Better Than Nothing---The rebirth of a Superbike.

I love old racing photos!  Here is one of me on my '83 Suzuki GS750E back in 1984.  I actually ran it on Riverside Raceway the last year it was open.  It was like riding on a paved motocross course it was in such bad shape.  

I have very few photos of my early days of road racing. I started racing on a '76 KH400 triple in the 410 Production class. Back then that class always had the most riders of any class. 
Plus you could ride up a few classes too. I could run as many as six races each weekend on that bike.

I ran the Kz750E most of the time in the 6 hour endurance races on Saturday for track time. I got to race in the rain for the first time on my Kz750E at Road America back in '81. Took me awhile but after a few laps I could run flat out down the long straights at Road America in the pouring rain. Did have to put my foot down in a few corners to keep from crashing!!!

Flat out Turn 2 Mid America Raceway.
 

My co-rider Rapid Randy ready to take over at the WERA 6 hour endurance race at Road America 1981. 
 

My best friend and I the weekend I brought my GS750E home.  No, I didn't ride with flip flops, we just staged a photo.  He is on an '82 KZ750.  That was (and still is) the only bike I bought brand new at a dealer.  My cousin owned Suzuki of Oceanside, CA.  This was the spring of '83.

 

Those 750 Suzuki's were a good bike, went very well....

I always liked the looks of the '83 GS750E's.

Never came to grips with those little 16 inch front wheels back then.  That was like a major craze back then for a few years.

wrote:

Never came to grips with those little 16 inch front wheels back then.  

What was the drawback to the 16" front?  Other than maybe a challenge finding good tires in that size...

 

wrote:

wrote:

Never came to grips with those little 16 inch front wheels back then.  

What was the drawback to the 16" front?  Other than maybe a challenge finding good tires in that size...




 

For me they made the steering too quick!!! First time I started pushing a 600R Ninja I was almost running off the pavement on the inside of the corners. Completely different corner entry with those 16 inch wheels compared to a 18 or 19 inch front. Plus they all felt like they always on the verge of going into a major speed wobble at high speeds!!!!!

The '83 GS750E/ES models had a lot of firsts for Suzuki.  The 16" front wheel, a square tube frame, a mono shock rear suspension, to name a few.  At the time there was not any problem finding 16" tires that I recall.  I still have my race fairing with that number plate on it (kept it as a keepsake).  When I finally sold it, I stepped up to a Yamaha FZR1000.  That bike was scary fast!  I would enter the brake zone into turn 1 at Willow Springs (the big track) at 145 mph.  Always prayed I didn't pull the front brake lever too hard!

I had a 1987  Kawasaki GPX750 race bike I converted back to a road bike, it was without doubt the best handling bike I ever owned, it had an 18 inch rear and a 16 inch front, it had a lot of suspension mods and wore a set of comp "K" metzlers in "R" compound, remember them ?  You could bet your house on the front end of that bike doing everything right, no matter how hard you pushed it, I've never been able to trail brake as late into corners on any other bike. The sad thing was, I sold it to a guy that knew the bike, he'd chased me around for almost 2 years trying to buy it, I sold it and bought a brand new GSXR1100J off the floor of the shop I worked in and it was stolen six weeks later....

I actually got my hands on a 70's Z2 750 that was stock.  I put on a Bassani 4 into 1, pod filters, superbike bars, and a jet kit.  I took it to Orange County Raceway in Irvine for Thursday night drag races, run what ya brung.  I did a few passes, parked it with a wheel lock between some cars and went back to watch my friend's car make some passes.  45 minutes later I went to leave, and it was stolen.  Multiple guys must have dragged it from between the cars and thrown it in a pickup.  That one hurt bad.  Rare bike in the states.  Had the kph speedo...  

I'd just flown back int Sydney when I found out my Gixxer had been stolen, my house mate worked at the airport and met me there with the bad news, I went off, as in,  blew a fuse and was quickly surrounded by airport security, I'm glad my friend was there with his airport pass other wise i would have been in a spot of trouble. You're dead right, it hurt and sucked badly, It was the first brand new bike I'd ever bought....

They look so cool!