It arrived from Athens, a hound with a bag of nails in its jaws. After untold amounts of pain, suffering and expense, Tony Barrow’s RG finally emerged, as the pristine square four he always craved.
All great art is made from suffering, it is said. If that’s the case, Tony Barrow’s 1986 RG500 is nothing short of a masterpiece. It’s taken the 36-year-old IT entrepreneur the best part of three years to work his Suzuki through a complete top-to-bottom restoration, and it was a masochistic hurt-fest of anguish from start to finish. “It’s fought me every step of the way,” he says with a grin that testifies to past pain and relief in equal measure. “I’ve restored loads of bikes and cars in the past, but this thing damn near killed me getting it to this stage. There were times when I seriously doubted whether it was worth carrying on with it.” Having previously owned and enjoyed a Honda NS400R and later a brief and altogether less satisfying stewardship of a Yamaha RD500LC – “I only rode that to the MoT station and back before I sold it; a real anti-climax,” says Tony. A confirmed two-stroke nut, he started off with a DT50 aged 14 before working his way through an Aprilia AF1 50 and numerous SP-spec 250s. He then decided the big stroker kicks he craved would only be satisfied by an RG500.
“I posted on the RGV forum that I was looking for an RG and a guy on there, Stathis, got in touch. He’d bought one to restore, but knew he’d never get around to doing it. I’d had dealings with him before so the fact he was in Athens, Greece, didn’t worry me. I was looking for a project rather than a minter so having to rely on pictures before buying wasn’t an issue either. It cost me £900 to get it shipped over to the UK though.”
Denne historien er fra November 2017-utgaven av Practical Sportsbikes.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra November 2017-utgaven av Practical Sportsbikes.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Gold Rush
A stock 2014 CB11 is, let’s face it, a fairly dull device. But chuck some engine tweaks and a cosmetic makeover at it and all that changes.
Tony Scott - A Life In Engines
One of the greatest engine tuners of any generation, Tony Scott’s work is synonymous with Honda’s RC30. But Tony won TTs with every manufacturer, in a career spanning some of the greatest names and greatest bikes of the modern era.
Origin Of The Species
In the 17 years between Suzuki’s GS1000S in 1979, via Yamaha’s 1989 FZR1000R EXUP, to Honda’s 1996 CBR900RR-T ’Blade, the face of big-bore sportsbikes changed beyond recognition. PS celebrates this huge evolution.
Fettled Kettle
Tony Edwards, it’s fair to say, is obsessed with Harris Magnums. He’d never seen a Kettle engined Magnum 2, so he set about building one. Two years (and thirty four grand later) here it is.
Lester Harris
Hertfordshire’s most famous sons are now involved in developing new Royal Enfields, yet they’re still right in the thick of old school tubework and their stainless steel paddock stands are still the industry standard.
Shafted By The Weather Gods
The H1F’s crank was a sorry rusted mess. Now it is a thing of great beauty and strength.
Special Build Of the Year
Enter your stunning home-built special in to our Venhill Special Build of the Year competition and you could win our £1000 cash prize.
Dukes And Hazards
The Isle Of Man is an unforgiving place for any machinery, not least big twins from Bologna. Despite meticulous prep, a small stone did forJames Hillier’s Classic TT.
Greek Tragedy (With A Happy Ending)
It arrived from Athens, a hound with a bag of nails in its jaws. After untold amounts of pain, suffering and expense, Tony Barrow’s RG finally emerged, as the pristine square four he always craved.
Droop Snoot Beaut
It ‘only’ took Mike Newman four years to get his Bandit/’busa/ZX-9/10 hybrid into exactly the shape he wanted. Now it’s precisely the machine he had in his head all that time ago.
