Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Gina Bovaird

Gina Bovaird the only lady who ever raced in the 500cc GP class.  She was the first lady who reached a top ten place in an AMA race. In 1979 she took part in the very famous Daytona 200 Race at Daytona International Speedway. She broke the record for the fastest novice with an average speed of 228 km/h.  
For more pics see 
Gina Bovaird

Saturday, January 4, 2014

The RG500 in the spotlights at the Bikers Classics

Preparations for the twelfth edition of the Bikers' Classics at Spa-Francorchamps are already at full swing. During the first weekend of July 2014, from 4-6 July, the fortieth anniversary of the legendary Suzuki RG500 will be remembered and celebrated in great style.
For more information see 
The RG500 in the spotlights at the Bikers Classics 2014

Monday, December 23, 2013

BSA Bantam RG500

Some pics of an extraordinary project, a BSA Bantam with an RG500 engine with barrels of an Ariel Arrow.
For more pics see 
BSA Bantam RG500

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Segoni Suzuki RG500

Made a photoset of a very rare Suzuki RG500 the Segoni framed bike. The frame looks very similar to the Egli frames. Don't know much about it, so if somebody out there has more information please sent me a message.
For more pics see 
Segoni Suzuki RG500

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Suzuki RG500 sidecar racer

Found some great pics of a very rare RG500 powered sidecar racer. This is actually the first RG500 sidecar that I have seen. It was raced in the GP's in 1979. The chassis was made by Klaus Sprengel of alloy plates he bought from Louis Christen (LCR). The RG500 is a works engine with Bartol cylinders.
For more pics see 
Suzuki RG500 sidecar racer

Saturday, October 26, 2013

When Team Heron sold the Ciba Geigy bikes

At the end of the 1986 season the Heron Suzuki team sold the Ciba Geigy bikes. They were no longer competitive and Suzuki was busy with a V4, the XR71 (1986) and XR72 (1987). Gerhard Vogt from Germany bought most of the bikes and some others went to the Swiss Suzuki importer Frankonia Suzuki and were ridden during the 1987 and 88 GP seasons by Wolfgang von Muralt. After that they also went to Germany.
For more pics see 
Carbonfiber frames Suzuki RG & RGV500 racers

Friday, October 4, 2013

The holy grail of RG500's

This time a few pics of one of the most iconic RG500 Gamma's on the planet, Kevin Schwantz his F1 RG500.
He only raced this bike at Assen in the TT F1 race on the thursday evening before the Dutch TT of 1986. They changed the forks, wheels, shock and carbs and Kevin became second in the F1 race ahead of all the Suzuki works bikes. After the race the bike was returned to standard and sold.
Chief Suzuki race technician at the time, Martyn Ogbourne takes up the story, “No engine modifications were carried out, there simply was not time, just the removal of unnecessary parts, lights etc and the fitting of competition tyres. Assen is deceptively fast with a Donington Park like string of corners, I knew the bike would be out paced in a straight line but relied heavily upon Schwantz and his undoubted riding ability. The gearing required for Assen is identical to both Daytona and the TT with top speeds in excess of 190mph being the norm in the big bike classes.” The future 500 World Champion finished an impressive second behind Joey Dunlop and his factory V-four Honda. Ogbourne “I had assessed that, with the right jockey on board, the Gamma would lose around three places per lap down the straights but then make up five around the sweeping twisty bits”
Update February 26 2015, some great information provided by ex Suzuki mechanic Paul Bolton.
"Yes, so far as I remember it was a stock RG500 road bike pulled from dealer stock, which we un-crated, blue printed the engine, (I set compressions and squish), fitted a race ignition and carbs to it and exhausts, possible disc valves as well but this would have entailed some work, so maybe race bike disc valve timing, race forks, WP rear damper, race wheels and tyres, took a few unnecessary bits off it to lighten it and he raced it to finish second at Assen in 1986. It was down on top speed versus the four strokes but good on braking and corner speed. After the race it was turned back to a standard RG500 road bike, and so far as I remember re-crated and sold through the UK dealer network as a used bike. Somewhere out there someone has an RG500 that was raced to second at Assen by Kevin in 1986 and they probably don’t know the history of the bike. At the time it was just a bike for a job and it wasn’t thought to be significant."
I would really like to know if this bike still exists, so if anybody out there has information about it please let me know.  
For more pics see  
F1 RG500 Kevin Schwantz