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Here are three photos detailing the autumn years of the 1975 Suzuki GT380 two-stroke triple I used to have. The first photo shows the bike as it appeared when I thought it would be cool to make it into sort of a cafe racer: bald rib front tire, dented gas tank with leaky cap, lots of electrical problems BUT drag bars I installed and expansion chambers I made to replace the 3-into-4 system it came with.
To make those, I cut the mufflers off just before the first baffle divider in each -- you could see where it was by the spot welds--and brazed on the tail cones of two discarded 125cc motocrosser pipes. Since the middle cylinder split into two pipes, I had to make everything aft of the headpipe for that one, which I did by using the front cones from the two discarded pipes, brazed together at their large end, then welded one end of that to the middle headpipe and closed the other end by brazing on a big washer with a hole the size of the stinger (which I made by trimming a few inches off each of the other two pipe's stingers, joining the pieces, etc.)
Despite the power and sound improvements of this project, I got discouraged about the electrical problems and the bike's lack of a title, and decided to install suspension from a 1977 RM125 motocrosser to make a cheap, powerful dirt bike. The second photo shows the results of that decision. RM forks, RM shocks on the GT swingarm, purple tank from an earlier GT (cap didn't leak on that one), no rear fender, bald street tire on back, and note the shocks' gas reservoirs hose-clamped to the passenger pegs. Purple and yellow. Man.
The third photo shows the off-road GT in action. It really was a fun bike. The suspension was too soft for the weight, but it would do wheelies easily in four of its six gears, it sounded great with the chambers on and it could climb any hill you'd throw at it--as long as it was dry. If the jumps weren't too steep-faced, you could fly and land it pretty well too. The brown discoloration was a cloud of disapproval and disgust from the proper motocross kids at the track that day.
A few months later, the motor quit running. I think it needed crankcase seals and an overhaul in general. I scrapped it. I regret that heartily to this day. I really wish I'd have kept it as a street bike and repaired it, or at least developed it further as a dirt bike and repaired it, but I gave up too easily. It had a lot of character. There's a lesson in there somewhere.
The third photo shows the off-road GT in action. It really was a fun bike. The suspension was too soft for the weight, but it would do wheelies easily in four of its six gears, it sounded great with the chambers on and it could climb any hill you'd throw at it--as long as it was dry. If the jumps weren't too steep-faced, you could fly and land it pretty well too. The brown discoloration was a cloud of disapproval and disgust from the proper motocross kids at the track that day.
A few months later, the motor quit running. I think it needed crankcase seals and an overhaul in general. I scrapped it. I regret that heartily to this day. I really wish I'd have kept it as a street bike and repaired it, or at least developed it further as a dirt bike and repaired it, but I gave up too easily. It had a lot of character. There's a lesson in there somewhere.
- Ben in Licoln County, MI
