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Suzuki RG 500 1976-77

The Suzuki RG 500 made its track debut at the 1974 French Grand Prix, run at Clermont Ferrand, and its exceptional power attracted immediate attention. Barry Sheene rode it and gave the favorite, Phil Read's MV Agusta, a run for its money. The RG engine was an enlarged copy of the old RZ 63 engine, built in 1963 for the official Suzuki 250 Grand Prix. The cylinders were arranged in a square and slightly tilted forward. The four pistons acted on drive shafts, and four rotating disks, two on each side of the engine, provided feed.

Throughout the 1974 season the RG 500 alternated dazzling and disappointing performances. Sheene fell
several times because of the mechanical fragility of the motorcycle and spent much time off the tracks. In 1975 Sheene was back in the saddle, backed up by Teuvo Lansi-vuori, the Finnish racer who had backed up Giacomo Agostini on the Yamaha team. Lansivuori had two seconds and one third place. Sheene won in Holland and Sweden, the only times he managed to finish races. At the end of the season it was clear that the RG 500 was the most powerful motorcycle in racing.

When the excitement of the 1975 season had died down, Suzuki followed Yamaha in announcing its intention of withdrawing from speed
racing. Through the British Suzuki team, however, it provided Sheene with an RG 500 as a kind of prize for loyalty. He rode this new model in the 1976 championship.

Subsequently Suzuki put a number of RG 500-Replicas on the market for private racers. The biggest 500-class champions bought them at once.
Thus Suzuki had a strong private team ready for the 1976 championship, including Read, Pat Hennen, Tepi Lansivuori, Marco Lucchinelli, Virginio Ferrari, and Sheene, whose motorcycle had a little more horsepower than the others.

The mechanical problems that had dogged the RG were solved. And it was clear from the first races of the season that Sheene and the other Suzuki riders had the best motorcycles. Agostini had gone back to MV Agusta to show that his skill counted more than the motorcycle, but he ended up asking Suzuki for a vehicle.
Halfway through the championship the title was already Sheene's. The other Suzuki-Replica riders fought it out for the placings.

Motorcycle: Suzuki RG 500-Replica Manufacturer: Suzuki Motor Co. Ltd.,
Hamamatsu Type: Racing, replica Year: 1976
Engine: Suzuki four-cylinder, two-stroke.
Cylinders arranged in a square, with
distribution through four rotating disks.
Displacement 497.5 cc. (56 mm. x 50.5
mm.) Cooling: Water
Transmission: Six-speed block
Power: 100 h.p. at 11,000 r.p.m.
Maximum speed: Over 190 m.p.h.
Chassis: Double cradle, continuous, tubular. Front and rear, telescopic suspension
Brakes: Front, double hydraulic disk; rear, single hydraulic self-ventilating disk