Barry Sheene and the Suzuki RG500 Era of 500cc GP Racing

By the end of 1976 you could have thrown a wrench across a Grand Prix paddock and hit an RG500. Suzuki’s two-stroke square four had gone from works prototype to the default premier-class machine in barely two seasons, filling 11 of the top 12 places in the World Championship, and the man out front was a wisecracking Londoner named Barry Sheene. He won two titles on the works bike, survived a crash that should have ended his career and turned a very fast motorcycle into a very famous one. Suzuki collected the manufacturers’ title every year from 1976 through 1982.

A Square Four Built to Win

The XR14, Suzuki’s works 500 for 1974 and the forerunner of the RG500, put four cylinders in a square, fed them through rotary disc valves and geared four separate crankshafts together. It made roughly 90 hp at 11,000 rpm. It also broke gears, a real hazard for Sheene and teammate Jack Findlay through that first season.