1984 Yamaha rz350

[RDryan]

Yup, here it is - https://www.ebay.com/itm/396621336900?_skw=rz350&itmmeta=01JVN7JZM2APQD10CEJZAQAQBB&hash=item5c58795144:g:FwwAAOSw~3JoHlVG

And here is another one with HIGH price ... grab your pop-corn
https://www.ebay.com/itm/205445318431?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D285112%26meid%3D0d09cee2147e41a7affdfe3f590fefbe%26pid%3D101875%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D3%26sd%3D396621336900%26itm%3D205445318431%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2332490%26algv%3DDefaultOrganicWebV9BertRefreshRankerWithSeedLeafcatFilterWithPriceFilter%26brand%3DYamaha&_trksid=p2332490.c101875.m1851

NLA now, Kaplan must have sold it.

Yeah I just noticed that too and I agree. It must've attracted some attention, a offered was made. Perhaps over the phone?...and it was sold. I used to follow Kaplan Cycles auctions a lot more than I do now. They just have a lot of interesting old two stroke dirtbikes as well as four stroke motorcycles besides the usual classic two stroke motorcycles. Anyways I have seen quite a few of the bike auctions that don't seem to sell. It just seems like if all they did was sell bikes thru Ebay auctions then they probably wouldn't survive. Just too much overhead. The tours he gives of the shop and the busy working crew with multiple bike projects, of course it makes one wonder,how is it possible to make money at this kinda business? 

However I've also watched Kaplan's YouTube channel,and that gets a lot of exposure as well as his Ebay store.I dunno it's interesting as he does maintain or rather it all started as an effort to restore an old rundown factory in his hometown and turn it into a motorcycle museum as well as the sales. He seems to attract a lot of private bike collectors. It just amazes me there are so many out there and I wouldn't have a clue unless someone gave a video tour or wrote a story about them.

Is Kaplan's in CT. ?

Yes.Rockville,CT. to be exact. I've never been there,small town and I believe the Kaplan Cycles Museum maybe the biggest and only attraction. So the story goes that Ken Kaplan started a  computer sales  business. Got into the industry at just the right time and made a fortune. Toward the final years of maintaining that business he bought the old mill building/property in his hometown and created the motorcycle musuem alongside his motorcycle sales. Now the museum I believe he secured some gov't. grant money to restore it's buildings which have some historical value. However he would often point out that to keep up with the restoration he needed to secure more money. I dunno but I reasoned that the motorcycle sales as well as museum admissions are not enough to make a profit. Which leads me to believe that maybe the fortune that started it all from the computer sales is enough to keep it all going on.

I talked to this guy a few times over the phone who lives in Pennsylvania. He's a big Kawi triple collector and had a H2 for sale for the longest time on FB Marketplace. He was also on a Kaplan YouTube video where Kaplan bought a number of bikes off of him as well as showing off some of his best bikes. It was a funny coincidence that I watched the video and then saw this fella's H2 for sale on FB. I put 2 and 2 together and figured it out to be the same guy so I asked him about that and much like most folks on this forum....the perceived image of Kaplan is "he's a clown".

So I will say this much about Kaplan the clown. He does have his own bull in a china shop, John Wayne guns blazing style that is a bit obnoxious. His bikes are in his own words not cheap but there is some very nice examples amongst the collection that aren't too worked over with his version of reconditioning. I think where Kaplan Cycles really shines is that they are more or less experts with the older dirtbikes, motocross of the eighties, nineties. They do a pretty nice job reconditioning those particular bikes. And if you think about it because he does maintain a staff of full-time employees to run the business it's just not cheap to take a bike down to the frame and go thru it all. Nothing is cheap when it comes to professional servicing add in a percentage of profit and I see his pricing structure making some sense. What doesn't make sense is who will pay for it. At least to me and most of us but I believe Kaplan has made a lot of wealthy, collector friends in his spectrum of the bike world. Which I am in awe of, it's interesting. America is a vast country with a vast array of people and stuff...It doesn't fit my reality but if I had say 20 million dollars I imagine I could live the rest of my remaining life out in the sticks of CT. and just buy up cheap real estate/abandon mill buildings and restore them along with a collection of sweet motorcycles.

Also another thing about Ken Kaplan is over the years not only have I observed his Kaplan Cycles business get bigger but he himself, his interest in being a clown has grown immensely. He really seems to enjoy making/posting videos on Youtube. There are a number of videos where he talks a lot about his sobriety and trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle by going to the gym.I think he's twenty plus years sober...they are motivational videos I guess you could say filled with positive pearls of wisdom but also laced with a lot of his ego, hence the clown. I could go on and on with my thoughts about this.

He did have this one H2 for sale, I wish I had bought it. I think it was the summer of 2018 maybe 17' it wasn't cheap but it was pretty clean and in very nice condition. A purple 73' with what looked like the original color paint and graphics and a set of chrome denco's. I just recall watching the Ebay auctions for it getting relisted with a slightly cheaper buy it now but I just too cheap to spend the money. Eventually he had that bike marked down to 13k  and not cheap but a hell of a lot less than what today's market is asking for the same bike. Also at the time I was younger and owned less stuff and more successful with my work. I look back on it as I should've taken the plunge into that money pit of bike because I got too much common sense to do it now. 

[m in sc]

interesting perspective.  Imho he's a bit too Richard Rawlings-esque for me. when the talent around him dries up, and it will, watch what happens.

[RDnuTZ]

I wouldn't call them dirt bike restoration experts. It's mostly repainted coverups and fitting an assortment of non-OEM parts or wrong year/bike substituted parts they claim as "all original". Lots of Pimp Willie spit shine to make them look better in pictures. I grew up with Yamaha 2 strokes of all flavors from 1970 on and easily recognize inconsistencies in their work and descriptions.

[pdxjim]

Average price for an RZ350 on BaT is around $11k

[grcamna3]

I wouldn't call them dirt bike restoration experts. It's mostly repainted coverups and fitting an assortment of non-OEM parts or wrong year/bike substituted parts they claim as "all original". Lots of Pimp Willie spit shine to make them look better in pictures. I grew up with Yamaha 2 strokes of all flavors from 1970 on and easily recognize inconsistencies in their work and descriptions.

Yeah, it's what's 'under the skin' (w/ tank,seat & covers removed) that would impress me.. then you know just what you've got.

I've never seen any 'before pictures'.. only the shined-up ones.

[grcamna3]

interesting perspective.  Imho he's a bit too Richard Rawlings-esque for me. when the talent around him dries up, and it will, watch what happens.

Reminds me of the movie Blazing Saddles:the character 'Mongo' but Ken Kaplan seems like Mongo after too much coffee.

[RDryan]

I wouldn't call them dirt bike restoration experts. It's mostly repainted coverups and fitting an assortment of non-OEM parts or wrong year/bike substituted parts they claim as "all original". Lots of Pimp Willie spit shine to make them look better in pictures. I grew up with Yamaha 2 strokes of all flavors from 1970 on and easily recognize inconsistencies in their work and descriptions.

Yeah, I can't disagree I am no expert. However I think with some of the Honda CR's for example he has this thing where he often hooks up with bikes that have what he calls the "California Frame Rails" where they just have no dents or dings. I guess that's just lucky for him but a great start. Then his girlfriend does her magic as a graphic designer doing the custom decal kits. Of course they do some repaint and polishing of the plastics to bring back some of the original color. Now the motocross bikes of the 80's,90's and 2000's while I agree they don't do perfect restorations they can get away with all that polishing a turd slap a set of fancy stickers on those kinda bikes. Combine that with their expert guy that does the "wizard tune" and all the sudden Kaplan becomes his self proclaimed title The King of Ping. I'm almost convinced that it's all his fault for the prices of CR500's going thru the roof on FB. Although I do notice that cr500's don't do nearly as well on Bring A Trailer, just say'in.

[RDryan]

interesting perspective.  Imho he's a bit too Richard Rawlings-esque for me. when the talent around him dries up, and it will, watch what happens.

Oh yeah...I forgot about that guy. I recently watched one of his YouTube videos where he had a couple of guys from Europe that owned/operated some kinda motorcycle mod business fly into his shop and spent a day doing this make over of the Harley Pan America bike. It was kinda entertaining and interesting to see the transformation of that bike but I think it actually was better before than after. They basically made it louder a little lighter and more of a street fighter style but couldn't quit lose the bulk of the front fairing. It just didn't look right despite all the clever ingenuity and Rawlings what can I say...you got it right on point there.