Farewell to Barry’s bikes.
We should salute Suzuki GB for allowing us to see, hear (and smell) Barry Sheene’s legendary 1976 and 1977 500cc GP title winning machines. Suzuki’s Tim Davies and his team secured the bikes to be shipped over (at great expense) from the Sheene family home in Australia to celebrate the 40th anniversaries of Barry’s two world titles. Now – after a busy two show seasons – they will return to Australia. During their time in the UK, Suzuki got ex-sheene mechanic Martyn Ogborne and legendary classic spanner-man
Nigel Everett to restore the 1976 XR14 to working order. Following 600 hours of hard work the bike was ridden by Barry’s son Freddie at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough – scene to many of Sheene’s victories. The bikes have helped heap publicity on Suzuki’s Vintage Parts Programme, which helps keep our chosen classics alive and on the road. At the 24th Carole Nash Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show at the Stafford Showground, the British public enjoyed seeing and hearing the brace of title-winners for – possibly – the last time before they return back to the Sheene family home. For one CMM reader who attended the show, it was a sight and sound never to be forgotten. Pete Smith said: “I was a Barry Sheene fan back in the 1970s and got to see him race at Silverstone at that classic 500cc GP in 1979 and a couple of times at Scarborough. I’ve seen these bikes at shows over the last couple of years but had to come back to Stafford to see and hear them one more time. These bikes are a big piece of history for me and it’s great that Suzuki realised this and brought them back to the UK for a while.”