YOSHIMURA AND SUZUKI It’s a family affair part 2!
If you’ve ever scribbled anything down in your life, you’ll have heard the dictum: ‘Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.’ While I’m not a fan of this, it could be used in some way to describe the Yoshimura Suzuki story.
If I were to say Yoshimura, XR69, Suzuki, winning, the name Wes Cooley should come next, right? For it was he who blazed the Yoshimura name across every motorcycle publication back in 1978 when, along with Mike Baldwin they romped their way to a stunning victory at the Suzuka 8 Hours race in Japan on PopsYoshimura’s GS1000R.
Interestingly, Graeme Crosby, or Croz, was 3rd on a Yoshimura Kawasaki, a bike he shared with Tony Hatton. Wes, of course went on to many wins with the GS. In ‘S’ trim the bike spawned thousands of Wes Cooley Replicas.
I’ve been involved in building engines, caliper mounts etc, and although I wince at the term ‘iconic’ I suppose that is a term that works here – the 34 plate, blue and white paint and little ‘S’ bikini top fairing will always be synonymous with that rider, that bike and that period – all happy? Job
