Padgetts F1 RG500

Mark Philips 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. He 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.” 

For more pics see 

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.

For more pics see

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. 

For more pics see

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 This nickname explains why the model was already withdrawn from competition in 1965 without a single title to its name, dogged by unreliability and with a tendency to seize at high speed without warning.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. 

For more pics see

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.

For more pics see

Barton 500

Ducati Club Races 2024

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

For more pics see

Ducati Club Races 2024

Hamove races 2024

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

For more pics see

Hamove races 2024