VOL. 51 ISSUE 2 JANUARY 13, 2015 P67
Glenn Williams raced it for the
UK importers, without notable
success. But mechanic Nigel
Everett had taken the precaution
of removing and storing all the
Grant hardware in order to put it
back to exactly how it was when
Mick crossed the line in that final
Brands round. This explains why,
25 years on, GSX-R750 frame
number GR71-00719 carrying
engine number R705.104962
still has the scrape on the fuel
tank and the dented frame
sustained in that pre-season
Donington crash, as well as
the trademark Grant number-10
plates (a number chosen
because simply he was born on
the 10th of July, says Mick). It's
history on wheels and one I was
twice able to sample from the
hot seat, 25 years apart.
For the Thursday after Mick's
title-clinching Brands outing,
Heron Suzuki team manager
Rex White arranged for me to
ride the championship-winning
Superstocker at Snetterton, as
well as to sample the team's
factory GSX-R750TT1 bike with
a more highly tuned Yoshimura
engine in a full-race chassis,
on which Grant had finished
second to the V4 Hondas in
both the World and British TT
Fl Championships. The Suzuki
had proved no match at World
level for the '85 RVF750 of Joey
Dunlop nor, indeed, in the British
title race for the '84 RS750R
V4 of Roger Marshall. Paul
Boulton was there with Nigel
Everett to look after the bikes,
and the first question he had to
answer for me was: How come
the Superstocker had the same
suspension as the TT1 racer?
"Mick reckoned the offset
on the standard yokes was too
flat, combined with a pretty
steep head angle for a road bike
and the 18-inch front wheel,"
explained Paul. "Anyway, we
wanted to fit 16-inch wheels so
as to use the same Michelin
tires as the other bikes we've
been running, and because he
knows the range of compounds
better. So after checking we
had complete freedom under
the Superstock rules with
suspension, wheels and brakes,
we took the whole front end off
one of the air-cooled XR69 TT1
bikes, which is basically the
same as Randy Mamola's XR45
GP bike, with 40mm Kayaba
forks and hydraulic anti-dive,
and 310mm Brembo brakes with
Cathcart
says that the
Superstock
GSX-R750 is
still a gratifying
motorcycle on
the track.
(Clockwise) Oil-cooled and
carbureted, the GSX-R750 is
still impressive. Pretty much
all you need to know. Braking
left a little to be desired.
