Mick Grant’s 1982 NW200winning XR69 under the hammer
Mick Grant’s North West 200 winning Heron Suzuki XR69 comes up for auction
Classic racing fans are being given the rare opportunity to pick up a totally period correct, 1982 ex-works Heron Suzuki XR69 from seventime TT winner Mick Grant.
The factory bike was first ridden by Grant in 1982 and still wears original Heron Suzuki livery, dotted with stone chips and scuffs from its racing career. Unusually for a genuine race bike, it remains exactly as it last raced, including its dry clutch, triple barrel magnesium carburettors, hand-finished billet forks and twin spark plugs that Grant says form the optimum specification for the 1000cc machine.
Grant was gifted the bike by Suzuki in 1985 after a successful career with the team.
“This XR69 is still a lovely machine and has been well maintained to enable me to continue to enjoy it on track,” says Grant. “Every nut, bolt and washer is as it was in 1985, meaning it is highly original. That’s very rare for a race bike because they usually end up evolving over time, losing their special parts and patina.”
According to Grant his bike is one of only six genuine 130bhp XR69s produced and today it’s believed this example is one of just three known to still survive.
Grant used a few machines during his career but this is the actual machine on which he secured the 1982 NW200 victory on the challenging 8.970-mile circuit comprising closed public roads in Northern Ireland. Since receiving it from Suzuki, he has demonstrated it at Spa and raced it at the South African Classic TT. He has made the difficult decision to sell it due to lack of use.
Grant will also supply a small cache of spares he has collected for the machine and Car & Classic say he “may be tempted to sign the tanks and include a set of leathers if the expected figure in the region of £90,000 is achieved”.
The machine is being auctioned by Car & Classic, with the auction ending on June 26.
To see the full details, or to place a bid on this slice of history, head to www.carandclassic.co.uk/ auctions/1982-suzuki-xr69-ttgenuine-works-racer-G4m6J8.