Neil Tolhurst races his Yamaha RZ350 in a WERA sprint race at Grattan Raceway in September of 1984. Tolhurst was one of the leading novice riders in WERA’s North Central Region in the middleweight classes. He had his best results at Indianapolis Raceway Park that season. Neil, like a lot of RZ350 riders, got the most for their money racing this versatile bike. Neil competed in the bike’s natural classes D Production and D Superbike, but he also raced up in the C Production and Superbike classes against 600 Supersport bikes and over in the Formula Two class against 250GP bikes. The RZ350 was the workhorse of club racers across the country in the early-to-mid 1980s. Last I heard Neil still owns this motorcycle.
Neil Tolhurst races his Yamaha RZ350 in a WERA sprint race at Grattan Raceway in September of 1984. Tolhurst was one of the leading novice riders in WERA’s North Central Region in the middleweight classes. The RZ350 was the workhorse of club racers across the country in the early-to-mid 1980s. (Larry Lawrence photo)
Rider Files 
Wow! Great birthday present, Larry! Thank you.
Yup – I still have and street ride that ’83 Canadian RZ and it certainly was a workhorse. I raced it in WERA endurance races plus in up to six sprint classes per weekend: D Production, D Superbike, C Prod, C Super, B Prod, and Formula 2. It was a blast. The bike was reliable enough that I used to get bored between races and sometimes would walk around and help other racers work on their bikes while secretly wishing (and envying) I could nap between races like my pal and endurance teammate Lance David could do!
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Great pic of Neil in turn 4. Definitely a more classic (upright) riding style, but he was still fast.
The great thing about the RZ, besides being light and fast, was that it crashed well. It seems we all had the same cheek scuff on the fairing, but most crashes only required new handlebars, and maybe shift linkage. I seem to recall Neil keeping his on two wheels more than most, and certainly more than I did mine.
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Hola Neil Great to see that pic of you in action. Going to the Vintage races this Sunday in Louden NH Sidecars too . Sam going as well Why don’t you come over. Cheers Bumpy
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Good to hear from you, Kevin. As I recall, I was able to beat you every time – every time you couldn’t make it to the races and every time you DNF’d! Otherwise, the checkered flag was yours! LOL 🙂 You were faster.
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What a beautiful bike. This brings back some memories for me and my racing, back in the day. Thank you for sharing this.
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