Description
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.”
This example is VIN: HM31B100580. It came to Iconic as an import from a dealership in the UK; prior history is not known.
The odometer shows 11,820 miles.
Maintenance:
In preparation for the listing, the seller had us replace the battery, the spark plugs, as well as the sprockets and chain. We also cleaned and synced the carbs, changed the oil, flushed the brakes and cleaned the brake lines, and installed new Metzeler Roadtec 01 tires with date codes of 2022 and 4922.
Additionally, we sent out the tank to GTL to have it cleaned.
Olly did the work, he notes the following in his condition report:
Tire Year Front: 4922 / Rear:2022
Tire Life Front: 100% / Rear: 100%
Tire Press Front: 33PSI / Rear: 34PSI
Brake Life Front: 60% / Rear: 70%
Hydraulic Front and Brake Level: Good
Quality: New
2T Oil Level: Ok Quality: New
Coolant Level: Ok Quality: New
Low Beam: Ok
High Beam: Ok
Turn: Ok
Tail Light: Ok
Brake Light: Ok
Plate Light: Ok
Kill: Ok
Horn: Ok
Battery: New
Test Ride: 1 Mile
Bike operates as intended
Notes:
• Carbs
• Battery
• Chain/Sprocket
• Tires
• Front and rear brake flush
• Cleaned front brake lines
Modifications:
Aftermarket seat cover.
Battery tender lead.
Inside of the tank:
The sale includes two keys.
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 Oregon title. Please note that as an import, this bike lacks certain compliance and emissions stickers that the state of California would require to transfer a title. Have any RG500 stories or questions about this listing? Let us know in the “Comments” tab!
