1980 Freeth McIntosh Suzuki
This was the first ever McIntosh Suzuki , built in 1980 . This machine won every race it finished , winning at Hawksbury , near Blenheim , on its debut . Later versions featured brake-activated antidive on the front forks . Yoshimura GS1000 two-valve race engine , brought into NZ from Pops Yoshimura by Keith Turner in Napier . Yoshimura was claiming around 120hp at the time , which Ken thinks is about right , and is a very similar motor to those Crosby had in his Formula One bikes . It was later used by Dave Hiscock to win the NZ Open Class Championship .
1981 Freeth McIntosh Suzuki
The second McIntosh Suzuki , built in late 1981 and the first McIntosh to use the new 16-valve GSX1100 motor . Freeth and this bike won the 1982 Arai 500 at Bathurst at a new record speed , winning the race by a whole lap . The engine was supplied by Rod Coleman ( who ’ d decided the RG500s were too expensive to supply ), which had been the training school engine used for mechanics to learn about the new 16-valve lump . Ken modified the chassis to take the new GSX motor ( rather than the previous GS1000 motor ) and added antidive forks . At the time , well-sponsored teams Aussie teams each had a dozen sets of magnesium wheels , all wearing race tyres , Rodger and Ken won the race on the McIntosh Suzuki with just two wheels – both of which were in the bike … and spoked , built by Ken . Rodger said in one interview that he could get three sets of Ken ’ s spoked wheels for the same price as one set of magnesium wheels .
54 KIWI RIDER