Project Suzuki TR750 part 6: Exhausting times!

The crowning glory of any ‘special’ two-stroke has to be the expansion chambers, right?

- MALC SHAW

What defines a Suzuki TR 750? To my mind there are two visual components that are iconic to that bike: the ‘duck tail’ seat and the through-the frame expansion chambers. Both make it instantly recognisable, without those it could be just another bike.

So, the die was cast, my CMR TR had to have them. In the words of Dirty Harry, ‘A man’s got to know his limitations.’ My limitation is simple. There is not any way I could build expansion chambers that would work, do what I wanted or even look good. There are a few companies out there that are building expansion chambers, but they are generally for standard bikes to retrofit. Dave Swarbrick does a kit for the TR, but at the time of contacting these were mild steel and I wanted the ‘race’ look of welded stainless. It was clear that the way forward was to have the exhausts hand-built.

In part five I think I had got most of the components fitted and a few problems addressed that would allow the construction of the exhausts as the next part of the build. Radiator, chain-run, foot-peg height, clearance through in the frame, etc., I now hoped these parts all provided established parameters to enable the exhausts to thread their way around the bike, as mistakes at this juncture were going to be painful and expensive to rectify if wrong in the future.