Padgetts F1 RG500

Mark Phillips on the Padgetts F1 RG500. It was built by Padgetts Motorcyles. It has a Harris RGB500 frame and a modified RG500 Gamma street engine with Padgetts dry clutch and RGB ignition and carbs. Phillips won the 1986 British TT F1 title on this bike. When Suzuki launched its RG500 road bike in 1985 Padgetts converted the road engine into a full GP-spec RG and Phillips thrashed the heavier four-strokes. “The bike handled so well and was so light,” says Phillips. “In fact the TT F1 RG was lighter than the GP bike, because the road engine was based on the smaller factory XR45 engine.” 

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Padgetts F1 RG500

Cat Crescent sidecar racer

The very special 1974 Cat Crescent sidecar racer of Rudi Kurth and Dane Rowe. It has a 500cc triple two stroke engine out of a speed boat. Rudi was the man behind the low and fast streamlined monocoque sidecars. Also he was the one who build the first triple TZ Yamaha's.

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Cat Crescent sidecar racer

Rudi Kurth and Dane Rowe

Lynx Saab 850 sidecar racer

Lynx Saab Sidecar (1965), as raced by Richard and Samantha Holmes. It is powered by an 850cc two stroke triple Saab car engine with reed valves and a Norton 6-speed gearbox. 

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Lynx Saab 850 racer

Suzuki G-54 RG500

I made a photo set of the very rare G-54, the precursor to the iconic XR14 and RG500 machines that went on to take Suzuki and Barry Sheene to world championship glory. The G-54 concept was born in May 1973, five years after Suzuki withdrew from Grand Prix racing following regulation changes by the F.I.M. But, after competing in the smaller 50cc, 125cc, and 250cc classes, Suzuki had decided to make a return, this time in the premier 500cc class. The G-54 was inspired by RZ63 250 four-cylinder, nicknamed ‘The Whispering Death’. This nickname explains why the model was already withdrawn from competition in 1965 without a single title to its name, dogged by unreliability and with a tendency to seize at high speed without warning. The new 500cc bike – where G denoted Grand Prix use only and 54, strangely, stood for 1974 – was designed and built under the stewardship of Makoto Hase and Makoto Suzuki. Barry Sheene got his first taste of the machine in November 1973, but to help keep the weight down the G-54 employed an open cradle chassis with no lower chassis rails beneath the engine. However, despite finishing second in its first ever Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand in April with Sheene aboard, by June the chassis had been replaced with a conventional double cradle design because without the lower rails the chassis was too flexible. It also had a two stroke oil pump. It was raced by Sheene, Paul Smart, and Jack Findlay that year. 

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Suzuki G-54 RG500

Barton 500 triple

Ruud Siebelink on his Barton dragrace bike with modified Suzuki GT frame. I added a lot of new pics to my Barton 500 set. Barton has been founded by engineers Barry Hart and Tony Ryan, and made its first impact on the racing scene with a three-cylinder water-cooled '500' based on the Suzuki GT380 bottom end. Ridden by Martin Sharpe, a Spondon-framed, Barton-engined 'Sparton' won the 1976 North West 200 with similarly-mounted Frank Kennedy in 2nd place, while the previous year Sharpe's bike had proved as fast as the works Kawasakis at the Isle of Man TT.

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Barton 500

Ducati Club Races 2024

A beautiful Suzuki TR500 replica seen at the Ducati Club Races at the TT circuit Assen May 2024.

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Ducati Club Races 2024

Hamove races 2024

STR (Stefan Tauber Racing) RG500 seen at the Hamove races in Hengelo Gelderland the Netherlands May 2024.

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Hamove races 2024

Reimo Suzuki

The Reimo GTR900, made by Reimo Suzuki from Germany, this was their top model. Reimo was founded by Wolfgang Reinhard and sidecar GP racer Horst Owesle. The company was well known for their tuning and special parts for the Suzuki GT750. Tank seat combi's, special exhausts like 3into1's and expansion pipes, wheels, swing arms, shocks and a chain protector. Reimo still exists today and even now they make a TR750 replica.

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Reimo Suzuki

Reimo TR750 replica

Spondon RGTZ500

This Spondon RGTZ500 is a rather special bike, between 1989-1992 it was raced by Gerhard Vogt with a Suzuki XR71 V4 engine in it. This was the only private XR71 at that time. When Gerhard stopped racing the rolling chassis was sold to Jürgen Plaschka who mounted a Suzuki RGTZ500 square four engine in it with Bartol Yamaha 4dp cylinders, Mikuni TM35 carbs and a GHN gearbox. Jürgen raced it between 1994-1999 in the German 500cc championship and was often the best Suzuki between the ROC and Harris Yamaha's. 

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Spondon RGTZ500

Offenstadt 500 HO

HO means Houzé - Offenstadt, and if the second name is very well known in the motorcycle world, the first probably does not ring a bell. In fact, although not belonging to the world of racing, Bernard and Michel Houzé were very quickly seduced by Eric's ideas and they decided to finance the operation by devoting a large budget to the creation and development of the HO. They deserved, therefore, to be associated with the motorcycle's surname. The 497cc engine is conventionally powered by two 32 millimeter Gurtner carburettors and two 28 millimeter carburetors in an additional intake. The cylinders were designed by Eric Offenstadt and produced by a company specializing in high precision work, FIMA, a company which had already made the cylinder heads of the 12-cylinder Matra and therefore had serious references. The gearbox uses Yamaha components, but a number of special gears had to be made, while the water pump also comes from a TZ, and the clutch uses discs from the same machine. A Femsa ignition equips the HO, while the crankshaft comes from Kawasaki. Single-segment Mahle pistons sit in the cylinders. The most revolutionary aspect of this engine is that it uses four Gurtner carburetors. Each cylinder has a double intake, seven transfers and an exhaust, for a total of ten "holes". The classic rear intake is carried out through the piston skirt while the additional front intake is equipped with an anti-backflow system. The SMAC alloy monocoque frame has the particularity of being split into two parts along the median axis of the motorcycle. Note that the machine can carry 25 liters of fuel, including the 9 liters in the hull. The wheels are six-spoke SMAC magnesium with Michelin tires. The brakes are Brembo calipers and discs with a diameter of 255 millimeters in the front and 200 millimeters for the small rear disc. Two special Carbon oleopneumatic shock absorbers special made for this bike sit at the back. They perform in the most efficient way, without it being necessary to intervene in the adjustment. At the front the bike has an ultra distinctive superradical trailing-link suspension with a Carbon shock absorber adjustable in pre-compression and hardness. A second updated version of this bike is known as the But 500.

Characteristics

Engine

Type 500 HO 2 cylinder

Watercooled 2-stroke

Bore and stroke: 71 x 62.8

Compression ratio: 8.5 to 1

Power: 80 hp at 10,500 rpm

Power supply: dual intake: 2 carbs per cylinder

Rear: diameter 32 Gurtner

Front: diameter 28 Gurtner

Ignition: Femsa

Chassis

Frame: aluminum monocoque 

Front suspension: 1 of Carbon adjustable. Travel: 15 cm

Rear suspension: 2 Carbon oleopneumatic. Travel: 13 cm

Front brake: 255 mm diameter discs

Rear brake: 200 mm diameter disc 

Front wheel: 3.50 x 18

Rear wheel: 3.50/5.10 x 18

Performance: 272 km/h at 9700 rpm

Weight: 115 kg

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500 HO

BUT 500

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BUT 500

MBK RD350 Paris Dakar

In 1985 MBK Innovation with Jean Michel Basset in the lead made a very special machine for Paris Dakar around a Yamaha RD350LC engine. The project was all about achieving a particularly high weight to power ratio, and the MBK engineers definitely succeeded. On the scales the bike weighed only 135 kg and had a power of 65 HP at the wheel! To get an idea and a comparison, in those years the BMW GS was the fastest with a top speed of 180 km/h and the most powerful with approx. 80 HP with a 1050 cc engine. The engine of the Yamaha RD350LC offered the power necessary to reach 145/150 km/h on the sand. The second objective was to give its riders, Patrick Vallet and Pierre Marie Poli a light and easy to handle motorcycle. For this purpose, aluminum was used extensively for the creation of the oversized radiator, air box, fuel tank, oil tank (remember that the engine ran on a 3% mixture) and water tank. Achieving 135 kg dry weight was a high-level engineering feat for its time. But as history shows, numbers and ideas on paper don't go well with the harsh world of racing. Unfortunately the MBK Innovation 350 did not arrive in Dakar with any of the drivers.

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MBK RD350 Paris Dakar