SELLER SAYS: Project bike now complete. A 1972 Suzuki GT380 ready to go to a good home. I have spent a lot of time and a bit of cash to bring this bike back to service after rescuing it from the back of a shipping container in pieces. The original exhaust pipes were missing and the front and rear mudguards could not be saved so were replaced. I have painted the bike in as close to original colour as I could. Wheels have been re-spoked with stainless spokes, Higgspeed exhausts installed, new tyres and new brake shoes front and back. Comes with a side stand and centre stand (rare with chambers installed). Alternator rotor has been rewound, new points, plugs and condensers installed, fork tubes resurfaced and new fork seals. Speedo has been repaired but not rewound, seat has been replaced with new aftermarket seat. Tail light bracket and grab rail have been re-chromed. Bike is located in Burpengary East, 40km north of Brisbane. I’m hoping to realise around $8200 for the bike. Contact Mike on 0458 372 673 (Burpengary, Queensland)
EDITOR TERLICK SAYS: Fifty years ago, an 11-year-old me had his first pillion ride on a motorcycle. It was scary, noisy and faster than anything I’d ever experienced. More importantly, it lit the fuse for a lifetime passion of motorcycles. No prizes for guessing that bike was a Suzuki GT380. Performance aside, the 380 also kindled my interest in motorcycle mechanics. The bike’s Ram Air System was actually nothing more than a sheet of alloy bent and bolted atop the heads to catch the wind, but it caught the attention of pre-teen me as being a brilliantly simple solution to a problem (I’ve since learned) of an overheating middle cylinder. Truth be told the solution wasn’t perfect, but it was a step in the right direction long before people started bolting radiators onto motorbikes. Back in the day, Suzuki’s two-stroke triples were seen as a softer option to Kawasaki’s offerings. That was probably fair, but they were plenty quick enough and presumably a little easier to live with. Today Suzuki’s GT380 is a marvellous example of the mid-size two-stroke sports bike, on the cusp of the world heading down a path of cams and overhead valves. This bike of Mike’s looks like a beauty, with a lot of work and many new parts bringing it back to life.
