Genuine XR 69

[John Kat]

A couple of months ago I attended the "Coupe Moto Légende" in Dijon, France. It's the largest gathering in France for classic bikes that is held every year on the Dijon-Prenois race track.
Many famous racers come to this event and I personally saw: Phil Read, Jim Redman and Yvon Duhamel.
For us GS fans the best is to come as I saw one original XR 69.
This bike was raced in the FIM 1000cc class before the capacity got limited to 750 cc.Here are the pics! You will notice that the alternator was mounted of the rear chain sprocket

[El Giablo]

Good stuff. I like those as well. El G.

[steve murdoch]

Just curious as to the top mount front calipers?
I always thought the idea was to get the weight down low.
Maybe for quick pit stop maintenance?

[John Kat]

Just curious as to the top mount front calipers?
I always thought the idea was to get the weight down low.
Maybe for quick pit stop maintenance?

I wonder if it was not just a fashion as I remember the Honda 750 Daytona's were positionned the same way?
However ease of pad change must be an important factor in Endurance races.
Here's a better picture

[Ghostgs1]

I wonder if it was not just a fashion as I remember the Honda 750 Daytona's were positionned the same way?
However ease of pad change must be an important factor in Endurance races.
Here's a better picture

Great pics, John, Thanks for posting. I wonder if the caliper location was for increased exposure to air flow, only a guess. Ray

[Toddk]

Good guess you are correct. Cooling was the reason

Toddk (I'm old, but I remember almost everything.)

[SqDancerLynn1]

Calipers ? I would guess for quick tire changes

[Buffalo Bill]

Nice 8 valver, ULTIMATE!

I've never heard of this bike, I can see it had a great winning streak! Thanks for including that poster!
That must be one of the ultimate Suzuki 8 valvers ever built, but what year were those wins, 1981? It looks like it's got the big wheels too!
It looks just like one of the Heron Suzuki's.
Thanks!
Bill

[NoH2Oh]

I've never heard of this bike, I can see it had a great winning streak! Thanks for including that poster!
That must be one of the ultimate Suzuki 8 valvers ever built, but what year were those wins, 1981? It looks like it's got the big wheels too!
It looks just like one of the Heron Suzuki's.
Thanks!
Bill

Bill, take a look here:

http://www.silverstonesuperbikes.co.uk/endurance_bike_19.html

http://www.silverstonesuperbikes.co.uk/xr69_5.html

[John Kat]

I've never heard of this bike, I can see it had a great winning streak! Thanks for including that poster!
That must be one of the ultimate Suzuki 8 valvers ever built, but what year were those wins, 1981? It looks like it's got the big wheels too!
It looks just like one of the Heron Suzuki's.
Thanks!
Bill

Yes, I believe it was 1981 just before the ban of the 1000 cc class.
Here's another picture where you can imagine yourself driving the bike
Note that the clutch and brake levers are set in between the fork tubes...
It doesn't leave much leverage left to the rider in case of a high speed wobble!

[Buffalo Bill]

Set up for just one race…

I'll bet that steering rig was meant for just one race and track.
An endurance race with mostly high speeds, with no need for juking around like in a short track race.
That list has only endurance races: 1000 KM, 8 hours, 24 hours.
Bill

[ozman]

Yes, I believe it was 1981 just before the ban of the 1000 cc class.
Here's another picture where you can imagine yourself driving the bike
Note that the clutch and brake levers are set in between the fork tubes...
It doesn't leave much leverage left to the rider in case of a high speed wobble!

there was 1 more verison after this bike
last of the 8 valves this bike won the 1983 world endurance title
XR41 aluminium framed and motor had oil cooling similar to gsxr750 eg oil squirted under pistons for extra cooling
the next year they dropped the limit to 750