Watch a 1976 Grand Prix-winning Suzuki RG500 be brought back to life

For or over 35 years, Barry Sheene was known as Britain’s last World Grand Prix motorcycle champion. Of the 11 World Championship races he won between 1976 and 1977, four of those were on this XR14 RG500. And now, after 40 years of lying dormant, an old friend is bringing it back to life…

Grand Prix great

In this two-part video series, ex-Team Suzuki mechanic Martyn Ogborne is reunited with Barry Sheene’s 1976 Grand Prix-winning Suzuki XR14 RG500 for a special project. Last year, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Sheene’s first world title, Martyn and his good friend and fellow restorer Nigel Everett welcomed the XR14 into their shop and went to work on bringing it back to running condition. In the first video, like doctors performing open-heart surgery, the mechanics meticulously removed the Suzuki’s most vital organ, its engine, and restored it using classic Suzuki parts. In the second video, the motorbike is reassembled and ready to growl again, for the first time in 40 years…

Video: Suzuki Bikes UK