SNT SUZUKI XR 69 ,1216 CLASSIC RACE BIKE

[weeksy]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SNT-SUZUKI-X ... SwOEJeIXzQ

Bike was built new for the 2019 classic TT
This is the spec of the xr69
Chassis, SNT frame kit with quick change rear wheel setup, k tech front and rear suspension, Titanium bolts throughout, 24 litre alloy fuel tank,
Brembo calipers front and rear, Accosato controls at the front.
Ignitech adjustable ignition with quick shifter, and pit lane limiter, race battery.
Full Race fit titanium exhaust system,
Keihin fcr flat slide carbs.
Motor is a bandit engine with wiseco high compression pistons, knife edged and balanced crank, rods and pistons, Kent camshafts, flowed head
Producing 152 bhp

[Bigjawa]

Nice, but basically a 26k tuned Bandit.

[KungFooBob]

You could buy a GS1200SS and paint it blue.

Then again, have you seen the prices GS1200SS' are fetching these days?

[Yorick]

It's well known that there are many more XR69s about, than were originally built

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Nice, but there are so many reasons that isn't an XR69 or a classic race bike

I would think the number of original XR69s would be under 20, possibly under 10, they were only raced in TT F1 for a couple of years, even the endurance bikes had different frames.

And the difference between a Bandit engine and a GS1000 engine to use is huge, the crank on the Bandit is probably half the weight of the GS crank.

[Yorick]

Did some digging...

Some history

Around the late 1970’s the Transatlantic Trophy races between the UK and USA spawned first Formula One, then the Superbikes we know of today. Barry Sheen road a special Dunstal framed GS1000 at Oulton Park and really didn’t enjoy four strokes. Harris Performance were commissioned to produce half a dozen or so frames for Suzuki and the likes of Mick Grant, Roger Marshall, Pat Hennen rode them with great success at the Isle of Man and at short circuit races throughout the world. The Suzuki XR69 was born and quickly gained a reputation of being a successful race bike, using these specially commissioned Harris frames. Harris were asked by privateer racers to produce further frames, but as XR69 is a Suzuki factory designation, Suzuki refused permission for these frames to be made. To get around this Harris renamed the frame Harris F1 after a few modifications that enhanced the original frames and sold many around the world. This frame is one from the original batch made in the early 1980’s and has been a race bike all its life.

How the motorcycle was built and spec

John Sims, of Trident Racing, bought this bike in 2009 and rebuilt it to XR69 spec. with an air cooled GS1000 motor putting out around 120bhp. It is therefore XR69 Replica Number 1. It was built up along side Mick Grant’s bike which John borrowed to ensure as correct a build as possible. To buy Mick Grant’s original machine you would pay between £90,000-£120,000 as you can see in this article here. Around this time John Sims was good friends with Guy Martin and there is signed paperwork saying Guy rode this bike in testing and at CRMC events. In the owner’s research on the bike he states he cannot confirm this. ( He has had lots of emails saying it is the Cadwell Park bike – sorry but it is not. The details are different on the forks and frame.) He has now been told he rode it in a test for Steve Wheatman at Donington. We are being honest about the provenance of this classic racing motorcycle as we do not wish to mislead in any way. A machine such as this has a far greater value than the new ones being built at greater cost than this machine, which has history, as you can see here.

Guy Martin?

As John decided to build, and developed XR69 replicas for Guy Martin to ride, this No1 bike was sold to Steve Wheatman of Team Classic Suzuki for Maria Costello to ride with success at the Manx GP in 2010/2011/2012 when she recorded a 5th position. Maria went on to ride the bike in CRMC events and in South Africa. There is also photographic evidence that Steve Plater has ridden the bike and when the owner received it, he was told Roger Marshall had paraded it; it did have his name and number on it.

Racing history and work done

[Yorick]

https://www.themotorcyclebroker.co.uk/m ... -for-sale/

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Guy Martin has definitely ridden a bike that looks like that at Cadwell, I was there, also on track, there was also another XR69 replica there with a GS1000 motor in it, but the bloke riding that one was slower than me (which is slow)

I didn't think Harris made the XR69 frames, the XR70 and 71 alloy frames were made in Japan, I thought the XR frames were also made in Japan, also I don't think the XR frame is the same as the Harris F1 frame, the Harris frame can fit an early Z1000 engine in, which is longer than a GS1000 engine.

https://classic-motorbikes.net/suzuki-xr69/