Description
Click here for an CycleVIN Motorcycle History Report on this 1986 Suzuki RG500 Gamma. Additional photos are available here for your perusal.
Derived straight from Suzuki’s half-liter RG Gamma XR45 factory Grand Prix racer, the RG500 was a road-legal replica racer produced between 1985 and 1987. From the mid-‘70s to the mid-‘80s, Suzuki was a dominant force in premier class competition. Barry Sheene achieved back-to-back 500cc championship titles in ’76 and ’77 before the Gallina Suzuki team repeated the feat half-a-decade-later with riders Marco Lucchinelli and Franco Uncini in ’81 and ’82. Suzuki also won seven consecutive 500cc Class Constructors’ titles around this same time.
To capitalize on the brand’s reputation for building high-performance race bikes, Suzuki decided to develop a slightly-tamed production version of its competition square-four machine. 7,340 examples were produced in the first year of production (1985), with another 1,412 in 1986 and a final 532 specimens in 1987, making for a total of just 9,284. Due to emissions regulations (among other reasons), Suzuki never officially sold the RG500 Gamma in America, though it was offered in Canada so a few grey market examples have found their way across the border.
Classic Motorbikes described the Gamma’s place among its competitors by stating, “Place the RD500, NS400 and RG500 Gamma side-by-side and you would have three of the top manufacturers attempts at producing a replica of their respective GP racers, however, with all but one of those machines, all you purchased was a mere shadow of the original design. That is not to say the others were rubbish, far from it in fact, but the RG was definitely nearer the mark, and actually far closer to the race machine than you might ever imagine. The Suzuki is almost an exact replica of the race machine.”
Manufactured in July of 1985, this example is VIN: JS1HM31A1G2100410. The seller acquired the bike from a private party in 2018.
During his ownership, the seller has covered approximately 1,500 miles. The odometer shows 22,365 kilometers (13,896 miles).
Maintenance:
When the seller first acquired the bike, it wasn’t running quite right. In October 2020, he had our service department replace the battery, the spark plugs, and the petcock. We also rebuilt the carbs with new float valves, pilot jets, and air filters and changed the brake fluid, the coolant, as well as the transmission fluid. Finally, we installed new Avon Roadrider tires with date codes of 2318 and 3819.
Per the seller: “the plastic on the lamp sockets for the front turn signals went bad and started to get sticky so those have been removed and will need to be replaced.”
Modifications:
Lance Gamma air filters.
Auxiliary fuel petcocks.
fiberglass upper fairing with JDM style flush turn signals.
Inside of the tank:
The sale includes three keys (one pictured)
Cosmetic Blemishes: please see the album up top for all known cosmetic blemishes. Here is a selection:
Currently located at our facility in Santa Monica, California (please make an appointment for an inspection), this Suzuki is offered on a clean California title with registration current through July 2024.
Have any RG500 Gamma stories or questions about this listing? Let us know in the “Comments” tab!
