1985 SUZUKI GSX-R750 SUPERSTOCK
RACER TEST
P68
four-piston Tokico calipers, and
bolted it right on. The 16-inch
rear wheel went straight in. We
fitted a White Power rear unit
with standard linkage giving four
inches of travel, and won the
first four races in a row. People
thought we'd done something
to the engine, but it wasn't that.
Mick just rode bloody well, and
after his early season dominance,
he could afford to pick up places,
and still win the title."
So he did, with 128 points
to 98 for closest rival Roger
Marshall's Honda VF750F,
matching the achievements that
year of other GSX-R750 riders
like Juan Garriga in Spain, who
dominated both TT F1 Silhouette
and Prototype racing there on
his Suzuki, or Rob Phillis in
Australia, beating GPz900s and
VF1000s with his "little" 750 in
the production class. The Suzuki
GSX-R750 delivered on its
promises, it was a grid gracer as
well as a street racer.
One that I made my re-
acquaintance with earlier this
year at the South African TT
Revival series run by Mick
Grant each year as a series of
three race meetings essentially
run as glorified track days.
You guessed it, ol' number
10 was one of the two dozen
"interesting" bikes shipped out
to Essay for the series from the
UK, now owned by tire specialist
and former road racer Tony
Salt who'd pestered Mick long
enough to sell it to him, that he
finally did so three years ago.
"I still get to ride it whenever
I like, so I suppose it's the best
of all worlds!" says Grant with
a smile. And thanks to Salt's
generosity, I got to cover 20
laps of Cape Town's Killarney
GP circuit on the Gixxer, while
he relaxed on pit wall with a tall
glass of fruit punch brimming
with ice cubes, which he
thoughtfully displayed to me
each lap instead of a pit board,
as I screamed the Suzuki past
him in the sweltering South
African heat. So thoughtful.
This trip down memory lane
was made complete by having
ex-Suzuki 500GP mechanic,
now leading historic race engine
restorer, Paul Boulton on hand
When the
GSX-R750
first came out,
it shook the
road racing
world with its
lightweight
and impressive
power.
In the context of the mid-1980s this
was a truly revolutionary motorcycle.
