tuned GS1000 bikes gave Suzuki its first win in 1978 with Steve McLaughlin riding , along with another three Daytona victories and two AMA Superbike titles to Wes Cooley from 1978 to 1980 . In 1980 , the Suzuki team of Crosby , Wes Cooley and Dave Aldana were up against McLaughlin , Freddie Spencer and Ron Pierce on Hondas , while Kawasaki had entered Eddie Lawson and Gregg Hansford . Crosby contested the 100-mile event on a Yoshimura GS1000 . He was initially suspicious of the bike , which in true Yoshimura spirit sacrificed nothing to fashion . In short , it looked rough – yet it proved to be the best superbike he had ever ridden . “ It was a missile , and handled like it was on rails ,” he says . He won in a convincing display of high-speed riding on the 33-degree banking and challenging , twisting infield . But in the 200-miler , his works XR69 proved a handful to get set up in practice , particularly the carbs and brakes , and he retired early in the race with brake problems . At the end of the 1980 season , Crosby asked Suzuki if he could have his XR69 . The factory agreed and the bike was shipped to Australia for the prestigious Swann Series . It featured rounds at Surfers Paradise , Adelaide , Oran Park ( Sydney ) and a triple-pointer at Sandown ( Melbourne ). Critics scoffed at the idea of a heavy “ diesel ” chasing the nimble and potent two-stroke TZ750s and RG500s , especially with a bunch of very quick Aussie pilots aboard . But the XR , combined with Crosby ’ s riding – now finely honed by a year of tough northern hemisphere competition – proved a potent and unbeatable package . Croz , riding the tyres off his XR , took two wins at round one at Oram Park , a first and second at Surfer ’ s Paradise , two wins at Adelaide and third – after over-revving the engine – at Sandown . The XR69 retired on a high as the first fourstroke to win the highly competitive Swann Series . It returned to New Zealand with Crosby , where he had a brief holiday before flying back to the UK to ride his Mark 2 XR69S – a bike that
would take him to another Isle of Man TT win and the World and British TT F1 championships .
A RARITY The XRs were rare machines , with only six or seven of the first-generation twin-shock bikes being built for the 1980 season – Graeme Crosby got two for his campaign . There were another five second-generation or “ Sprint ” XR69s built for 1981 , and these signalled the way of the future with Suzuki ’ s single shock “ Full Floater ” suspension among the many refinements . An ‘ E ’, or endurance version , was also produced , featuring a longer swingarm and offset anti-dive to allow for easy wheel changes . The Mark 1 XR69 was put on display at the Southward Museum – one of the finest collections of cars , motorcycles and boats anywhere . Crosby retrieved the bike after eight or nine years , and kept it for a long time before selling it : a victim of his divorce . The only work done on the XR69 in all that time was the addition of a second base gasket to lower the compression a notch , and having the valves set by Alan Franklin of Colemans Suzuki . The XR69 is still the same bike as raced to the overall win in the 1980 Swann Series , unchanged and unmolested after all these years – still in perfect running order and , according to the mechanic who looks after the machine : “ still bloody fast .”
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