Suzuki GT750
I still look at this picture and ask myself why did I buy it? It was a pile of junk and its only saving grace was the fact it was a GT750. Kettle prices have reached boiling point; they will never be cheap bikes again but their year-on-year increase in value appears to have calmed down lately. Why is this? I have a few ideas. If you’ve always wanted one you’ve probably scratched that itch and have one in your garage. There’s plenty of them about, unlike some of the 80s two-strokes that are very much in short supply, which of course keeps prices high, like if and when that 3MA TZR250 comes to market. The drum brake J and K models are the rarest Kettles but many fans crave the later bikes, it’s basically all down to what you want and how much you are prepared to pay for it. Project bikes still appear for sale, but the triple was never a cheap bike to restore properly, maybe that’s why there’s a healthy stack of GT750 specials out and about. Those project bikes can often start from a barn find discovery, they can appear to be a cheaper way to achieve a fully functioning bike but it’s not always the case. I paid about £350 for this heap in 2012, the frame was unregistered and despite having lived in the USA most of its life it was pretty corroded, well what was left of it was! The GT750 isn’t a bike that I’ve got any real connections with, I’ve owned a few over the years but that was either because they held a profit or they were a cheap form of transport all of those years ago. It’s not a model that I have any yearnings to own, but that doesn’t stop me appreciating the lure of the design. I saw a Kettle club gathering at Rockingham last year – the variety of colours and incarnations of the bike was very impressive, that candy lavender (pink) colour is without doubt my favourite. I can only imagine how tricky it must be to find parts for these bikes but I can remember chatting to a few lads from the Kettle Club at Stafford who had all reaped the rewards of finding parts from fellow club members, it’s good advice and often club members will look after other people within the fold. There’s plenty of pattern parts out these for the model, but if something sounds too cheap to be true you’re best avoiding it, like I should’ve done with this pile of pooh.