Watch as Barry Sheene’s last GP bike gets rebuilt
Suzuki has released a video showing the restoration of the last Grand Prix motorcycle ever raced by the late great Barry Sheene
SUZUKI has released a video of its latest Barry Sheene restoration project, with two more of the great man’s RG500s returned to their former glory. The restoration project took place under the full glare of the public at this year’s NEC motorcycle show.
Ex-Grand Prix technicians, Nigel Everett and Martyn Ogborne, worked alongside Suzuki’s Vintage Parts Programme to rebuild bike, which Sheene raced in the in his final ever GP event. The bike is a 1984 Suzuki XR45 and is instantly recognisable for its DAF sponsorship.
The bikes were stripped and, where required, repaired or refurbished, before being reassembled on the Suzuki stand at Motorcycle Live, where visitors could see Everett and Ogborne plying their trade before starting the bikes up over the final weekend.
Suzuki GB aftersales coordinator, Tim Davies, said, “We were blown away by the reception and feedback this restoration again received at Motorcycle Live, and it was really humbling to hear people’s stories of meeting and watching Sheene race. With these rebuilds and the additional Sheene bikes on display – including the refurbished 1976 and 1977 title-winning XR14s – it really was a great celebration of, arguably, Britain’s favourite motorcycle racer.
“These rebuilds are only possible thanks to the Vintage Parts Programme and the support it receives from owners of older Suzukis that want to keep them running, keep them alive, and looking their best. It enables us to undertake projects like this and we’re already plotting the next one.”
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
