It goes without saying that there’s so much more than the glitz and glamor that accompanies owning, maintaining, and riding a classic bike. Every time you see a vintage machine on the street or parked up at a fancy cafe, you can bet that countless hours of passionate labor went into it to keep it looking and running great.
It’s certainly no joke, as parts can be extremely hard to find, especially if it’s original, high-quality parts and upgrades you’re looking for. Luckily, over in Japan, companies like Yoshimura are working double time to keep these vintage machines on the road.
And with worldwide shipping literally at the tip of our fingertips, literally “overnighting parts from Japan” is a reality that’s within reach for a lot of us.
Yoshimura, now being led by its newly appointed president Yohei Kato, has launched a new initiative called the “Oil-Cooled Revival Project.” Its name is pretty much self-explanatory, as Yoshimura hopes to revive Suzuki’s popular oil-cooled sportbikes, the GSX-R750 and GSX-R1100, two machines with exceedingly rare parts that are becoming more expensive to restore and maintain.
Yoshimura made its intentions known at the Tokyo Motorcycle Show, where it showcased a fully restored GSX-R750 which was said to embody the spirit of the Oil-Cooled Revival Project. The bike is a revival of Satoshi Tsujimoto’s 1986 GSX-R750 bearing the number 604. Tsujimoto was the second Yoshimura racer to compete in Daytona, following the late Shohei Kato, who raced in Daytona in 1978.
Upon closer inspection, you’ll notice that the showcased Suzuki GSX-R750 is more than just a replica. It’s a street-legal machine complete with a headlight shrouded beneath the number 604. It even has rearview mirrors, a tail light, and integrated turn signals. It also sports modern-day race-focused upgrades like a Yoshimura exhaust system, a Brembo braking system, and a Brembo Racing hydraulic clutch master cylinder.
Apart, of course, from paying tribute to Tsujimoto’s iconic racer, the GSX-R750 displayed also shows the extent to which Yoshimura intends to revive Suzuki’s oil-cooled sportbikes. It’s not just making parts to keep the thing on the road, it’s also making upgrades to eke out even more performance from these 40-year-old machines.
