Sunday, December 23, 2012

Wynnfurst Kohler

This time some pics and vids of a very special formula car, the Wynnfurst Lola Kohler. This car is powered by a six cylinder two stroke engine originally meant for a military drone!
For more pics see
Wynnfurst Kohler

The teams website
Wynnfurst racing

Want to know how it sounds?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5svXFNmM5cU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqbg41atujU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZmkGOSib4A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDWhCeoLfW0

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Hörhammer RGTZ500

I added some new pics to the Hörhammer RGTZ500 set. What I bike, with aprox. 155 hp!! Bartol TZ barrels, home made Ducati style frame and the upper crankcase mounted the wrong way.  
For more pics see
Claus Hörhammer RGTZ500

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Italian V4 500 two stroke project

This time a link to a very exciting project, some Italian guys are building a 500cc V4 two stroke engine from scratch!! They are going to use as much of the shelf parts as possible, like Gokart or Honda RS125 barrels an MV Agusta cassette gearbox, a Ducati 1098 dry clutch, a zeeltronic ignition unit, Dell Orto carbs and home made cranks.  
For more pics and information (in Italian) see
V4 500 two stroke project

Friday, November 16, 2012

Schmid Suzuki GT750 sidecar

Added some new pics to my Suzuki GT750 sidecar photoset. This time a very nice Schmid sidecar with a great set of expansion pipes!
For more pics see 
Suzuki two stroke sidecar racers

Friday, October 12, 2012

Cagiva X4

Added some more pics to my Cagiva X4 set, this was the first Cagiva at the race tracks. It was based on a Suzuki RG500 MK4. This is the ex Alex George machine as ridden in the TT of Man in 1979 and 4 Grand prix, Austria 13th, Italy 13th and 2 retirements. He won the big race at the TT beating Mike Hailwood on the Big Honda, but the Cagiva/Suzuki failed in the senior and Mike won the race.  
For more pics see
Cagiva X4 (RG500)
Want to know how it sounds see
Cagiva X4 

Friday, September 28, 2012

Walter Wolf RG500 and 400

Walter Wolf was an Austrian born and later Canadian business man who made his fortune in the oil business. He happened to be a giant motorsport lover and funded an F1 team. He must have been a special character as in 1975 after having purchased a Lamborghini Countach, he claimed this wasn’t fast enough and asked for a special version of it with a more powerful engine. And so, in addition to the special edition Suzuki RG500 and 400, there are apparently 5 ultra rare Lambos named WW around the world as well. The RG500 walter Wolf Special - a very limited, very distinctive edition of the 500cc Suzuki machine that has won seven championships in world-class Grand Prix racing. That racing heritage continued in 1986 with the Walter Wolf sponsored RG500 winning the Canadian National Pro & Amateur 600 Production Championships. The full power Walter Wolf RG500 Gamma of which only 99 were produced, were only exported to Canada. No other venue (including the Japan domestic market) was to ever receive the real deal 95 hp Wolf. Canada WW's are distinguished by a dedicated series of VIN's beginning with the last three digits of 883 and ending with 982. Also the Canadian bikes did not have the WW logo on the gauges nor the WW key that Japanese Wolf's had.
(Update 20-04-2016, I received an email from Bob Truelson a well known name in the RG500 community and he told me that some of the Canadian bikes also had the WW logo in the gauges)
Of the 99 production Canada WW's, a surprising number went to Mexico where Walter Wolf was a big name in F1 auto racing circles. Perhaps as many as 30 of the new bikes were shipped there to very appreciative owners, never to be seen again north of the border. The Japanese market had the Walter Wolf RG400 and RG500 in 1986 with colors like the Canadian model and in another black and red scheme and with different clocks. For the Singapore market there was a WW in a grey color. In 1987 the Japanese market only Walter Wolfs came in a new color scheme with the RG400 having Walter Wolf Racing on the belly pan and the RG500 with "500" on the belly pan. These colors are also known as the Mizutani replica colors, Mazaru Mizutani is a former Japanese 500cc champion and was sponsored by Walter Wolf Racing. This last model is very rare.
For more pics see
Walter Wolf RG500 and 400

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Update of the Suzuki RG500 project

It has taken a while but here an update of the RG500 project. It has got new Maranello Engineering rotary valve covers, new clip ons, Galfer brake lines and the fairing now fits correct. Next things to do are sanding the fairing and tank, polish the new swing arm and fit the Nitron shock. And then it can go to the painter!!
For more pics see  
Suzuki RG500 project

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Suzuki RGV500 year by year

This time a nice overview of the Suzuki RGV500 over the years, not complete but it gives you some nice information of the different types.
For more pics see
Suzuki RGV500 year by year

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Ciba Geigy Suzuki's

Received some great information from Bernard, he is the owner of one of the Skoal Bandit XR70 bikes. Bernard thanks for this!
When Suzuki retired from the 500 GPs at the end of 83, the old square four (created in 73) was no more competitive against the Honda and Yamaha V4's. Therefore they continued to provide support to Heron in UK and Gallina in Italy with works engines and Suzuki alloy frames. In the UK the Heron team decided to invest in a new frame to reduce the weight and ordered 2 prototypes from Nigel Leaper in Cambridge. The first prototypes were "white" with aluminium sheets on honeycomb material from Ciba Geigy. Six other bikes were build after the prototypes. In 84 they used XR40 engines, in 85 XR45 with exhausts valves and in 86 the last square four, the XR70 with reed valves instead of disc valves. In 84 and 85 they used alloy swing arms and Suzuki forks but in the middle ot 86 they changed for a carbon swing arm and a White Power fork. The weight of the 86 bike was around 110 kgs and the maximum power was 148 HP due to the UK development especially in exhausts, heads and air-boxes. The problem was that the factory was not interested in carbon (too far away from the production road bikes) so at the beginning they were not helpful with the UK team but the results were better than the Gallina bikes so in 85 Heron got better engines and support. The carbon frame was too stiff, it was the most important problem because the bike was so light. The first pilot in 84 was Rob McElnea, In 85 Paul Lewis came in the team and McElnea left to Yamaha. In 86 Paul Lewis was still in the team with Niall MacKenzie and in the middle of the season Kevin Schwantz also got a bike. For the last race (The GP of San Marino at Misano) MacKenzie was in the first row. Kevin Schwantz won his first point in the 500cc class in Spa Francorchamps. At the end of 86, Suzuki announced their return as official team with the new XR71 V4. A batch of carbon bikes was sold at the end of 86 to Gerhard Vogt in Germany and 2 bikes with the XR70RV engine to the Frankonia team in Switzerland with Wolfgang von Muralt as pilot. They used the bikes for 2 years and at the end of 88 these bikes went to Germany also.
For pics of these bikes see
Carbonfiber framed Suzuki RG & RGV500 racers  

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Formula 500 RG500

This time some pics of Formula 500 cars, powered by an RG500 Gamma engine. These cars still run today against Yamaha R6 powered cars and cars powered by snowmobile 2stroke engines. Amazing for an engine that is 26 years old and they still run for the title!! This is an Australian speedway race serie.
For more pics see
Formula 500 RG500
Want to know how they sound see
Formula 500 RG500 sound

Monday, May 28, 2012

VRP500 part 2

Got some more info and pics of Carlo and Enzo, the owner of a beautiful VRP RG500 Gamma. Carlo also made frames for the Honda RS500 and the Suzuki RG500 Gamma streetbike. For the Honda he made 3 frames and for the Gamma 6 or 7 frames. Also got an article about the VRP500 published in Moto Tecnica of January 1993 of Enzo.
For the pics and the article see my photoset
VRP500

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Nico Bakker RGB500

This time some pics of the 1989 500cc Dutch Championship bike of Koos van Leijen. This Nico Bakker framed bike had a rather special engine, it was an RGB500 engine with MK11 cylinders, with the powervalve system of an RG500 Gamma. This with special expansion pipes by Herman Looman was enough to be faster then the XR45 powered Spondon Suzuki of Theo Louwes. A few years ago the frame and fairings of this bike appeared on Ebay. I did some bidding on it but did not win the auction. After that it showed up in a Performance Bikes magazine, the current owner is planning to restore the bike.
For more pics see
Nico Bakker RGB500 Koos van Leijen

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Dutch Track Days 2012

Seen at the Dutch Track Days at the TT circuit at Assen, April 2012.
For more pics see
Dutch Track Days 2012

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Some great Barton information

Found a great link about Barton motors on the internet.
For more information and pics see
Barton Motors - the Sparton, the Phoenix and more

Thursday, March 22, 2012

VRP500

My last entry was about the Librenti 500, when I made it I was thinking about that other illusive bike that raced in the 500cc class at the same time, the VRP500. I almost could not find any information about it on the web, so I contacted Andy Leuthe and Carlo Verona. This is the information I received from them. First Carlo made a frame for Andy's Suzuki XR70 reed valve engine, after that Carlo, with contribution of Andy, made a total new bike with a home made V4 engine. One of the bikes was for Andy the other for an Italian racer. Nowadays Carlo still has one bike the other was sold, the whereabouts of this bike are unknown. The bike that Carlo has is in pieces but he has plans to restore it. Carlo still runs a company, Verona Racing Parts (VRP) this company makes König like airboat race engines. Andy and Carlo many thanks for the pics and the information!
Some specs of the 1992 VRP500
Engine: V4 500 - with 2 crankshafts
Carburettors: 39mm Dell'Orto VHSB
Bore - Stroke: 54 x 54
Power: 145 HP tested at the rear wheel at 12000 rpm
For more pics see
VRP500

Monday, March 5, 2012

Librenti 500

Here a few links to some pics and vids of a very rare 500cc GP machine the Librenti V4 500cc two stroke. In the pic above you see Marco Papa and the 1992 bike. These bikes were made by Giancarlo Librenti who died in 1993 at the age of 56. Librenti is one of the more illusive Italian makes, just like VRP. First you had Cagiva and then Paton and after that the small ones like Librenti and VRP.
For more pics see
Librenti
Start up of a Librenti
Part 1
Part 2

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Great König pics

Found some great pics on the web about König and the König factory. König was the manufacturer of the great four cylinder boxer two stroke outboard racing engines. These engines were also used in the 500cc motorcycle world championship by Kim Newcombe.
For the pics see
The König Factory
Other König pics and memorabilia

Friday, February 10, 2012

Bremen Classic Show 2012

Honda RS500 triple two stroke racer ex Gustav Reiner aka Kamikaze Gustl, seen at the Classic Show in Bremen February 2012.
For more pics see
Bremen Classic Show 2012

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Yamaha YZR500 pics

This time the old and forgotten Blatawcm site with a lot of very nice Yamaha YZR500 engine pics on it, grab them while you can!!
Pit and engine shots
Also some very nice action shots of Garry McCoy and John Hopkins.
Gallery

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Cagiva RG500

Cagiva/Suzuki RG500 MK4, this was the first bike in the 500cc class under the name of Cagiva. This is the ex Alex George machine as ridden in the TT of Man in 1979 and 4 Grand prix, Austria 13th, Italy 13th and 2 retirements. He won the big race at the TT beating Mike Hailwood on the Big Honda, but the Cagiva/Suzuki failed in the senior and Mike won the race.
For more pics see
Cagiva RG500