IN
THE
WIND
P52
RESTORING THE BARRY SHEENE 1976
SUZUKI RG500 XR14
The late, great Barry Sheene was
the Valentino Rossi of his day.
Incredibly popular across the
world, Sheene lived an action-
packed life, filled with beautiful
women, drinking, smoking and
plenty of cash.
The lad from London took
back-to-back 500cc World
Championship crowns in 1976
and 1977, but is best remem-
bered for his rivalry with Kenny
Roberts, a contest spread over
1978 to 1983 and one that would
come to define that era of grand
prix racing.
Sheene left us in 2003, the
victim of cancer, at just 52 years
old. But his legend is such that
he is still revered across the
globe, and interest in his racing
machines is at the highest point
since his death.
Sheene famously kept one
of his machines from every
year he competed in grand prix
racing, his personal stable of
machines located on Australia's
Gold Coast ranging from 1975 to
1984.
This is where Team Clas-
sic Suzuki comes in. One of
the team's technicians, Martyn
Ogborne, worked with Team
Suzuki and Sheene during his
1976 title-winning season. He
and fellow former GP mechanic
Nigel Everett have been charged
with the honor of restoring the
title-winning Heron Texaco Su-
zuki RG500XR14. Winner of four
grands prix, the XR14 has sat
dormant for the best part of 42
years after it was assembled for
Sheene in the winter of 1975.
The accompanying videos
show Ogborne and Everett
meticulously disassembling the
XR14, replacing parts that were
deemed unserviceable from the
Suzuki Vintage Parts catalog,
but also trying to reuse as many
of the original parts as possible
from the iconic racer.
So sit back and check out
these two brilliant videos from
Suzuki UK. CN
Part two
Part one
