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Racebikes -----o----- My name is Gerard Kampen and i live in Holland, I am a great Barry Sheen fan, I have raced motorbikes here in Holland from 1977 until 1982. At this moment I am building a Suzuki TR500 replica and I am going to race it here in classic events. In complete Sheene style, with replica helmet and leaters and with number 7 on the bike.
--o-- In Feb this year the owners of the Zwartkop Raceway, in Pretoria, South Africa, hosted a classic racie bike day, where the feature event was ”SA Legends“ As many South African Champions as possible were contacted to take part, and the result was an amazing collection of over 35 past South African motorcycle champions, many of them with their old bikes. Two of these were factory Suzuki two stokes, imported by Suzuki South Africa for local rider Les van Breda to use in the South African national championship. The circuit also brought Mick Grant out from the UK with his 1984 Isle of Man TT winning Suzuki RGB 500 (This is an XR45 factory bike). The first is a Suzuki XR05 watercooled twin. This must be one of the rarest Suzuki GP bikes around. It was the first of the waterooled 500 cc models. This bike is still as it last raced in 1975 (when it was completely outclassed by the Suzuki TR 750, and the RG500 raced at the time by Keith Zeeman. It has never been restored.
Also out for the day was the Suzuki TR750 raced by Les van Breda. This bike was put on display after a short foray in Europe by van Breda, and has been hanging on a wall for the best part of 25 years. It took two weeks of cleaning and checking ant it was ready to ride.
No 77 Les van Breda on his Suzuki TR 750, no 31, Clive Strugnell on his Suzuki XR05 , both a Zwartkops raceway, 2nd Feb 2008. Pics courtesy of Clive Strugnell -0- Bernard Girardot from France has supplied some photos of a Heron Suzuki carbon fibre framed XR70 RV86 Suzuki found and restored in Germany, in running condition. This bike is one of two build in 86 with carbon swinging arm, WP fork and the last evolution of the square-four engine : XR70 RV with reed valves. This bike was ridden by some very exciting riders including the wild and talented Australian Paul Lewis, the tall gentleman rider Niall MacKenzie and the famed Kevin Schwantz.
~o~ Sukidookie has supplied some pics of his great T500 based racer..... Here is some pictures and info on my bike. Here's my story I picked the bike up for free from someone that just had it rusting away in the backyard. They actually had it next to the fence so the dogs could stand on it to look over. I started by taking the bike apart and modifying things. Frame- chopped the rear of the frame and relocated the shock mounts, shortened the swing-arm and added gussets, added extra frame tubes for bracing, remove unwanted brackets and stands. Tank and rear cowl- I made them from 3003 aluminum and fit them to the frame, lots if work. Paint was handled by a friend of mine (pete "hot Dog" finlan) who paints for West Coast Choppers. Thanks Pete. Chambers, Silencers and rear sets- I made them all with my own hands, rolling cones is a bitch and I think I will just buy the cones next time. rear sets were designed in Cad and the cut out on the water jet at Boyd Coddington Hot Rods (my current employer) Other things include clip-ons, number plates and all brackets that I made for the bike. I plan to finish the bike by April 2008 and take it out to race at willow springs with AHRMA I have never raced before so it's an exciting time for me. All The Best, Robert Taylor
--o-- Steve Wheatman has picked up a factory TR500 Daytona which was imported into Australia for racing. This bike's engine number is T500-24895 - The original owner was Kijima engineering from Japan & the bike was bought to Australia in 1973 by Grant McRichie & other Australian owners have been Martin Hone, Steve Trinder, Jeff Curley & Ray Weston
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Hi, I have sent a picture of the Bimota Suzuki TR500 (XR05). This has the Mark 3 liquid cooled engine fitted . Full Bimota Chassis and Brembo Brakes. It has been totally rebuilt and is ready to go. Cheers Jim --o--
HELLO, ATTACHED ARE SOME FOTOS OF MY ( still unrestored) BIMOTA SUZUKI TR 500 XR05; Best regards Bart Crauwels ( Belgium) --0-- Found in a New Zealand shed. Hi Suzuki fans, here's a pic of a couple of TR replicas I recently picked up with the plan of racing them in NZ's classic scene. Built by a craftsman named John Anderson they are reasonable replicas of the mighty TR 500 and TR 250, the porting is supposed to be TR spec. I got them in Tuakau, they were built by John Anderson, its not a Steve Roberts frame, although it will be just as good. It was copied from an original air cooled TR frame, and also incorporates elements of an original water cooled TR frame that was also available for the maker to copy. At the moment they are covered in dust, and need a bit of TLC. When I saw them they spoke to me...buy us....and after a couple of beers and a handshake deal with the owner having settled on a reasonable price, they were mine. The plan is to have them singing in time for the "Burt Munro Memorial Street Race" on the 26th of November in Wyndham, Southland (if you are in New Zealand at this time this wekend will be an epic showcase of motorcycle racing with beach, circuit, street and speedway events all held in the Invercargill region...go to http://www.southlandnz.com/ for details). I'll post more on the bikes when they are up and running, hopefully the TR500 replica will give me the power I need to beat the Honda CB750's that dominate our pre 72 class racing.
I'd like to thank Muzza for his great website, its been very interesting and inspiring, and the pics of the early Australian racing days are excellent. I'd like to know more about his T500 racer with the 2 in to 1 expansion chamber...how it went, power characteristics, etc. The only other 2 stroke I have seen with 2 cylinders breathing in to 1 chamber is the Koenig, if it works why isn't it more common...it must be a lot easier to only have to make one expansion chamber for the T500 instead of 2 eh? More later, Brooksy Ed. 2 into 1s are great fun but they don't make enough top end to be competitive on most tracks...they work mighty good on the road though where top end is not so essential. regards Muzz --o--
Some photos of my Bimota SB1 Aldosuzuki (Switzerland) "Lovely bike Aldo"
-o- Bart Crauwels (Belgium) shares pics of his lovely Bimota SB1
--o-- H2Rick found a rare pic of a Rickman Metisse Suzuki 500 raced by Floyd Emde... From the April '68 issue of Cycle World on pages 66 and 67 comes an article titled "Daytona:The Men and Machines for 1968".....with a quick mention as follows..... "Floyd Emde has entered his 500-cc Suzuki-Metisse, which rider Johnny Apple took to second place in its race debut at Carlsbad, Calif. The machine uses Suzuki's two-stroke twin-cylinder engine in one of the Rickman brothers' Metisse frames, complete with fiberglass tank and seat."
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