! I remember seeing this bike and the Suzuki DR 500 for the first time back in the day..😲😲😲 Great video once again!
I have to agree totally. We even had places to ride.
After the 80s they all looked the same and I lost interest following the different brands
I had that exact bike back in the day!!! Like my other 500s of the era, i loved it!! 👍🇺🇸🇺🇸
Had a 1983 RM125. Back in 1984 being 13 years old, I felt like I was on the fastest bike out. I remember the seat being comfy and the suspension was awesome.
What a great old bike 👍 my hats off to ya gentlemen for all the great work your doing 🇺🇸👍
finally a classic riding vid of uncle ken for the first time in forever it feels like
Thank you Gio, I broke my shoulder 2 months ago at unadilla just starting to feel like myself Again thank the good Lord
@@KaplanCycles omg i didn’t even know that i hope ur healing comes fast and better than ever wuick i broke my collar bone on a 85 490 in november that wasn’t fun !
Love the sound of air cooled big bores !! Thank you for being you sir!
Can tell mr Kaplan is a big kid at heart fair play brother from the UK
🎶 🎵 🎶 🎵 Awe she sounds so beautiful with a headset on! 💘 😍 The echo from the forest was so crisp! Awesome piece as usual from Kaplan America 🇺🇸! God bless you all!
Home theater system cranked up is the bomb lol
How could anyone put a dislike on this upload ?? Out of the big 6 bike makers , I've never owned a Suzuki. Not because l dislike them.. Not at all ! Now days if l was to buy one.. This would be the bike !!! How much would it cost to ship this beautiful piece to Australia ??
A dyno of this bike would be so awesome !!!! Visiting you guys in the US is on my bucket list, I've watched so many hours of you guys that it makes me feel like that l already know you lol !!
Call Jr 860 454 7024 for a shipping quote brother
I actually had a chance to buy one of these right up the road from me from where I live in croom Florida and it was a total roach.....before the guy started it he grabbed a bottle of ether starting fluid and sprayed the intake boot area so right off jump street, I knew I was in for a real treat!!!! Lmao........ Took him 50 kicks literally to start and literally felt like the power of a well tuned xr100 ,no joke the top end was sooooo worn it was comical, I can't believe it even ran !!!!!...he was asking ng 3k for that even at it's condition.........so crazy how u guys keep finding these PRISTINE RM500S since like u say, the majority of them were ridden into the ground and since production ended in 84.....that means rm 500 is 25. Times more rare than a kx or cr500, not that it's a better machine, but def has better suspension when it came from factory,
Roger Decoster would be proud of your attention to detail on this hens tooth👏👏👏
I'm jealous bro haha that RM zilla sounds amazing love it
Sweet love the Rm 500s and the Cr 500s nice job 👍🏻
Don't see those every day. I've actually never seen one in real life.
What a beauty.
That’s a beautiful air cooled beast from my childhood dreams.
Love the large unit RM, looks like somebody is going to be doing a little landscape work
The RMS were Kings of the powerband
Beautiful bike guys! You do amazing work!
Ken is definitely a 500cc rider 💪
Wow, bet you weren't expecting that front end to pop up that fast! Absolute pure power! Gotta love the old air cooled 2 smokes baby!
Such a badass rare bird! Dig it!!
My friend had this new. Very good smooth on track. I liked it..
I think it was a 4 speed like my 1983 480 cr Honda.
Awesome as usual fellas!!!
It is GORGEOUS!!!!!
Love the model. Beautiful bike.
Insane everything is Insane in this video!!!!
Guys, bike everything unreal 😳
Brings back my youth and dreaming of having one!
Love how you always have white wall tires I have done a couple bike I just sold my 1983 Husqvarna CR500 beast 4sp race bike fastest thing I have ever rode
FullFloater puttin the power down
I like the air cooled suzuki cross bikes.
Awesome bike guy’s
Had the RM500 and the Cr500. Seemed like always turning wrenches on the RM and it wasn't as torquey or as fast as the CR. Bought the 87 CR in 92 and ran the shit out of it till 2000. Fork seals and rear shock service is the only shit I ever had to do to. Mainly cause I'm a chubby fucker. Honda back in the day was bullet proof.
Hello there Kaplan crew. I've been watching your videos for months and just subscribed today not because you're not worth it right away but I just forget stuff like that. What I don't forget is when I see a 79 bultaco on Hudson valley Craigslist for $3,800 bucks. I think it was a 350cc 2-stroke (as they are), and it was going for like $3,800 bucks which to me seemed cheap because the bike is supposed to be a survivor and it's in great shape from the pictures. I would snatch it up for resale if I had the money for it but more importantly it should go to somebody who will preserve it and pass it on to other people who enjoy them. You guys seem to be extremely good at that and I have a lot of respect for what you guys do. Like I said Hudson valley Craigslist is not far from you guys over here I think I used to get to West Cornwall in 45 minutes from where I'm at on the west side of the Hudson River across from dutchess county. Anyway keep ripping guys.
Marty Smith rode the Open Suzuki's for 2 years. Wonder what he thought of the factory RM-zillas?
Beautiful bike
You need to take out that lawn and put a rhythm section in I'll donate to that 😁
Like the wheelstand
👍🏻 mellow yellow 😎
ABSOLUTE FREAKIN GOOSEBUMPS .. DAAAYUM! APPRECIATE YA FELLAS 😁😉👍
I love Those Koosier Daddy Luggard Out Wheels!!!! Very Important in any Grass to Hopper casing!!!!Situation.....SendItttttt!!!!!!
1983-84 in the us but they came out with an 85 model somewhere else
While I would like one for my collection/stable, Id like to ride one just for the experience.
Get a taste of its certain special flavor of power delivery, and how much it makes..
I'd love to see this on the Dyno to see what the rm 500 air-cooled hp was all about👍
If I were to guess 45hp??
That would be disappointing but believable. Depends on what shape it's in.
I got 40 horsepower at the wheel from a stock air cooled Yamaha XT 600, with an after market muffler.
I would expect a lot more from the rm.
@@bgjb-r1499 I had the 1982 RM 465Z for 8 years from 1982 to 1990, and the stock HP was rated at 51hp. Not sure if that was accurate, but that is what Suzuki said it was at the time. Then I added boysen reeds, a wiseco piston, and a white bros works air box and the thing was a beast, you could not keep the front wheel on the ground in any gear but 4th, and btw, it was only a 4 speed in 1982.
Yeah, put it on the dyno!! WHich old skool air cooled makes the most HP?
This would be great to see. In fact a dyno run of any air cooled 500 would be interesting to see. My guess is it'll make around 5hp less than its liquid cooled counterparts.
the real zilla .........
Nice resto awesome bike..
Beautiful💪👌✌
I'd love to race this on the natural terrain motocross at the 2022 Centralian Masters Games (Northern Territory, Australia) or something like it. What a classic.
Makes me want to get a 500 2 stroke 😕
It can't be the most rare if it was made 2 years....the 84 cr500r is rarer IMO ..sweet bike tho
Honda sold way more bikes than Suzuki, so they are much rarer.
@@powerwagon7811 I didn't think alot of the 84 air cooled cr 500 were made that's all.....I don't have a clue tho
@@CainSample I do think you are right about the 84 in general as most people were waiting for the water cooler to come out in 85. I had a friend who rode the 83 480, but I've not seen many 84s.
@@powerwagon7811 neither have I ...I've been racing and riding mine for couple years now n got it from original owner👍 I like all 500cc 2 strokes👍
Ole son that is a old school ass buster that’s a gooden right there
Sweet Jesus!
Glad I still have my RM 500 AKA the bone crusher
Love Ven you drivning the bike first ..👍👍👍👍👍💪🇸🇪
Before and after pics would be awesome on some of the bikes
Dream bike!
À woaw very very good super 👌 👌 👌 👌 👌 👌 😍✌️✌️✌️✌️✌️
Damn that bike DIGS!!!
WoW BiKe ~ HoT RiDe ~ WiCkEd ~ the last bike on my list is a '78 125 model, the last bike my dad bought me the bully boys blew up, I had to sell that caught fire went up in flames by the lad that rebuilt it.
Looks better than any CR from that era
Love it !!!!!
sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet ken you dont see many u remember i told you about that one i had with a XL 500 motor in it . i only seen 2 others over here beside that one
I'd love to know what the carb jetting you're running on this bike I have an RM 500 in my LT 250
So... would this be the original BBRRRAAAPPP!!!
Watching MX at every level all through the 80's, I can't recall seeing a set of Hoosiers. Maybe black those things out.
A man can dream can't he?
I wonder how hard these were to start compared to an 88 Honda CR 500.
I don't know if mine was modified but there were times sometimes you couldn't even get it to go past the compression stroke.
As far as I knew it was bone stock but what a beast.
Beast.
Would you be interested in a 1980 YZ465?
hellova Zuke!
Mixin gas, kickin ass!
my dreams
ah, rode the aussie factory race team RM 500 of 1983 back in 1983, as ridden by Ray Vandenberg.
ua-cam.com/video/pCn0PRAPHIw/v-deo.html
Have the full size factory part numbered gloss roll poster of the 1983 RM 500, 250 and 125.
cheers.
You should put that on the dyno. You should put all your bikes on the dyno to get good reference baselines. I mean.... how many other RM500 are ever going to get dynoed.
beastie boy
How do you find these dirt bikes
It’s a rippa.
WOW
“Bike didn’t need that much work done to it when it got here”, so here is a work order for $3000 ! 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Hey Ken, you should definitely re-evaluate your idea of “doesn’t need much”, compared to the general public’s idea of
“doesn’t need much”. AT LEAST HERE IN TX....$3000 doesn’t fall under the “doesn’t need much” category. 😎
The average frame up restoration or restomod takes 75 to 100 hrs @ $90 ph plus 3 to 5 k in parts. This one was much less
😍🤤🎨
I really like your micro phone wer did you buy that??🤣🤣🤣🤣
I always strap a big knife on my belt before I ride my dirt bike.
That is not a dirt bike its a fuck'n TRACTOR🇺🇸
Soo was the previous owner like 5 ft 2 or a flat tracker or does the rear shock seem to be sagged out a bit..??.....lol...rear end also looked stiff and busy on the grass track!!!....lol..... I know some riders like to have bike as low as possible since the more weight down low, the better a bike handles but as for me, being 6ft 4 250 pounds,....I usually set my preload pretty stiff and high for my height.....but it looked awfully stiff for how low the tea end was....had to be no more than 5 inches rear wheel travel when I pretty sure the stock 500 came with 11 inches so Just curious if it was a deliberate mod or was it a shock needing to be rebuilt soon since u didn't mention anything about it, I figured it was just set up like that
Set up for 180lb 5'8, im 6'2 235 with that gear on
Ahh I see I know us tall guys like a nice plush shock with plenty of travel and no harshness in the mid stroke...I've never ridden a fresh full floater rear shock setup but I hear when set up right, it's like gliding on fluffy clouds!!!...lol
That's got RUT ROW written all over it!$
Rare chance for a dyno run ! Bet it’s never been documented
I can feel the rings screamung ,change me change me ...like he sayd they did not finish yet....look flat and slow for the monster Zika she is....
Original carb, needs a keihin to wake her up. Original miking in it now
I had one when I was 13 fast azz bike NY troopers couldn't catch it
Just don't let Larry ride it! 🤣
What's the rear wheel hp
🆒