Castrol Six-Hour?

[Dadpole]

Come in Ivan........bitch!!!!!!!!

Want me to twist his arm a bit?

[Katman]

Nice one dadpole. I thought I'd sneak in and edit my bourbon induced tourettes outburst and you go and quote it. Come back Ivan, I'm sorry......honest.

[Dadpole]

Always happy to help

[Dadpole]

Arm was twisted today. The DVD is being tracked down. Wouldn't mind a copy myself, if only in the hope of seeing myself twisting spanners. AHH I was once such a wholesome and handsome young lad.....not.

[klummy]

from memory i think dave/ nev hicock raced one it was leading the 6 hour and the wire spokes broke causing nev to crash because the handling got so bad/ he contuinued racing was black flagged but ignored it finishing but was disqualified and suspened

[Big Dave]

1982 6 Hour - I was there!
Taking photos too.
Unfortunately long lost in the mists of moving.

[forkoil]

Just a littlee, the most controversial ones were the "black pipe" suzukis which came out at the last minute but were allowed in the 6 hr. They were NOT katana's, but were conventional GSX's. Dave H won as I recall. Was that the year of Vince Sharpe on the CBX?
(sorry memory fading, but I have a poster on the garage wall of Dave on the black piped suzi. Great days in NZ prod road racing)

[Skid kid]

Hey there all, Just a bit of info. The "Wire Wheel" Katana's were Chassis =#100388-101324. Unlike the standard 5xxxxx type, SZ=#SZ= 522093 on SD= 535683 on SE= 541309 on.
Just a few numbers to help clear up any issues regarding wire wheel Chassis numbers. These numbers are as clear as I can find so far. Still they all go so well that it does'nt matter any how.
Yep the Black piper was the old GSX 1100 ET type shape and also has a odd 100xxx type chasis number. They were also a 1981 production, same year as the Katana but the old shaped bike, they had a different swing arm to the standard alloy type, and a different stator winding cover. My father has one of these and it goes very well. Lovely Bike.
This 100xxx type of number seems to relate to "special" bikes?

Hope this helps and does not cause any fights.
Cheers.

[tri boy]

Good research Skid kid.

[nudemetalz]

Fascinating stuff, Skid Kid. Thanks for sharing.

[Dadpole]

they had a different swing arm to the standard alloy type,Cheers.

The swingarm was off the US GS(X) 1100 low spec model. It did not twist and flex like the "high-tech" alloy types.

[What?]

Just a littlee, the most controversial ones were the "black pipe" suzukis which came out at the last minute but were allowed in the 6 hr.

The black-pipers were a parts bin special, built in South Pacific Suzuki's marine shop just for the 6-hour.
My memory puts Vince on a CB1100R that year. Two CBX's were raced in 79(?) - neither finished. Great days, all right!

Skid Kid - is your father the bloke that broke down on the Kaimai with a broken ignition wire on the way to a Ulysses rally a few months back?

[Skid kid]

Yea that's the one! Nice to see that Suzuki reliability is paramount. Are you the nice fella that gave him a hand? Damn loose wires. It takes a life time to sort out electronic faults on old suzuki's.

[What?]

Yep, that was me. Fortunately the problem wasn't hard to find or fix.

[What?]

The black-pipers were a parts bin special, built in South Pacific Suzuki's marine shop just for the 6-hour.

I stand corrected - from a gentleman whom I can gaurantee knows the facts:

The "Black Pipers" were not "parts bin specials". Rod Coleman travelled to Suzuki Japan and arranged the individual E27 (NZ) spec for the Castrol 6-Hour bikes. Included was a visit to Mr Pops Yoshimura with regard to camshafts. THE BIKES WERE BUILT IN SUZUKI MOTOR CO's HAMAMATSU PLANT.

The bikes were not built in any marine shop in Wanganui or in any other marine shop in NZ regardless of ownership (South Pacific Suzuki Dist , Coleman's Marine or any other).

Following on from the "Black Pipers", the "Wire Wheel" GSX1100SXZ Katanas were also built in Japan.