1988 Suzuki RG 500, 498cc. Registration number E125 JLB. Fra...

Hammer

£10,400

1988 Suzuki RG 500, 498cc. Registration number E125 JLB. Frame number HM31A 106307. Engine number M301-107895.
JLB has recently been recovered from storage and not started up. Sold with the V5C, V5, one old MOT, one key and a receipt from 1996, at a mileage of 13,263 for a new chain and sprocket.
Derived from Suzuki’s 500cc RG Gamma XR45 factory Grand Prix racer, the Suzuki RG500 was a road-legal replica racer produced between 1985 and 1987.
Barry Sheene achieved back-to-back 500cc championship titles in 1976 and 1977 before the Gallina Suzuki team repeated the feat five years later with riders Marco Lucchinelli and Franco Uncini in 1981 and 1982.
To capitalize on their reputation Suzuki decided to develop a production version of its competition square-four machine based on the XR45’s race-bred 130 hp unit.
The engine produced 95 hp at 9,500rpm and 53ft-lbs of torque at 8,000rpm. Weighing in at just 340lbs dry, the RG500 offered a top speed of over 130mph and could achieve quarter-mile runs in 11-seconds. The engine had rotary valves and twin-cranks, it featured Mikuni 28mm flat-side carbs, an exhaust utilizing SAEC (Suzuki Automatic Exhaust Control), a six-speed cassette-style gearbox and thermostatically controlled liquid-cooling.
JLB is a late registration on the 8th May 1988 and by 1996 it had changed hands several times and was with Kerry Gabbetis of Bridlington, an MOT on file shows 10,905 miles. Our vendor bought it in November 2000 and put it into storage with his other bikes. At some point the engine has been changed the one listed above; the correct factory casing, as listed on the V5C, M301-1107305, is included with the machine. The mileage now stands at 14,589 and the machine has not been run since been recovered from storage.
Sold with the V5C, V5, one old MOT, one key and a receipt from 1996, at a mileage of 13,263 for a new chain and sprocket.