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Two-smoker nirvana - history of the Suzuki RG500, a production bike that won a MotoGP race

ThinkFast

ThinkFast

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This is a fun bit of obscure moto history (to some - me, anyways). The article is pretty brief and gets you the gist of the story of the RG500, aka “The Whispering Death”, the most deadly motorcycle ever sold, but the 14 min vid is definitely worth a watch, especially if you’re into history. It’s pretty amazing how that bike came together - WW II, Nazi Buzz Bombs, and more all feature.

Here’s a link to the article, too. https://www.jalopnik.com/1847812/whispering-death-most-dangerous-motorcycle-ever/

Ringgggg,ding,ding,ding,ding,ding,ding,ding.:cool:
 
re: the thread title ... I thought it was more of, lets turn our cutting edge race bike into a comercially available production bike, so we get more privateer racers to ride it, rather than lets race our production bike against all the other one- off cutting edge race bikes
 
GPzPop said:
re: the thread title ... I thought it was more of, lets turn our cutting edge race bike into a comercially available production bike, so we get more privateer racers to ride it, rather than lets race our production bike against all the other one- off cutting edge race bikes
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Did you watch the video? The part where they talk about how Suzuki basically added lights to their MotoGP machine, produced them in quantity, and sold them at their dealers as street bikes? I'd say they did both - cutting edge race bike to production bike. Check. Race production bike against the prototypes (and win). Check.
 
it was an excellent vid, came into my feed a week or two back
 
GPzPop said:
it was an excellent vid, came into my feed a week or two back
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What is this feed you speak of??

I don't really have anything that is feeding me with anything let alone something as cool as this.
 
IMG_0589.JPG I had one for a bit. Had been racing RZ350's for two years before, this was like riding the RZ350 on LSD. Semi-lightly crashed it, parts were REAL hard to find. One I wished I'd have held onto, but fact is any 'ol R6 and such would smoke it. But the feel was something else. Magic. I had my best ever lap and a half where I think I crossed into the zone of true flow around the track. (the old Loudon NH) Only sold it to help fund the move from New Jersey to California so as worthy a cause as there is to be.
 
and I was there, when you took delivery of your very own "whispering death" at the Summit Point racetrack in WV. yay me. :laughing

that thing was showroom perfect. seem to recall we promptly dropped it off its race stand. :facepalm
 
larry kahn said:
View attachment 576665 I had one for a bit. Had been racing RZ350's for two years before, this was like riding the RZ350 on LSD. Semi-lightly crashed it, parts were REAL hard to find. One I wished I'd have held onto, but fact is any 'ol R6 and such would smoke it. But the feel was something else. Magic. I had my best ever lap and a half where I think I crossed into the zone of true flow around the track. (the old Loudon NH) Only sold it to help fund the move from New Jersey to California so as worthy a cause as there is to be.
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No. The R6 didn't come out until 1999. The RG500 was sold in 1985-6. 10 years newer and 10 years more development on the R6.
Maybe you meant the GSXR750?
With modern 17 inch wheels and rubber, upgraded and tuned suspension, and a few motor and electronic tweaks, my bike makes over 100 wheel horsepower and weighs under 350 pounds with fuel. I'm an OK rider, and I can keep up with any newer 600 and have WAY more fun than riding a sewing machine. Just sayin.
 
Lonster said:
No. The R6 didn't come out until 1999. The RG500 was sold in 1985-6. 10 years newer and 10 years more development on the R6.
Maybe you meant the GSXR750?
With modern 17 inch wheels and rubber, upgraded and tuned suspension, and a few motor and electronic tweaks, my bike makes over 100 wheel horsepower and weighs under 350 pounds with fuel. I'm an OK rider, and I can keep up with any newer 600 and have WAY more fun than riding a sewing machine. Just sayin.
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I meant stock-for-stock to ride today. My last track-day bike was a 1999 R6 I bought for $1500. How much you have in the Gamma?
 
Yuppers.. when I raced the Gamma it was Honda 600, FZ 600 and such and the Gamma was superior to those 4 smokes.
There was a couple in the F1 class and a couple RZ 500's too. Good times for a minute.
 
budman said:
What is this feed you speak of??

I don't really have anything that is feeding me with anything let alone something as cool as this.
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I saw it in my FaceBook feed as I was scrolling through it yesterday. Don’t recall whether the FB post came directly from Jalopnik, or someone else reposted it. The vid link was in the Jalopnik article, though.

You raced one of these things??? :oops: :hail
 
Lonster said:
10 years newer and 10 years more development on the R6.
Maybe you meant the GSXR750?
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I recall talking about bike development back around that time, and I want to say that the prevailing wisdom was that the newest sport bikes of the day in any given year would’ve won WSB races three years earlier. This basically attested to how quickly the manufacturers translated what they learned on the track to what they sold in the stores.
 
larry kahn said:
I meant stock-for-stock to ride today. My last track-day bike was a 1999 R6 I bought for $1500. How much you have in the Gamma?
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Lots. But it's worth 20 times what a 99 R6 is worth too.
 
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