The 1984 Rm500 is my unicorn and nearly unobtainable. To see this machine sets a new bar of rare. It sounds absolutely amazing thanks for sharing it with us Max !
I wish Suzuki had continued to develop their 2 stroke water-cooled line. As a 13 year old kid in 1981 I was mesmerized when the new RMs came out. I couldn't believe the space-age looking gas tanks with the high-rise hump at the front. These bikes pretty much ignited my love for motocross.
@@bertbroeder1832 same here. My best friend had an ‘82 RM125 that I loved riding in 85 / 86, I had a ‘78 RM 125. At the end of 86 I picked up a barely used 1985 RM250F in perfect condition for $900.00. The Full Floater rear suspension, from what I can remember, was as good or better than the rear suspension on my 2017 Husky TE300!
@@kramler Yes I'm sure they were Suzuki 2 stroke bikes. Suzuki didn't stop R&D on their RM line of 2 strokes until either 2007 or 2008, don't recall which. Think how nice it would be if they'd kept making 2 stroke MX'ers like Yamaha still does.
I rode a built 2-stroke YZ400 once, ported, larger carb and exhaust...; it was one of the most intense rides on the planet, where your strategy is simply 'shift as fast as you can!' , which will have you going 65 mph in about 1.8 seconds... My own RM125T felt fast, but, open class two-stroke bikes are just 'something else'!
Wayne is a man after my own heart!!! I can see where someone thinks it came from their QUADZILLA but like you says Wayne this is not a quad mota!! That is a one off BIGBOAR HORE RM 500CC super rare supersonic on the powerband!!. Max you done it again! Excellent video! Content 2nd too none. 👊✊💥💨💨💨💨
They produced the RM500 in 1985 also (last year of production) for the Canadian, European and Australian markets. Gold rims, front disk, improved suspension.
"Frits Hendrikx" of the Netherlands built this bike...its a one off special that was possibly going to help suzuki go into production of a water cooled 500. He worked closely with the Gebores family when Eric was riding for suzuki..it has some very special parts handman one-offs. Not officially anything to do with suzuki but they definitely were in the background keeping an eye on it. It was definitely a Trail and error bike so not everything perfect but it certainly works and was a great "prototype" machine for way back in 84. Check couple of my videos of this bike aswell.
Frits Hendrikx did ride on this bike by himselve about 1986 -1989. He worked as a mechanic at VOS motor in Echt (holland). He drove it about every week in Nederweert motorcross track. As i know he made it by themselve. I talked about the bike several times. Great Bike. Greetings Patrick Biermans
I used to have a couple of 82 RM465's. Great handling. And the drum brakes were no disadvantage at all. It was a Rocketship in the woods. I used to ride with two friends on a KX500 and a CR500. Never felt the need for more than the 4 gears on those bikes either. Had Gobs of torque so you were always in the right gear
Many years ago I was good friends with a guy named Wade Cole. His uncle owned North Hollywood Suzuki. The shop is no longer there, but Wade and I used to buy bikes from his uncle for $1 per CC - street or dirt bikes. I bought a PE175 one time. I remember him (Wade's uncle) talking about the liquid cooled RM500 that was being raced in Europe. He hoped Suzuki would mass produce them and at one point was told 40 units would be sent to the states in 1985. Well, it clearly never happened, making the bike in this video a complete unicorn. I would so love to see todays big manufacturers produce 500cc 2 strokes once again.
I did race those years in the 500cc and I have seen a few of those! Andre Vromans had one for sure. But after 1986 I have not seen any watercoled. Nice see some still lives 👌 Best regards from Sweden 🇸🇪
I'm a big Suzuki fan. To me, nothing looks better than the yellow and blue bikes Suzuki put out from 1984 to 1990. To see that bike get fired up and road around is truly an awesome video to watch. I thank you deeply for sharing such awesome material for the viewer's pleasure.
Nice machine, nice engineering indeed. Ten years ago I had a 1984 RM500 custom build; the motor fits nicely into a 1984 RM250 frame. It was built back in the day for Marty Moates to race when he lived here in Australia. It was fun to ride. I sold it back to the original owner who was Marty’s manager in those days.
Very cool. It’s kinda hard to say “the most rare” since it’s a custom made bike by an individual and not a factory effort. There are quite a few one or two bike efforts by custom builders like Hagon, Curtis,Kramer etc. I’d like to see a bone stock RM500 and then one side by side to be be able to see the the differences and the custom parts.
I saw a few pictures on internet before. But see it moving and hear it is a big plessure and how it feels 38 years later we all can hear here, thank you guys!
Great content as always Max, best mx content on TH-cam. This is one of the bikes Eric and Jan Goboers made if I’m not mistaken, it’s an rm500 air cooled bottom end with a ktm water pump and a custom cylinder and head. I think it’s an rm250 frame and front brakes. This is a cool bike but it’s a custom made bike, the real rare 500 Suzuki is the RN500WC that Harry Everts and Andre Vromans rode.
Nice to see the rest of his collection , as I had a 79 RM400 in 1981 aged 15, still use the pic as you can see , first motocross bike I had from trials bikes , what a wake up that was , fond memories ,great video and bike collection Cheers all 👍
That's an insane bike! There's some footage of Andre Vromans riding a liquid cooled RM500 at the 1983 GP of the Netherlands. There are 2 Suzuooks out front in that race. Number 16 is riding an air-cooled version and number 2, whom I assume is Vromans, is the liquid cooled version. I wonder if its the same bike 999lazer is showing us?
Bringing back good fond memories of the eighties, i had a production RM 500 bought from Ivan vd Broek, and stood on the starting grid at the '84 Veronica beach race in between Harry Everts and Erik Geboers, i remember Erik was pulling wheelies at 170 kmh on a bike similar to this, it looks the same, still have pictures will try to find them, what a unique piece of mx history, Suzuki was the absolute best these years.
This bike is made by Frits Henrikx (or Hendriks? Henderiks? Hendricxk ?) living in the Netherlands. He was the owner of the motorshop 'MTE' in the village Echt. He was avery good mechanic and made this himself. It's a bike from the year 1984.He wanted a watercooled bike but Suzuki stopped with the 500 cc production. The only 500 cc Suzuki watercooled engines where in squads(not imported in Europe). So 'FHS' is everywhere on the bike and means Frits Hendrikx Special. He modified the old cilinder, the radiator is from Husqvarna, Kawasaki-tank is also modified, KTM-waterpump. I bought this bike from Frits and than sold it to Jan Geboers in Belgium. It's a very special bike and it ran very well. Greetings Guy Caris
I raced a 1982 465 that was ported with an aen engineering pipe and that super wide metzler 17 inch rear wheel and tire that made that thing wicked. Always got holeshot but it was almost unrideable. Wheely machine.
A DG pipe & a rear brake staybalizer is the only thing mine ever needed besides alot of rear tires & chains & sprokets! Never needed the front or 1st gear!
Absolutely sick Max, I do remember Harry Everts raced the water cooled 500 Suzuki as did Andre Vromans, controversy around this bike started after Suzuki refused to offer Brad Lackey a contract after winning the 82 World Title and Suzuki had been giving Veomans all the help that year, for 83 Everts wanted to step up, part of that was building a competitive bike, the Water Cooled 500 Suzuki was actually raced and ridden by both Vromans and Everts in 83, Everts was the only rider on one in 84 not sure if he was injured most of the year but you rarely see him in 84. Here’s footage of 83 and clearly the water cooled Suzuki 500 and was competitive. th-cam.com/video/dOPNlWYS5i4/w-d-xo.html Loved hearing it sounded sick.
@@999lazer No worries bud, I was in my early teens back then making my way up the ranks wanting to race the WC, 500s were the pinnacle and I love that era. Loved that era of Full Floater Suzukis, it always a disappointment that Suzuki have this weird way of in and out of the sport, they clearly could make the best bikes when they set their collective minds to it, hated seeing the 500 class slowly lose its status, the fans didn’t want that, it was driven by the Japanese, they could bring so much greatness but were also destructive to the sport, politically and manufacture wise, it was a fast changing world other markets were more profitable, one thing I’ll never ever accept, I’m always about the long game and any business, anything should have a core and sustainable input eg give back, they had the opportunity to grow the sport, instead they took from it and left when it suited them, that’s history, it amazes me there is so little on this bike, I clearly saw it myself in my magazines, I remember the controversy, the bike even today looks great and some of that footage where Vromans before he dropped back or DNF the bike looked as good as the RC500 on the track, I can’t remember what happened with Everts in 84 injury support, Vromans went to Honda and they had 4 riders on the 500 team, Geobers, Malherbe, Thorpe and Vromans, he never really lived up to his potential except 82 but Lackey beat him and a self supported bike since Suzuki did everything not to help him and he was there factory rider. Still amazing how that one you rode sounded, it could have just come off the show room floor. Amazing collection of Suzukis as well, great to see someone take care of that history, times like that will never be repeated, the tracks the bikes the crowds amazing.
When I saw the title, I straight away thought of the YZM500. I've never checked but I think they only made the two of them for the factory team. It was a real shame that full factory bikes were banned at the end of their first season, but I did get to see them run at Hawkstone park in the british round of the world championship.
Six or seven were made. Jacky Vimond was the rider for Yamaha in 87 and said the yzm was a sub-par bike. Yamaha gave up due to lack of interest in the 500 class around that time. I believe there are a couple of actual yzms still around but most on the internet are homemade. The air-cooled yzm500 Andre Vromans races in 86 was actually a cool bike that had a power valve, usd forks and a "pancake" expansion chamber that allowed cooling air to be ducted over the cylinder head. That bike looked cool as hell
Great to see youngsters intrested in these old bikes. I didnt realise people were back into them again...I should make a video of all my old motorcross bikes. I used to buy them all up and collect them back in the 90's and ended up with nearly 80 bikes in my lockups before my wife found out.
When I was a teenager, I had a water cooled 1985 RM500. I got it from a friend who took it apart and didn't know how to reassemble it. I rode it for a few years and sold it to buy a 1985 CR500. I now have a 1993 CR500. Yes, I love the big bores. It blows me away when I see the power of the new 450 4-strokes matching the power of the 500 2-strokes.
Great video Max, what a beautiful bike, you're so lucky to ride that , I bet it made your day. a lot of the old two strokes have a classic beauty, keep the fantastic videos coming max there amazing..
Thanks Kevin, Yeah I'm a lucky boy for sure. To ride something that the likes of Harry Everts rode is very special. I think he rode it a bit quicker than me though...lol
The engines from the 84 liquid cooled rm500 weren't used so when they scraped that plan the engines were used in the 85 quadzillas. Liquid cooled 500cc 2 stroke fastest quad ever of the day anyway
I remember doing an enduro in beaconsfield on a TE 510 HUSKY back then. I had it pinned on a long straight trying to get past a sizuki 500 quad as hard as I tried I couldn't pass him damn that bloody thing flew.
I have an ‘87 Quadzilla that I bought new. It’s a 500 cc liquid cooled 2 stroke. Back in the early’90s, lots of guys were taking these motors and putting them on RM250 frames to race. It was an easy swap and worked awesome.
thats what this alleged worlds rarest bike is ,fellas were doing this quite often as the quadzilla was just so damm dangerous ,rip that motor out and jam it in a 250 frame
My dad had a 81 Rm 465 when I was a kid, man I loved that bike and he even let me ride once when I was eight years old and oh man the power was intense!!!
In an mxa article in 1987, Johnny O Mara said he had ridden the "new" RM500 that was being developed, so Suzuki had plans at least to build a new 500. I've never seen any pics of the prototype RM500 from that period tho.
Suzuki produced a 1985 model for the Australian market. It was close to the 84 model except for gold rims , front disc brake, different graphics, grey painted air cooled motor .
It’s probably been used in Belgian amateur racing back in 1984, but certainly not by the Suzuki factory team. Suzuki folded its factory teams after the 1983 GP seasons. Eric Geboers, then transferred from 125 cc to 500 cc in 1984, where he was in the HRC factory team together with Andre Vromans, André Malherbe and off course Dave Thorpe.
thanks, Max for the video, the oldy and goldy, this RM 500 is a lot of fun on the dirt ... after all those years since the first bike came out of the factory today modern bikes are almost the same regarding power on the wheel, with improvements on suspension, frame, and brakes .... and also the aluminum frame that is rigid and with a lot of vibrations go to the rider ...
That is a cool dirt bike. I could argue that I have the rarest 2 stroke Suzuki lawn mower but that is a whole other conversation... Thanks for the upload, it was a bitter sweet story for sure.
That needs a time capsule. I was 15 in 84 and yz/IT fan. Had a soft spot RMs though. Old RMs hard to come by. Those days are a part of generations wonder years.
I would love for 999lazer to try out the stick metering block that Alessi used in his PWK 38 carb. Like an unbiased opinion, two prominent bike builds that used it and gave it a good solid star for it.
Hi max I rember in 80s at British championships they rode them I seem to rember Harry everts to in 83 season GPS for little while and jem whatley at brits champs to mate its sounds magic that noise there's bike rm 500cc on ebay a 83 84 in bits both bikes basket cases mostly all there though they want about 3800 or something like that on bids crazy eh makes me miss those smoker days like crazy buddy look forward to next video
Gday Boys, I spoke to Wayne at Farleigh and was talking to my mate Eric Geboers, who gave me all the incite on that bike and what to do to make it run better. I shared all the info with Wayne and one of his mates and we took a pic of the 3 of us, WH I might have good news coming soon on my return to that social platform which will give me access to Eric's (RIP)comments again.
I’m 55 years old I grew up on 2 stroke dirt bikes and have had 2 stroke motocross bikes from all 4 Japanese brands and never knew until now that Suzuki made a RM larger than a 250. The bike I had that I wish I still had was my 1985 CR500R, long live the 2 stroke
Great video Max. I read somewhere that suzuki pulled the funding from the 500 gp racing and most of its racing programe to build the suzuki swift car around 1983/84.
I had heard about this bike from someone at a bike meet here in Australia; he seemed like a believable guy? We spoke after he heard and saw my RMX250 that was heavily modified. I spoke about his story to many people and they always dismissed me? I never actually tried to look it up on the internet? The elusive water cooled RM500 had left my thoughts back in the late 90s.... that's of course until today! 😁👍
Im 56 i owned and drove kx420 ,yz465 rm465,rm500 3x cr500s and really the suzuki 465 was my favorite it felt like a 125 so narrow super cool and the light switch on off power was totally siik far out i wished i had them all back i paid sub 1k for all of them in the mid 80s lol lovit great vid 🇦🇺🇦🇺
Harry Everts finished 4th in the 500 world championship in '83 on a water cooled Suzuki, he even won a couple of motos on it but it didn't have disc brakes like that one. On the production side of the RM500, '85 was actually the last year but in the USA the last year was '84.
friggin RM heaven Max, very cool collection, Wayne's a very cool guy! I guess it would be safe to say that the bike is the works suzuki for the open class mx gp 1984? awesome vid Max cheers!
The factory Suzuki team here in Australia ran a prototype water Cooled RM 500 in the Mr Motorcross series in 1984 for the last few rounds I’ll see if I can dig up some pics for you
...I do remember Marty Moates racing an RM500 in 83 and 84 and one the 84 bike he had a tank and radiator shrouds from the 125... though no radiators on that bike. I don't remember a liquid cooled version in the Mr Motocross series.
@@1969cmp I’m pretty sure either Ray Vandenberg or Anthony Gunter had a LC RM 500 for some of the Mr MX rounds in 84 but maybe you’re onto Something regarding the 125 tank and shrouds 🤔 I do remember Marty out here for some of the rounds back then. That was also when Jim Ellis came over to race and stayed here Racing KTM for Bert Flood then later he was on YZ’s
@@joshuaross4644 Ray rode for Honda Australia in 1984...though not much as he destroyed his knee. I'm told in a ski accident. Not sure if Gunter was still in the mix anymore by 84. He doesn't get a mention in the 1983 Mr Motocross that's on TH-cam.
@@joshuaross4644...yeah, Jim Ellis rode on KTM in 1983 and 1986...even leading the Finke Desert Race in 86 until the barrel split. And for Yamaha in 84,85 and 87. He picked up an Aussie title or two on the WhyZed 😉
I used to work for Lazer Helmets in so.california we imported helmets from Belgium and my 1984 Rm250 was and still is one of my all time favorite bikes.
Thanks for watching Patty! Fun fact, our channel is sort of named after Lazer helmets. We used only use Lazer when we were kids and our family number was #9, that's where the channel name comes from :-)
@@999lazer Thanks for the reply my name is actually Tom I wonder if that RM500 was being developed for Danny Chandler aka Mr.Magoo. Danny was supported by Lazer helmets in Belgium when he crashed. Let r rip.
The featured bike in the video has the 1981 - 1985 frame from a RM 465 / 500 (The 1985 RM 500F was not sold in the US. It came with a copper colored engine and a front disk like the other ‘85 models), possibly a fork / disk from an ‘85 F model, and a radiator shroud from an ‘84 RM 250E with same year graphics. Very cool bike though👍! Interestingly, the bike at the beginning of the vid (plate #77) had a more modern frame from either a ‘84 RM250 E model or a ‘85 250 F model. I know some teams, and some in England, were wedging 500 RM motors into the newer 250 frames of that era. The Suzuki factory did build ultra rare water cooled “RN” 500’s in 1983 for their GP team. Does anyone know if one of the “Factory” WC RN’s still exist? PS. Cool vid and the gent in the vid has an awesome RM collection. Love to see a vid of his other bikes. I thought I saw a 465 with twin shocks.
Thanks for watching dude and taking the time to comment, it's really appreciated! We did film some more with Wayne and his collection so there might be another video coming soon
It has welded sleeve on RM big bore cylinder converted to watercooling. There is marking on left side of cylinder, its is either 465 or 495 ccm, can read it. Definetly not made by Suzuki, but it is very cool bike with lot of factory parts if its 1983. Also you can see KTM marking on water pump.
its not factory ,its not rare ,its a 250D 1983 model with a quadzilla motor and god knows how many hours to get it runnin ,with a side salad of a bullshit story
@@Tonyclifton-q4f it is not, you can clearly see it is RM bottom end not Quadzilla, RM frame not SP. Also it looks like aluminium tank, also bike is modified to take disc brake. Sadly there isnt any good photos of the bike.
Now for one of the 6 of the 8 YZM500s still floating around out there. (The other 2 are in museums). Also, Suzuki did sell the RM500 for 1985, but not in the US.
The 1984 Rm500 is my unicorn and nearly unobtainable. To see this machine sets a new bar of rare. It sounds absolutely amazing thanks for sharing it with us Max !
Thanks Hanky. It was a pleasure to share this one for sure.
Have you seen a KTM MX 500?
@@gpw203
Still have it? I still have mine, also have a 84 kx500
I bought one in 2017 but it needs work
They’re out there, but restored expect to pay over $8000 for one . True tho there’s only a few .
I wish Suzuki had continued to develop their 2 stroke water-cooled line. As a 13 year old kid in 1981 I was mesmerized when the new RMs came out. I couldn't believe the space-age looking gas tanks with the high-rise hump at the front. These bikes pretty much ignited my love for motocross.
Suzuki make me started!
1983 bought a used RM125 '81 and late 1985 a new RM125E '84. Still competive at amateur level in 1987!
@@bertbroeder1832 same here. My best friend had an ‘82 RM125 that I loved riding in 85 / 86, I had a ‘78 RM 125. At the end of 86 I picked up a barely used 1985 RM250F in perfect condition for $900.00. The Full Floater rear suspension, from what I can remember, was as good or better than the rear suspension on my 2017 Husky TE300!
I have ridden a 96, 97, and 98 suzuki 2stroke(although all was 125cc), were they not from suzuki them selves
@@kramler Yes I'm sure they were Suzuki 2 stroke bikes. Suzuki didn't stop R&D on their RM line of 2 strokes until either 2007 or 2008, don't recall which. Think how nice it would be if they'd kept making 2 stroke MX'ers like Yamaha still does.
I rode a built 2-stroke YZ400 once, ported, larger carb and exhaust...; it was one of the most intense rides on the planet, where your strategy is simply 'shift as fast as you can!' , which will have you going 65 mph in about 1.8 seconds... My own RM125T felt fast, but, open class two-stroke bikes are just 'something else'!
Wayne is a man after my own heart!!! I can see where someone thinks it came from their QUADZILLA but like you says Wayne this is not a quad mota!! That is a one off BIGBOAR HORE RM 500CC super rare supersonic on the powerband!!. Max you done it again! Excellent video! Content 2nd too none.
👊✊💥💨💨💨💨
They produced the RM500 in 1985 also (last year of production) for the Canadian, European and Australian markets. Gold rims, front disk, improved suspension.
its the liquid cooled that makes it rare.
Wayne is a legend for letting you ride a on of a kind that he’d never be able to get parts for!
They’d be able machine some parts if they had to, or is that not possible?
"Frits Hendrikx"
of the Netherlands built this bike...its a one off special that was possibly going to help suzuki go into production of a water cooled 500. He worked closely with the Gebores family when Eric was riding for suzuki..it has some very special parts handman one-offs. Not officially anything to do with suzuki but they definitely were in the background keeping an eye on it.
It was definitely a Trail and error bike so not everything perfect but it certainly works and was a great "prototype" machine for way back in 84.
Check couple of my videos of this bike aswell.
Thanks for the info Ben, it's great to get some more insight on the bike! :-)
Frits Hendrikx did ride on this bike by himselve about 1986 -1989. He worked as a mechanic at VOS motor in Echt (holland). He drove it about every week in Nederweert motorcross track. As i know he made it by themselve. I talked about the bike several times. Great Bike.
Greetings Patrick Biermans
@@peggybiermans-housmans8139 great facts thank you👍👍👍
I used to have a couple of 82 RM465's. Great handling. And the drum brakes were no disadvantage at all. It was a Rocketship in the woods. I used to ride with two friends on a KX500 and a CR500. Never felt the need for more than the 4 gears on those bikes either. Had Gobs of torque so you were always in the right gear
My uncle had the RM465 here in the states I used to ride regularly. It was a beast. I was 12-15
Many years ago I was good friends with a guy named Wade Cole. His uncle owned North Hollywood Suzuki. The shop is no longer there, but Wade and I used to buy bikes from his uncle for $1 per CC - street or dirt bikes. I bought a PE175 one time. I remember him (Wade's uncle) talking about the liquid cooled RM500 that was being raced in Europe. He hoped Suzuki would mass produce them and at one point was told 40 units would be sent to the states in 1985. Well, it clearly never happened, making the bike in this video a complete unicorn. I would so love to see todays big manufacturers produce 500cc 2 strokes once again.
I did race those years in the 500cc and I have seen a few of those!
Andre Vromans had one for sure.
But after 1986 I have not seen any watercoled. Nice see some still lives 👌
Best regards from Sweden 🇸🇪
I'm a big Suzuki fan. To me, nothing looks better than the yellow and blue bikes Suzuki put out from 1984 to 1990. To see that bike get fired up and road around is truly an awesome video to watch. I thank you deeply for sharing such awesome material for the viewer's pleasure.
Nice machine, nice engineering indeed.
Ten years ago I had a 1984 RM500 custom build; the motor fits nicely into a 1984 RM250 frame. It was built back in the day for Marty Moates to race when he lived here in Australia. It was fun to ride. I sold it back to the original owner who was Marty’s manager in those days.
In 84 i had 1. Air cooled, 4 speed gearbox. Loved it
Very cool. It’s kinda hard to say “the most rare” since it’s a custom made bike by an individual and not a factory effort. There are quite a few one or two bike efforts by custom builders like Hagon, Curtis,Kramer etc. I’d like to see a bone stock RM500 and then one side by side to be be able to see the the differences and the custom parts.
Yep. I should of read your comment before I posted. You're absolutely right.
Yes Sir.
Not true , as they are all copys of the original ...this bike
@@urgonnaluvit there was never an original, it's adapt and overcome.
@@B1GBARZ the "original" water cooled rm500 are these ones built by geboers....there is no developing , evolving 😆
It’s lovely seeing rare prototype bikes like that, Thankyou Max
Your welcome, its a real privilege to show this type of bike that not many people know exist.
I saw a few pictures on internet before. But see it moving and hear it is a big plessure and how it feels 38 years later we all can hear here, thank you guys!
Great content as always Max, best mx content on TH-cam.
This is one of the bikes Eric and Jan Goboers made if I’m not mistaken, it’s an rm500 air cooled bottom end with a ktm water pump and a custom cylinder and head. I think it’s an rm250 frame and front brakes. This is a cool bike but it’s a custom made bike, the real rare 500 Suzuki is the RN500WC that Harry Everts and Andre Vromans rode.
Awesome totally awesome! Never knew you could get an 1984 air cooled RM 500 let alone a liquid cooled one.
Nice to see the rest of his collection , as I had a 79 RM400 in 1981 aged 15, still use the pic as you can see , first motocross bike I had from trials bikes , what a wake up that was , fond memories ,great video and bike collection Cheers all 👍
I bought a 1979 RM400 Brand new on my 15th Birthday. Absolutely loved it , effortless wheelies all day long. In fact loved it so much I still have it!
That's an insane bike! There's some footage of Andre Vromans riding a liquid cooled RM500 at the 1983 GP of the Netherlands. There are 2 Suzuooks out front in that race. Number 16 is riding an air-cooled version and number 2, whom I assume is Vromans, is the liquid cooled version. I wonder if its the same bike 999lazer is showing us?
Bringing back good fond memories of the eighties, i had a production RM 500 bought from Ivan vd Broek, and stood on the starting grid at the '84 Veronica beach race in between Harry Everts and Erik Geboers, i remember Erik was pulling wheelies at 170 kmh on a bike similar to this, it looks the same, still have pictures will try to find them, what a unique piece of mx history, Suzuki was the absolute best these years.
This bike is made by Frits Henrikx (or Hendriks? Henderiks? Hendricxk ?) living in the Netherlands. He was the owner of the motorshop 'MTE' in the village Echt. He was avery good mechanic and made this himself. It's a bike from the year 1984.He wanted a watercooled bike but Suzuki stopped with the 500 cc production. The only 500 cc Suzuki watercooled engines where in squads(not imported in Europe). So 'FHS' is everywhere on the bike and means Frits Hendrikx Special. He modified the old cilinder, the radiator is from Husqvarna, Kawasaki-tank is also modified, KTM-waterpump. I bought this bike from Frits and than sold it to Jan Geboers in Belgium. It's a very special bike and it ran very well. Greetings Guy Caris
I raced a 1982 465 that was ported with an aen engineering pipe and that super wide metzler 17 inch rear wheel and tire that made that thing wicked. Always got holeshot but it was almost unrideable. Wheely machine.
A DG pipe & a rear brake staybalizer is the only thing mine ever needed besides alot of rear tires & chains & sprokets! Never needed the front or 1st gear!
Absolutely sick Max,
I do remember Harry Everts raced the water cooled 500 Suzuki as did Andre Vromans, controversy around this bike started after Suzuki refused to offer Brad Lackey a contract after winning the 82 World Title and Suzuki had been giving Veomans all the help that year, for 83 Everts wanted to step up, part of that was building a competitive bike, the Water Cooled 500 Suzuki was actually raced and ridden by both Vromans and Everts in 83, Everts was the only rider on one in 84 not sure if he was injured most of the year but you rarely see him in 84.
Here’s footage of 83 and clearly the water cooled Suzuki 500 and was competitive.
th-cam.com/video/dOPNlWYS5i4/w-d-xo.html
Loved hearing it sounded sick.
thanks for the info Maverick, it was so cool to be able to make a video with such a rare bike. it sure is a piece of MX history.
@@999lazer No worries bud, I was in my early teens back then making my way up the ranks wanting to race the WC, 500s were the pinnacle and I love that era.
Loved that era of Full Floater Suzukis, it always a disappointment that Suzuki have this weird way of in and out of the sport, they clearly could make the best bikes when they set their collective minds to it, hated seeing the 500 class slowly lose its status, the fans didn’t want that, it was driven by the Japanese, they could bring so much greatness but were also destructive to the sport, politically and manufacture wise, it was a fast changing world other markets were more profitable, one thing I’ll never ever accept, I’m always about the long game and any business, anything should have a core and sustainable input eg give back, they had the opportunity to grow the sport, instead they took from it and left when it suited them, that’s history, it amazes me there is so little on this bike, I clearly saw it myself in my magazines, I remember the controversy, the bike even today looks great and some of that footage where Vromans before he dropped back or DNF the bike looked as good as the RC500 on the track, I can’t remember what happened with Everts in 84 injury support, Vromans went to Honda and they had 4 riders on the 500 team, Geobers, Malherbe, Thorpe and Vromans, he never really lived up to his potential except 82 but Lackey beat him and a self supported bike since Suzuki did everything not to help him and he was there factory rider.
Still amazing how that one you rode sounded, it could have just come off the show room floor. Amazing collection of Suzukis as well, great to see someone take care of that history, times like that will never be repeated, the tracks the bikes the crowds amazing.
@@maverick2242 Man, every single word! Thanks!
I will type and say again and again: bring back the 500s!
Is the bike in the 83 GP the same bike as Wayne's?
@@Midge60731 I don't think so!
Wayne Cherish this Masterpiece mate and thanks for letting us see & hear it’s Awesomeness 🙌🏻🙌🏻😎👌👏👍
When I saw the title, I straight away thought of the YZM500. I've never checked but I think they only made the two of them for the factory team. It was a real shame that full factory bikes were banned at the end of their first season, but I did get to see them run at Hawkstone park in the british round of the world championship.
I believe there were 4 made.
@@bmdbigfeet1031 thanks for the clarification. 👍
I was thinking same. Yamaha
Six or seven were made. Jacky Vimond was the rider for Yamaha in 87 and said the yzm was a sub-par bike. Yamaha gave up due to lack of interest in the 500 class around that time. I believe there are a couple of actual yzms still around but most on the internet are homemade. The air-cooled yzm500 Andre Vromans races in 86 was actually a cool bike that had a power valve, usd forks and a "pancake" expansion chamber that allowed cooling air to be ducted over the cylinder head. That bike looked cool as hell
Thank you for the shout out in the video! Tony
Thank you for all your reporting over the years Tony! It's an honour to have you watch :-)
Great to see youngsters intrested in these old bikes. I didnt realise people were back into them again...I should make a video of all my old motorcross bikes. I used to buy them all up and collect them back in the 90's and ended up with nearly 80 bikes in my lockups before my wife found out.
Bloody awesome it’s a shame they all stopped the big bore 2 strokes 👍
When I was a teenager, I had a water cooled 1985 RM500. I got it from a friend who took it apart and didn't know how to reassemble it. I rode it for a few years and sold it to buy a 1985 CR500. I now have a 1993 CR500. Yes, I love the big bores. It blows me away when I see the power of the new 450 4-strokes matching the power of the 500 2-strokes.
I didn't know Suzuki made one of these! It's beautiful! Got it a one of.
most people(including me) didn't realised it existed! , Thanks for watching
Great video Max, what a beautiful bike, you're so lucky to ride that , I bet it made your day. a lot of the old two strokes have a classic beauty, keep the fantastic videos coming max there amazing..
Thanks Kevin, Yeah I'm a lucky boy for sure. To ride something that the likes of Harry Everts rode is very special. I think he rode it a bit quicker than me though...lol
@@999lazer you were fine I know you wanted to open her up but the thought of breaking it, must have been on you're mind.
The engines from the 84 liquid cooled rm500 weren't used so when they scraped that plan the engines were used in the 85 quadzillas. Liquid cooled 500cc 2 stroke fastest quad ever of the day anyway
I remember doing an enduro in beaconsfield on a TE 510 HUSKY back then. I had it pinned on a long straight trying to get past a sizuki 500 quad as hard as I tried I couldn't pass him damn that bloody thing flew.
@@peterbalac1915 Suzuki's are still the absolute 100% best motocross bike made till this day 2022!!!
@@tomporgy1143 derrrrrp
I thought that motor looked familiar lol
That's correct Jimmy, the engines were used in the Quadzilla bikes. Easy enough to mount in the RM chassis, but essentially that is a works bike.
I ain't sure it counts for the rarest 2 stroke 500?? But I didn't know it existed! Thanks for sharing this man! 😃✌
Saw this one in action at Farleigh Castle in 1983, Vromans and Everts, I think. Some good views of it in action in the St Anthonis 1983 GP video.
I have an ‘87 Quadzilla that I bought new. It’s a 500 cc liquid cooled 2 stroke. Back in the early’90s, lots of guys were taking these motors and putting them on RM250 frames to race. It was an easy swap and worked awesome.
thats what this alleged worlds rarest bike is ,fellas were doing this quite often as the quadzilla was just so damm dangerous ,rip that motor out and jam it in a 250 frame
@@Tonyclifton-q4fhe states it's not a quadzilla. I believe him because the case is much smaller looking than the quadzilla.
That’s one impressive machine. Any chance of doing a video on his full collection of Suzuki RMs? Certainly would be interesting
No , no chance at all maxi
My dad had a 81 Rm 465 when I was a kid, man I loved that bike and he even let me ride once when I was eight years old and oh man the power was intense!!!
Those RM motors always sounded so tame, like theres no real power-band, wish I could take a spin on one
Great piece.....love the enthusiasm You have about riding such a rare bike!! Thanks for Vlog! Cheers from Sparks Nevada @🤟🤙✌
In an mxa article in 1987, Johnny O Mara said he had ridden the "new" RM500 that was being developed, so Suzuki had plans at least to build a new 500. I've never seen any pics of the prototype RM500 from that period tho.
Suzuki produced a 1985 model for the Australian market. It was close to the 84 model except for gold rims , front disc brake, different graphics, grey painted air cooled motor .
The engine was painted a champagne goldy colour like the 85 RM250.
It’s probably been used in Belgian amateur racing back in 1984, but certainly not by the Suzuki factory team. Suzuki folded its factory teams after the 1983 GP seasons. Eric Geboers, then transferred from 125 cc to 500 cc in 1984, where he was in the HRC factory team together with Andre Vromans, André Malherbe and off course Dave Thorpe.
I love ❤️ 2 strokes been riding since 12 years old but fell in love when I was 6 😍🥰 what a beautiful rare piece
I have spoken to this chap over the phone about his collection. Its pretty a impressive, I do love a good rm.
The RM500 chassis powered by the YZ490 motor was tops in 1984 and would have been close in 85. Drum brakes were not a problem in 84.
Greetings from 🇨🇦! That is one uber rare bike! Love this channel, keep up the good work young man!
Thanks. Really appreciate your comment. Cheers Max
There was a French company that offered an accessory water-cooled top-end for the Yamaha YZ 490. I saw one for sale on Ebay from the Netherlands.
That was JPX
@@markroberts1301 Thanks Mark!
I raced a modified 84 RM500 and had complaints after the races for all the rocks and dirt clods thrown on them. That helped keep my position.
This was a really good video. A big thanks to both you and Wayne!
I’m a Suzuki man now , love my RMZ 250,I hope Suzuki catch up with the other manufacturers and put electric start on the RMZ’s
thanks, Max for the video, the oldy and goldy, this RM 500 is a lot of fun on the dirt ... after all those years since the first bike came out of the factory today modern bikes are almost the same regarding power on the wheel, with improvements on suspension, frame, and brakes .... and also the aluminum frame that is rigid and with a lot of vibrations go to the rider ...
That is a cool dirt bike.
I could argue that I have the rarest 2 stroke Suzuki lawn mower but that is a whole other conversation...
Thanks for the upload, it was a bitter sweet story for sure.
That needs a time capsule. I was 15 in 84 and yz/IT fan. Had a soft spot RMs though. Old RMs hard to come by. Those days are a part of generations wonder years.
I would love for 999lazer to try out the stick metering block that Alessi used in his PWK 38 carb. Like an unbiased opinion, two prominent bike builds that used it and gave it a good solid star for it.
Really cool and awesome, great find man. Thank you
Hi max I rember in 80s at British championships they rode them I seem to rember Harry everts to in 83 season GPS for little while and jem whatley at brits champs to mate its sounds magic that noise there's bike rm 500cc on ebay a 83 84 in bits both bikes basket cases mostly all there though they want about 3800 or something like that on bids crazy eh makes me miss those smoker days like crazy buddy look forward to next video
Thanks Chris, appreciate your comment as always. She did sound nice, didnt she.
Gday Boys, I spoke to Wayne at Farleigh and was talking to my mate Eric Geboers, who gave me all the incite on that bike and what to do to make it run better. I shared all the info with Wayne and one of his mates and we took a pic of the 3 of us, WH I might have good news coming soon on my return to that social platform which will give me access to Eric's (RIP)comments again.
I’m 55 years old I grew up on 2 stroke dirt bikes and have had 2 stroke motocross bikes from all 4 Japanese brands and never knew until now that Suzuki made a RM larger than a 250. The bike I had that I wish I still had was my 1985 CR500R, long live the 2 stroke
Great video Max. I read somewhere that suzuki pulled the funding from the 500 gp racing and most of its racing programe to build the suzuki swift car around 1983/84.
I would love to own a mint condition 1985 RM500. They finally had a front disc on the 85 model and then no more.
I've have an 83 since new, an 84 AND an 85 since 6 months old....LOVE them :-)
I had heard about this bike from someone at a bike meet here in Australia; he seemed like a believable guy?
We spoke after he heard and saw my RMX250 that was heavily modified. I spoke about his story to many people and they always dismissed me? I never actually tried to look it up on the internet? The elusive water cooled RM500 had left my thoughts back in the late 90s.... that's of course until today! 😁👍
Um, 1985 was the last Suzuki 500, and it had a front disk break, and yellow lower fork sliders. 😉👍
Im 56 i owned and drove kx420 ,yz465 rm465,rm500 3x cr500s and really the suzuki 465 was my favorite it felt like a 125 so narrow super cool and the light switch on off power was totally siik far out i wished i had them all back i paid sub 1k for all of them in the mid 80s lol lovit great vid 🇦🇺🇦🇺
Harry Everts finished 4th in the 500 world championship in '83 on a water cooled Suzuki, he even won a couple of motos on it but it didn't have disc brakes like that one. On the production side of the RM500, '85 was actually the last year but in the USA the last year was '84.
I knew I recalled a water cooled RM500 back then💡
friggin RM heaven Max, very cool collection, Wayne's a very cool guy! I guess it would be safe to say that the bike is the works suzuki for the open class mx gp 1984? awesome vid Max cheers!
Thanks for watching Tim. We found this vid of Harry Everts riding one in 83 too (approx 46 mins in) th-cam.com/video/4PdNnZzG7h4/w-d-xo.html
I didn't even know the RM done a 500cc before watching this absolutely amazing bike lovely beautiful sound so precious 😍 ❤️ 👌
Absolutely amazing, thanx guys
Yup totally true,the Belgians loved the rm motors/factory trick mid 80s
The factory Suzuki team here in Australia ran a prototype water Cooled RM 500 in the Mr Motorcross series in 1984 for the last few rounds
I’ll see if I can dig up some pics for you
...I do remember Marty Moates racing an RM500 in 83 and 84 and one the 84 bike he had a tank and radiator shrouds from the 125... though no radiators on that bike.
I don't remember a liquid cooled version in the Mr Motocross series.
@@1969cmp I’m pretty sure either Ray Vandenberg or Anthony Gunter had a LC RM 500 for some of the Mr MX rounds in 84 but maybe you’re onto Something regarding the 125 tank and shrouds 🤔 I do remember Marty out here for some of the rounds back then. That was also when Jim Ellis came over to race and stayed here Racing KTM for Bert Flood then later he was on YZ’s
@@joshuaross4644 Ray rode for Honda Australia in 1984...though not much as he destroyed his knee. I'm told in a ski accident. Not sure if Gunter was still in the mix anymore by 84. He doesn't get a mention in the 1983 Mr Motocross that's on TH-cam.
@@joshuaross4644...yeah, Jim Ellis rode on KTM in 1983 and 1986...even leading the Finke Desert Race in 86 until the barrel split. And for Yamaha in 84,85 and 87. He picked up an Aussie title or two on the WhyZed 😉
Dreaming. Marty moates rode a Suzuki 250 frame with an air cooled 465 motor. It had all the plastic of the 250 that looked like water cooled.
What a beautiful bike.
The respect he showed while riding this beauty. 👏
Now that’s a sweet Suzuki collection. I owned a few of those back in the day.
Good video, badass collection. That sound brings back memories for me,bought a new one in 83 for 2200 bucks my senior year 👍
i bought a rm125 new 1983 here in australia, very reliable great handling machine, not the fastest but the easiest to ride
I used to work for Lazer Helmets in so.california we imported helmets from Belgium and my 1984 Rm250 was and still is one of my all time favorite bikes.
Thanks for watching Patty! Fun fact, our channel is sort of named after Lazer helmets. We used only use Lazer when we were kids and our family number was #9, that's where the channel name comes from :-)
@@999lazer Thanks for the reply my name is actually Tom
I wonder if that RM500 was being developed for Danny Chandler aka Mr.Magoo.
Danny was supported by Lazer helmets in Belgium when he crashed.
Let r rip.
I had a kx 500 water-cooled 2 stroke it was bad ass
😱 awesome video max !! I would have been so nervous riding that . don't crash don't crash 🤣 you are a luck bugger !!!
haha your so right, I was cra*pping myself really. I didn't want to damage a piece of history!
I was a Yamaha guy. My friend had the RM. That Full Floater was the best in the business at the time. I was jealous
Had no idea that existed! Thanks for sharing! Blue engine and gold wheels is so pretty 😍
The featured bike in the video has the 1981 - 1985 frame from a RM 465 / 500 (The 1985 RM 500F was not sold in the US. It came with a copper colored engine and a front disk like the other ‘85 models), possibly a fork / disk from an ‘85 F model, and a radiator shroud from an ‘84 RM 250E with same year graphics. Very cool bike though👍! Interestingly, the bike at the beginning of the vid (plate #77) had a more modern frame from either a ‘84 RM250 E model or a ‘85 250 F model. I know some teams, and some in England, were wedging 500 RM motors into the newer 250 frames of that era. The Suzuki factory did build ultra rare water cooled “RN” 500’s in 1983 for their GP team. Does anyone know if one of the “Factory” WC RN’s still exist?
PS. Cool vid and the gent in the vid has an awesome RM collection. Love to see a vid of his other bikes. I thought I saw a 465 with twin shocks.
Bravo!!! Great unique RM 500!!! Great collection!!!
Rm 465 was the first motocross bike I owned, it was definitely a handful in power but the handling and ride was great, even back then.
Fantastic to show this bike.
The 1988 YZM500
(Aluminum frame) is much more desirable & possibly MORE rare since it was 10yrs. ahead of any other manufacturers! 😉👍
I am now complete ! This is like finding out that Bigfoot is real to me !!
You're a lucky lad Max..
I felt very privileged to take it for a little spin! Thanks for watching Scotty
You've made my day,as a suzuki nut that's mint,
How about some videos on the rest of his collection
10/10 channel by the way.
Thanks for watching dude and taking the time to comment, it's really appreciated! We did film some more with Wayne and his collection so there might be another video coming soon
@@999lazer Hope so, Wayne obviously knows his stuff 8) !
Yeah! Suzuki all the way!!
Of Course !! Is there any other way ??????? :-)
That is absolutely awesome!
Thanks for watching Keith!
The last rm500 were sold with an alloy tank and front disc brake?🏴😀💯👍
It has welded sleeve on RM big bore cylinder converted to watercooling. There is marking on left side of cylinder, its is either 465 or 495 ccm, can read it. Definetly not made by Suzuki, but it is very cool bike with lot of factory parts if its 1983. Also you can see KTM marking on water pump.
its not factory ,its not rare ,its a 250D 1983 model with a quadzilla motor and god knows how many hours to get it runnin ,with a side salad of a bullshit story
@@Tonyclifton-q4f it is not, you can clearly see it is RM bottom end not Quadzilla, RM frame not SP. Also it looks like aluminium tank, also bike is modified to take disc brake. Sadly there isnt any good photos of the bike.
Mate I'm slightly clued up on my old school motocross bikes and that's something special amazing looking 500cc💯👌🏻👍🏻
Great video. Awesome Bike! Huge Suzuki Fan😎
It looks like a one off bike. Every piece on it looks hand made and welded. I wouldn't doubt some mechanic built it
Been subbed for a while I love Suzuki there’s like a special feeling they give me
I got an 86 rm250 and an 06 ltz400
Looking for an 86 125 too match
I’m surprised Suzuki hasn’t tried to buy it for their own display
Now for one of the 6 of the 8 YZM500s still floating around out there. (The other 2 are in museums).
Also, Suzuki did sell the RM500 for 1985, but not in the US.
Exactly, called RM500F (1985).
Shown here is the RM500E (1984).
I've have an 83 since new, an 84 AND an 85 since 6 months old....LOVE them :-)
*SUZUKI* This was the best days and so many bikes to chose from. 2 strokes made the sport -
max this is a true one of a kind 😊💯💯🏍🏍
it sure is, I was very nervous to ride it... i didn't want to break a piece of history!
@@999lazer i feel honoured to have seen it
German market last model sold is RM500F in 1985.
Front disc brake like 125/250s.
I've have an 83 since new, an 84 AND an 85 since 6 months old....LOVE them :-)
Wow! that bike sounded crisp and clean. To think what could have been, if Suzuki kept developing their 500.
Tbf all the open class production bikes in 1984 were air cooled. Very interesting vid.
Thanks for watching Andy!