Roger DeCoster's 1973 World Championship Suzuki

T-BOND
Posts
518
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
US
5/22/2006 10:07am Edited Date/Time 1/26/2012 9:29pm
|
FLvet
Posts
381
Joined
8/16/2006
Location
Gainesville, FL US
5/22/2006 10:23am
Niiiiiiiiice! The pipe alone is a work of art.
FishBone
Posts
962
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Ho Chi Minh City VN
5/22/2006 10:49am Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:59pm
that’s really an awesome bike … and I love fact that it’s in such incredible yet un-restored condition " title="Smile">
T-BOND
Posts
518
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
US
5/22/2006 2:03pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:59pm
[quote="FishBone":773b2]that’s really an awesome bike … and I love fact that it’s in such incredible yet un-restored condition " title="Smile">[/quote:773b2]I can't believe the condition either. It starts right up and is it ever LOUD!!!!
JPT
Posts
7211
Joined
8/15/2006
Location
Cedar Falls, IA US
5/22/2006 2:29pm
I know I always show my age, but to me that is what a MX bike is supposed to look like. Minimalistic, clean, fierce. Today's bikes are obviously technologically superior, but will always look (for the lack of a better word) cluttered to me.

The Shop

BamBamm13
Posts
482
Joined
8/15/2006
Location
Garden Grove, CA US
5/22/2006 3:28pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:59pm
[quote="JPT":06a88]I know I always show my age, but to me that is what a MX bike is supposed to look like. Minimalistic, clean, fierce. Today's bikes are obviously technologically superior, but will always look (for the lack of a better word) cluttered to me.[/quote:06a88].

Amen to that
bigmaico
Posts
970
Joined
8/15/2006
Location
Kingwood, TX US
5/22/2006 3:59pm
Terry:

Weren't the works Suzuki's somewhere in the 178- 185Lbs range ?

I remember that the 250 was like 168 lbs.
T-BOND
Posts
518
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
US
5/22/2006 7:27pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:59pm
[quote="bigmaico":5a3df]Terry:

Weren't the works Suzuki's somewhere in the 178- 185Lbs range ?

I remember that the 250 was like 168 lbs.[/quote:5a3df]Roger's weighs 209. 1973 was the year that the FIM came up with the weight limit. It was 194 for 250's and 209 for 500's.
Ozy
Posts
2010
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
US
5/22/2006 7:32pm
I think you need to be an old guy to really appreciate that bike. it's friggen sweet!
Larry
Posts
5094
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Fayetteville, GA US
5/22/2006 8:31pm
the best looking bike ever. the sand tank is cool.
SCYRacing
Posts
450
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Mingo Jct., OH US
5/23/2006 3:07pm
Not restored? Afuggingmazing!!
5/23/2006 5:20pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:59pm
Terry:

I seem to recall that Maico showed up at Carlsbad that year with forward mounted shocks while Suzuki still had "conventional" placement. This forward mounted configuration therefore would be a mid-season refinement by Suzuki??

The other folklore is that Suzuki had to pour lead into the frames of their bikes to make the new FIM minimums. I'd expect that the forward mounted shock mod and requisite gussetting added weight but is the frame otherwise beefier than the 72 frame on Joel's 72?

Whereas Joel's 72 250 represented the holy grail of technology (real or imagined) Roger's 73 was, at best, on par with the competition (thanks to minimum weights and the suspension revolution). Does the "obsolescence" of the bike (as the season closed) have anything to do with how it managed to escape the crusher? I know it didn't pass into Roger's hands as that practice didn't start for another couple of seasons.
T-BOND
Posts
518
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
US
5/24/2006 5:30am Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:59pm
[quote="maicobreako":983ac]Terry:

I seem to recall that Maico showed up at Carlsbad that year with forward mounted shocks while Suzuki still had "conventional" placement. This forward mounted configuration therefore would be a mid-season refinement by Suzuki??

The other folklore is that Suzuki had to pour lead into the frames of their bikes to make the new FIM minimums. I'd expect that the forward mounted shock mod and requisite gussetting added weight but is the frame otherwise beefier than the 72 frame on Joel's 72?

Whereas Joel's 72 250 represented the holy grail of technology (real or imagined) Roger's 73 was, at best, on par with the competition (thanks to minimum weights and the suspension revolution). Does the "obsolescence" of the bike (as the season closed) have anything to do with how it managed to escape the crusher? I know it didn't pass into Roger's hands as that practice didn't start for another couple of seasons.[/quote:983ac]
The 1973 Suzuki's were initally very similar to the 72 bikes. Just before the 73 season began, the weight limit was implemented. This was from pressure from the Maico factory. This forced Suzuki to artificially "fatten" up their bikes. In doing so, the bikes were somewhat out of balance.

Maico came out with the forward mounted shocks the GP before Carlsbad in Czecho. The GP after Carlsbad (West Germany), Suzuki came out with a new frame, the shocks were in the same location but they were longer. This helped some but it was not enough. After that GP, Roger and Sylvain Geboers, took a spare frame and did their own mods to Rogers National bike. This bike was raced at the Belgian GP. which Roger won. The same mods were then applied to the GP bikes for the Luxembourg GP and the final in Holland.

This is just a brief summary of what happened. I will post a detailed story on the site later. It is an amazing story for sure. The whole GP season went down to the last moto of the last race between Willy Bauer and Roger.
5/26/2006 11:44am
I still have a hard time with the factories destroying those old works bikes...what else. 'The Crusher'...sheesh.

Bauer's Maico definitely ruled at Carlsbad that year (1973)...but if Jim Pomeroy on the opening laps had not cartwheeled down the downhill on the works 360 Pursang, he may have given Willi what-for!
RussS
Posts
184
Joined
8/1/2006
Location
Hamilton NZ
5/26/2006 6:05pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:59pm
Francisco Bulto - many a time the 'works' bike that was dropped into the crusher and witnessed by someone from Japan was in fact a cleverly disguised TM with a few destroyed RH/RN bits on it " title="Laughing">
5/27/2006 7:19am
Hey Russ!

Thanks for that information about the works machines being diverted from 'The Crusher'...those RHs and RNs, along with the mid-'70s RC Hondas were the envy of every rider who ever twisted a throttle into the knuckles-up position 'back in the day'. Now if that factory Honda from the '80s with the RIBI 'quadrilateral' front-end on it is still alive and kicking out there somewhere, that would be the ultimate! Pix, please y'all?

- Francisco
Compania Espana de Motores, S.A. (CEMOTO)
San Adrian de Besos
Barcelona, Spain
KiKi-Matthew
Posts
177
Joined
8/26/2006
Location
Anaheim, CA US
5/27/2006 12:42pm
Terry

That last picture looks to have a different tank. Is it the same bike ?
cracker
Posts
5
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
US
5/27/2006 2:12pm
Man I hated that gap between the seat and the tank from the old days. Actually it was my nuts that hated it.
RussS
Posts
184
Joined
8/1/2006
Location
Hamilton NZ
5/27/2006 3:32pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:59pm
Ask T-Bond Francisco ... he probably has it stashed in a packing crate somewhere " title="Laughing">
ninety3
Posts
1176
Joined
8/16/2006
Location
Saddleback Park, CA US
5/27/2006 8:47pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:59pm
[quote="Francisco Bulto":e31b5]Now if that factory Honda from the '80s with the RIBI 'quadrilateral' front-end on it is still alive and kicking out there somewhere, that would be the ultimate! Pix, please y'all?[/quote:e31b5]

I know for a fact that the Ribi-Honda is still around and in good condition, I seem to remember somone posting a pic of it not too long ago.
5/30/2006 7:01am
Thanks, T-Bond!

Does that machine look like a 'Space: The Final Frontier' model or what?!

Well, we know that Honda holds the patents on it...who knows what trickness might yet emerge from deep within the Honda factory.
RussS
Posts
184
Joined
8/1/2006
Location
Hamilton NZ
5/31/2006 1:49am
Features in the next VMX if I am not mistaken.
T-BOND
Posts
518
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
US
5/31/2006 8:10am Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:59pm
[quote="JPT":5cdde]

:shock: Looks like something from "The Terminator".[/quote:5cdde]FYI, The reason it is not used today is that with that system, you cannot preload the suspension for clearing jumps. If you were to just use it on rough ground it would be superior to todays suspension systems. Another downfall to it is the high maintenance of lubing all the joints. Not practical for the consumer.

Post a reply to: Roger DeCoster's 1973 World Championship Suzuki

The Latest