1980/2009 Harris-Suzuki XR69 1000 Motorcycle

Description

Suzuki's history can be traced back to manufacturing silk looms back in 1909 but it wasn't until the 1930s that the company began experimenting with internal combustion engines.  Suzuki began making their own motorcycles in 1954, initially with a 90cc two-stroke Colleda, notable as one of the first to have oil injection to save the rider from having to mix the oil and petrol manually.  Over the next three decades Suzuki established itself as one of the major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, whilst diversifying into everything from small cars to outboard motors.  Initially concentrating on two-strokes, Suzuki was building some fantastic four-strokes in the 1970s, starting with the legendary GS series.  Coinciding with a resurgence in four-stroke racing in the late 1970s, Suzuki developed a racer based on the new GS1000 in conjunction with tuner Pops Yoshimura in the US but quickly found the road bike’s chassis wanting.  Instead a steel tubular frame derived from Suzuki’s contemporary GP bike was redesigned to house the air-cooled four and the resulting XR69 (also known as the GS1000R) was ready to tackle the 1980 season.  Proving the weapon of choice for Superbike racing in the early 1980s, highlights included winning the Daytona 200, the Australian Swann series and Suzuka 8 hours in 1980, three successive TT Formula One World Championships in 1980-1981-1982 and numerous other titles.  Ruled ineligible from 1984, the XR69 remains one of Suzuki’s most significant factory racers but - with only a handful ever made - owning one is out of the question.  Thankfully Harris Performance in the UK have solved this problem by offering high quality frames closely modelled on the originals and replica XR69s have been appearing in historic racing now for years.