1989 RZ350

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bhoneydew · #1 Post by **bhoneydew** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:48 pm

Hi,

I just purchased a 1989 RZ350 today but dont know anything about the regular maintenance requirements. Are there any downloadable manuals for this bike (I searched the board and got confused)? Here's the craigslist pic. Riding it home tomorrow and I'll post some pics. Thanks!

ricar · #2 Post by **ricar** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:29 am

Make sure there's oil in the tank before you go for a ride. Even if you put oil in "just the other day".

Red9 · #3 Post by **Red9** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:28 pm

More pics please!
Where abouts did you find it? I know you said craiglist but stateside, Canada?
How many miles?
What mods and how much? (if you don't mind my asking

)

Zedixe13 · #4 Post by **Zedixe13** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:42 am

There's one in Montreal for $1000. with a blown engine .

http://www.lespac.com/vehicules/motos/m ... 75WWgrZZ12

Or a nice 1990 for $2300. ( big money IMO )

http://www.lespac.com/vehicules/motos/l ... 75WWgrZZ12

bhoneydew · #5 Post by **bhoneydew** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 4:55 am

Sorry no pics yet. It was on craigslist in Vancouver, Canada. I see them pop up once in a while. It has 36,000 kms. Some cracks in the fairings. Everything is original that I know of. Paid $2k. I've ridden it twice and it is awesome. The smell, the power, awesome.
I do have 2 questions. When the fuel switch is up does it draw from the main tank and down for reserve? And is the rear shock adjustable?

silverstrom · #6 Post by **silverstrom** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 5:35 am

The rear shock is adjustable with the proper wrench.

Petcock positions are RES at top ON at bottom and PRI in the middle. You should be able to see it. The knob stays in the ON position when the bike is off. It's vacuum controlled and ON becomes OFF with no vacuum applied. Never leave it in PRI and walk away. If you have a sticky float valve it will get messy in a hurry.

Be careful riding the bike if it's cold/cool out there. The temperature will seriously affect jetting and you'll have a meltdown. It will always run best on the ragged edge of lean. Step over that line and it's get expensive fast.

bhoneydew · #7 Post by **bhoneydew** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:47 am

Thanks for the tips. How long should I warm it up before riding? How do you ride it differently in the cold? All tips are welcome as I don't want to damage the bike due to my ignorance.

silverstrom · #8 Post by **silverstrom** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 2:53 am

bhoneydew wrote:Thanks for the tips. How long should I warm it up before riding? How do you ride it differently in the cold? All tips are welcome as I don't want to damage the bike due to my ignorance.

In the cold you shouldn't ride it at all without rejetting, or at the very least verifying the current jetting. Since you don't know what the jetting is now you should probably just park it until you pull the carbs and look. You can't assume it's properly jetted. Doing so may cost you. If it was jetted for warm August weather at 3500 feet and it's now a lot colder and the altitude is a lot lower you'll have problems. You need more main jet as temperatue and elevation decrease. You don't know what the jetting is now. It might be fine or it might be way off. What elevation was it jetted at and what elevation are you at now? It all matters. That's the trouble with buying someone else's bike. You have no idea what they did. Best to play it safe and have a look to see what you have now. Not ckecking can cost you big time.

By the way...cool username. Used to watch that show a lot. Still miss the humour. Poor Beaker sure got the short end of the stick.

bhoneydew · #9 Post by **bhoneydew** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:26 am

He did get the short end a lot. Poor fella.

The previous owner lives at sea level and so do I. I'll poke around the site to find some jetting tips.

I saw the pics of your blue rz. It looks in much better shape than mine.

Also I am originally from Kingston.

ricar · #10 Post by **ricar** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:26 am

Got my bike with a 180 main in one carb and a 220 on the other.