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
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.
Added some new pics to my Suzuki GT750 sidecar photoset. This time a very nice Schmid sidecar with a great set of expansion pipes!
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.
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.
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!!
Seen at the International Suzuki triples meeting 2012 in Collendoorn The Netherlands
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.