Wes Cooley replica plated frame?

[Dirk62]

I'm looking at a '79 Wes Cooley replica for sale, and the frame appears to be painted black. I've only seen one other in the flesh, and its frame was either nickle or chrome plated (not mirror-chrome, but more of a satin industrial appearance). It looked professional, and some rust was just starting to peak through at some welds.

Can anyone tell me if the original replica used a plated frame?

 

[Agemax]

I'm looking at a '79 Wes Cooley replica for sale, and the frame appears to be painted black. I've only seen one other in the flesh, and its frame was either nickle or chrome plated (not mirror-chrome, but more of a satin industrial appearance). It looked professional, and some rust was just starting to peak through at some welds.

Can anyone tell me if the original replica used a plated frame?

they were black as far as i recall, painted from the factory

 

[Rudeman]

they were black as far as i recall, painted from the factory

What he said.

BTW...Suzuki never sold a GS1000S as a Wes Cooley replica.

 

[hampshirehog]

Painted black like the rest of the GS range. Frame number should begin with 52 if it's a 79 SN.

 

[Agemax]

this is a qoute from suzukicycles.org.

it was intended as a wes cooley replica.......

Suzuki GS1000S 1979
a.k.a. Wes Cooley replica
Overall Length: 2 220 mm (87.4 in)
Overall Width: 775 mm (30.5 in)
Overall Height: 1 250 mm (49.2 in)
Wheelbase: 1 505 mm (59.3 in)
Dry Weight: 238 kg (524 lbs)
Engine type: Air-cooled 997 cc inline-4, DOHC, 8 valves. 90 ps (66 kW)/ 8.200 rpm, 78 Nm (8,5 kg-m)/ 6.500 rpm.

 

[hampshirehog]

this is a quote from suzukicycles.org.

it was intended as a wes cooley replica.......

A bit of a myth. Wes wasn't really known much outside the US at that time (in '79 the 500 GP was the top racing event around the rest of the world). The only design similarity between the S and the bike he raced was the fairing.

In the UK the S bikes were known as ice cream vans.

 

[Agemax]

i always remember it from that time as a cooley replica, same era that the z1000 got its eddie lawson replica status.

 

[Rudeman]

this is a qoute from suzukicycles.org.

it was intended as a wes cooley replica.......

Suzuki GS1000S 1979
a.k.a. Wes Cooley replica
Overall Length: 2 220 mm (87.4 in)
Overall Width: 775 mm (30.5 in)
Overall Height: 1 250 mm (49.2 in)
Wheelbase: 1 505 mm (59.3 in)
Dry Weight: 238 kg (524 lbs)
Engine type: Air-cooled 997 cc inline-4, DOHC, 8 valves. 90 ps (66 kW)/ 8.200 rpm, 78 Nm (8,5 kg-m)/ 6.500 rpm.

The information on that site is not all accurate. For instance he (the guy who runs it) has a photo of a 1979 GS1000SN and it is labeled "1980 GS1000ST" Anyone who owns a 1980 model year S can pick out the difference immediately.

RE:"Wes Cooley Replica" AMA Superbike rules stipulated that the bikes raced in that series conform to the representative factory design and appearance and there were many specific rules that governed how the bikes were configured. A huge issue was the size of the front wheel on the Honda factory CB750F racebike ridden by Freddie Spencer. They used a 16" wheel and they were forced to change it to an 18". The 16" drasically altered the appearance and the handling characteristics. Another issue was the use of fairings. Unless the stock showroom bike had a fairing they were not allowed to use one on the race bike AND...there had to be at least 500 copies produced for sale to the general public. They could not build 500 copies and keep them for themselves to race.

So the 1000S came first then Yoshimura (and others) began racing the GS1000 with the "S" fairing. Wes Cooley rode the GS1000R as built by Yoshimura prior to the 1000S being released but it was not sporting the fairing. The blue and white colors were the as delivered factory colors of the RG500 F1 race bikes. As a matter of fact I had a guy ask me if my Barry Sheene Replica was the real thing or if I had done it up myself. Barry Sheene being a famous RG500 rider from GB in the '70s. He raced a blue and white as well as a red and black RG500.

I have the original owner's manual and Wes Cooley's name does not appear anywhere in that publication. Wes Cooley Replica was never used by Suzuki to describe the GS1000S. The May 1979 cover of Cycle Gude has a photo of Cooley doing a wheelie on the Yoshimura race bike; no fairing. The photo was taken after the release of the GS1000S.

Suzuki sold the GS1000S as a sporting version of the GS1000, period.

 

[Agemax]

ok guys i stand corrected and now more enlightened about the S origin. apoligies to all concerned

 

[Rudeman]

ok guys i stand corrected and now more enlightened about the S origin. apoligies to all concerned

It's all good Bro'! No offense taken.

 

[hampshirehog]

i always remember it from that time as a cooley replica, same era that the z1000 got its eddie lawson replica status.

Eddie really found fame over this side of the pond a few years later when he started riding for Yamaha in the 500 GP series (Yamaha racing block designs are sometimes described as Lawson colours - even if they are more accurately Kenny Roberts colours). I'm postulating but I suspect the EL Kawasakis achieved their status because they were based around a (desirable) big 4-stroke rather than the thrash and burn 2-stroke Yams and, by that time, Eddie had left Kawasaki.

Rudeman is pretty near spot on with his post. I would slightly disagree that it's really easy to spot a 79 SN from a 80 ST; there were a large number of bikes manufactured that were a hybrid of the 2 (the SN 'evolved' in to the ST rather than the ST being a redesigned model - Suzuki parts bin?) and the ST, and to a lesser degree the SN, was produced in different guises for different markets around the world. In fact, apart from frame number, I would consider that the only consistent difference between the SN and ST was rearsets on the ST. Instruments, brakes, fuel tanks, seats, carbs, heads, indicators etc weren't, in my mind, definitive. Dealers messed things up even further (in the UK at least) by swapping parts between the 2 models to try and make them look like the latest model (had to, under Maggie's austere first couple of years). Whoops - getting political

The 'ice cream van' term of endearment came, of course, from the paint design (and I can fairly loosely see the similarity to Mr Whippy's vehicles of the late 70s).

 

[posplayr]

Thanks for the history lessons Guys

 

[Rudeman]

Eddie really found fame over this side of the pond a few years later when he started riding for Yamaha in the 500 GP series (Yamaha racing block designs are sometimes described as Lawson colours - even if they are more accurately Kenny Roberts colours). I'm postulating but I suspect the EL Kawasakis achieved their status because they were based around a (desirable) big 4-stroke rather than the thrash and burn 2-stroke Yams and, by that time, Eddie had left Kawasaki.

Rudeman is pretty near spot on with his post. I would slightly disagree that it's really easy to spot a 79 SN from a 80 ST; there were a large number of bikes manufactured that were a hybrid of the 2 (the SN 'evolved' in to the ST rather than the ST being a redesigned model - Suzuki parts bin?) and the ST, and to a lesser degree the SN, was produced in different guises for different markets around the world. In fact, apart from frame number, I would consider that the only consistent difference between the SN and ST was rearsets on the ST. Instruments, brakes, fuel tanks, seats, carbs, heads, indicators etc weren't, in my mind, definitive. Dealers messed things up even further (in the UK at least) by swapping parts between the 2 models to try and make them look like the latest model (had to, under Maggie's austere first couple of years). Whoops - getting political

The 'ice cream van' term of endearment came, of course, from the paint design (and I can fairly loosely see the similarity to Mr Whippy's vehicles of the late 70s).

Actually Eddie Lawson was very famous in the US while he raced for Kawasaki and then Yamaha as a superbike rider. He didn't win any Superbike titles on a Yammer but he did race for them. They were seriouslu out matched by the other three major contenders. So much so that even Jesus himself would have found it a challenge to win riding an FZ-based ride. Lawson basically put Kawasaki back on the map after years of Suzuki dominance in AMA competition. Cooley , Pierce and Crosby really had a stranglehold back in the late 70's to early 80's.

TYhis is the inspiration for the ELR:

BTW...I can tell a US-spec SN from an ST quite easily.

 

[Big T]

TYhis is the inspiration for the ELR:

I'm not sure how old that photo is , but all the racebikes got crushed back in the 80's. I was just reading on SBP about how Muzzy/Kawasaki would thrash the bikes, then cut them up.

Great history lesson - spreading the GS love is what it's all about

 

[steve murdoch]

History lesson on the "S" duly noted...I will continue to call it a Cooley.
http://picasaweb.google.com/suzukijo03/GS1000Yoshimura?authkey=VgCYcSmSrt0#5282795184850892146

 

[Rudeman]

History lesson on the "S" duly noted...I will continue to call it a Cooley.
http://picasaweb.google.com/suzukijo03/GS1000Yoshimura?authkey=VgCYcSmSrt0#5282795184850892146

Suit yourself. Interesting how history gets rewritten because of misinformation. You could call it a "Cooley" but he was not the only one who rode a faired GS1000 in AMA. Dennis Smith the owner and founder of Cycle Tune rode one as did Cooley's teammates. SO by the same token you could call it a Ron Peirce replica or a Graeme Crosby Replica or even a Dennis Smith Replica.

 

[madjack57754]

Eddie actually owns ELR#0021. It was the first street version replica.
It was a gift from Kawasaki to him

 

[67fire]

Painted black like the rest of the GS range. Frame number should begin with 52 if it's a 79 SN.

I'll be darned if you are not correct! Mine begins with 52XXXX
Engine # 143XXX

Lots of interesting pictures if you scroll back and forward in that link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/suzukijo...95184850892146

Almost forgot, the frame was black.

Eric

 

[hampshirehog]

BTW...I can tell a US-spec SN from an ST quite easily.

I'm not saying you couldn't and things may have been different over there but for the ROW you could only do it if you saw the position of the foot pegs. I keep hearing a figure of 500 (and something) STs only were imported in to the US, which is way fewer than everyone else got, so it is possible that you got one batch off the line, though even then I'd have my doubts. I can distinctly remember STs with very close frame numbers being very differently equipped straight out of the box.