Suzuki RG400 - ?500

[Rob W]

I know someone selling one of these for £500. It's a D reg with a 465cc big-bore kit. Been sat in a garden for quite a while but he reckons it just needs cleaning up and I know him well so I doubt he's bullsh1tting.

Reckon this would be a good buy? I'd love to have it myself but I just bought a brand new bike and I wanna keep that for now. How much you reckon one of these would make in good nick?

Cheers

[Gazdaman]

I'm in a similar position with an XJ600.

Check it over see how long it's been stood, make sure it starts, make sure the exhausts havn't started rusting inside. Make sure the rubber seals are ok, fork seals will probably go quite quickly.

Gaz

[Rob W]

It's been stood for about 6 months. Pretty sure it's gonna need some work doing to it but he assures me the engine is fine and all it needs is some cosmetic work as it's been sat for so long. Had brand new tires a month before it was left so I doubt they would of perished much. Would be nice as a project, may even keep it to move up onto once I pass my "probation".

[Frost]

Yes it WILL need work, probably alot of it too. So long as you are prepared to pay for/carry out an engine rebuild then the rest would just be tidying it up and hunting about ebay for parts.

An XJ600 isnt a very good project bike, they are easy to pick up cheap in good condition.
Big 2 strokes often make great project bikes due to their rareity and cult following.

[Kickstart]

Hi

Grab it. Both hands. Don't let it go.

An RG500 would be better but for £500 I would grab the 400.

Over 6 months there are unlikely to be any real issues. Plenty of bikes get laid up for that long every winter.

All the best

Keith
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[Frost]

I'd buy it just for the noise it makes!

Imagine having it sat int he garage, one sunny day you could get it out and have a ride you will NEVER forget!

Plus once in decent nick it will sell for alot more than £500!
Just expect it to be a bit of a labour of love, especially as its been big bored so an engine rebuild might envolve getting some pretty obscure parts

For £500 though, i'd buy it!

[Annabella]

[tatters]

l would say get it, but if you decied other wise PM me and l,ll go for it.
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[stevo as b4]

yeah i agree that for £500 its worth getting! The thing i would be most concerned with is the state of the chassis, and more importantly if theres any signs of serious crash damage. This type of bike much like the Yamaha 350YPVS is very likely to have had a serious crash at some stage in its life, so, while forks and wheels can be replaced the Alloy frame on the RG will need careful checking for damage, as it would at best be difficult to straighten/repair.
Engine wise assume its knackered, unless you can get confirming evidence from the seller, such as parts receipts and re-build costs from a professional, or just the invoices for all the bits, especially the big bore piston kit. A box of old worn out engine components kept from a previous re-build is sometimes a genuine sign of a re-build. The std 400cc motor would never have exceeded 59bhp as the RG400 was a grey import bike only. So its probably a good thing that its been taken out to 465cc, and any other tuning that its had, which is pretty likely with these motors.
There are no interchangeable parts between the RG400 and the 500 though i have heard, so whilst the RG500 unit should fit, you cannot swap bits over to make yours a 500.
I would think that engine parts are fairly commonly available for the RG400, but from grey bike specialists. The 465cc kit may or may not still be available, so you would need to research that one.
If the bike looks pretty straight chassis wise, then its a bit of a a bargin project at £500, if you are prepared to accept that it could cost quite a bit to sort out. Chassis parts should be easy to find at reasonable prices, but big strokers are always expensive to do engine work on. Having said that the RG500 engine is relatively reliable when looked after, until it wears out at 35000miles or there abouts. Regular maintainence and use, will be big factors here, as there could be alot of machines that were scrapped first time around, when they had a serious engine mishap, but also there are a few low mileage bikes kept by collectors, people taking on projects, people that cant afford to run them etc, that might have been standing years, and that can be as much of a problem.
I nearly brought a limited edition Skoal Bandit RG500 about 3 years ago that was going for £1400. This seemed like a bargin at the time, as many RG's are often advertised in the £2000-5000 bracket. They are getting rare and collectable, and have cult bike status like the 350YPVS and old kawasaki triples do. The RG is the only of of the 3 GP replicas that you stand a chance of buying at a reasonable price, as they are almost common, in comparison to the Honda and Yamaha's. NS400 prices might drop though, if there are any still around, s its getting very difficult to keep them on the road in terms of getting spares. For the RG vertually all the parts are available easily enough, but they may not be cheap.
Hope you buy it mate, and find a big pot of money lying around so that you can sort it out into another last of the big two stroke monster's lol!

[Rob W]

Been thinking about it for a while, he mentioned it a few months ago and I never really thought about it cos I didn't have the money (still haven't lol). But the thought of riding a 465cc 2T that should eat most bikes in it's class in a straight line is swaying me. Think my old man's more interested to be honest, he loves Suzuki's and loves messing about with bikes. He's selling his TL-R soon, supposedly to get a 'Busa but maybe I can blag him to spend the money elsewhere .

Well aware of the fact it's gonna need some cosmetic work, probably a rebuild and a few other bits but as I haven't seen the bike yet I can't say for sure, but for £500 it cant be bad. May arrange to go and take a look at it soon. Anyway, cheers for all the comments

[Rob W]

Just spoke to the bloke and he's gonna keep it now the bast


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