Suzuki GT750B
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Beemer-5

Original Poster:

7,897 posts

240 months

Thursday 7th February 2008
quotequote all
I have just seen a 'Kettle' (for those of you old enough to know) go along the A19! Pretty rare bike now!

sprinter885

11,550 posts

253 months

Thursday 7th February 2008
quotequote all
Yep-quite rare now. Love the 2 stroke "crackle" noise they made.
Funny I was looking at one in a copy of Classic Motorcycle Mechanics that I borrowed. Tasty machinery in there for sure.
p.s. it was a Canadian machine I think & the guy said they were known as "Water Buffalo" there & he said Brits called them Water-Kettle. !

Edited by sprinter885 on Thursday 7th February 15:30

Yoda954

2,260 posts

274 months

Thursday 7th February 2008
quotequote all
oooo lovely cloud9

mywifeshusband

604 posts

224 months

Thursday 7th February 2008
quotequote all
Had a GT750A when I first moved to London after uni. It was only two years old then and the best bike I'd owned at that stage. Red with those four lovely exhausts. I did lots of miles until some theiving scum took a shine to it. Always fancy one to put in the garage (or a GT500).


Still the Insurance money paid the deposit on the first Jota..........

Keithp

299 posts

251 months

Thursday 7th February 2008
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Funny you mention that , i just posted about gt750's up on the thread about best sounding bikes.

Keith

Beemer-5

Original Poster:

7,897 posts

240 months

Thursday 7th February 2008
quotequote all
mywifeshusband said:
Had a GT750A when I first moved to London after uni. It was only two years old then and the best bike I'd owned at that stage. Red with those four lovely exhausts. I did lots of miles until some theiving scum took a shine to it. Always fancy one to put in the garage (or a GT500).


Still the Insurance money paid the deposit on the first Jota..........
I had the Jota 120, a Y-reg one and also a GT750A Suzy!

Benni

3,700 posts

237 months

Friday 8th February 2008
quotequote all
I have a (very) old (August 77) copy of BIKE magazine,
with a road test of a "Sanders & Lewis" Nico Bakker-framed GT 750,
with a Piper 3-1 expansion chamber fitted.
Besides from being TOO loud even for the BIKE guys,
this 3-1 thing surely must be wrong confused on a two-stroke ?

QUOTE :
As I wound the throttle open,
the exhausts machine-gun rattle suddenly changed into a rasping wail
as the motor came on the pipe at just over 4.000 rpm.
The noise sliced right through the rush-hour bustle
and stopped pedestrians in their tracks
as they tuned to indentify this assault on their eardrums.
I sheepishly changed into second and looked around
to see if the Law was in evidence. DISQUOTE

I would have liked to hear it, though, good reading, that.......

Beemer-5

Original Poster:

7,897 posts

240 months

Friday 8th February 2008
quotequote all
I had a 3-1 system on my GT750 and yes, it made the performance worse, rather than better and actually got rid of the characterful sound of the triple, imo.

black1

979 posts

223 months

Friday 8th February 2008
quotequote all
Beemer-5 said:
I had a 3-1 system on my GT750 and yes, it made the performance worse, rather than better and actually got rid of the characterful sound of the triple, imo.
yep piper made the3-1

mywifeshusband

604 posts

224 months

Friday 8th February 2008
quotequote all
Do I remember a copy of Bike magazine featuring a "Sanders & Lewis" framed Kettle? I lusted after that (but built a Motodd framed Jota instead)




Benni

3,700 posts

237 months

Friday 8th February 2008
quotequote all
Hi husband !
That´s exactly what I wrote about,
I think S&L were the retailers and Nico Bakker (NL) the frame engineer,
he also built a lot of GP chassis.
I bought these mags (aged 17) at the big train station
in the international newsstand.....cloud9
In that same issue,
there was also a ATP turbo-kitted KZ1000 feature ("blowing hot" )
and a Triumph triple that a bloke had uprated with a blower ("blowing cold" ).
Those were the days....of very early "Streetfighter-Style" bikes..thumbup
Then I rode home on my ST70 DAX...........getmecoat
Cheers,
Benni

Beemer-5

Original Poster:

7,897 posts

240 months

Saturday 9th February 2008
quotequote all
Piper, aye!

y2blade

56,296 posts

241 months

Saturday 9th February 2008
quotequote all
Beemer-5 said:
I have just seen a 'Kettle' (for those of you old enough to know) go along the A19! Pretty rare bike now!
i'd love to get hold of one of those!!!! cool

macdeb

8,745 posts

281 months

Saturday 9th February 2008
quotequote all
I had one. Very torquey motor, Sounded great, only thing I didn't like was the fact the middle cylinders exhaust split into two so as to have the appearance of four exhausts at the back. Preferred Kawasaki's look of three exhausts for three cylinders. Still, wish I had the bugger now.

Beemer-5

Original Poster:

7,897 posts

240 months

Saturday 9th February 2008
quotequote all
It was tough to get a really efficient exhaust for those bikes.

VictorMeldrew

8,293 posts

303 months

Saturday 18th May 2013
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Sorry to resurrect such an ancient thread, but as I am starting a rebuild of my Sanders & Lewis GT750 and was doing some research I stumbled on it.



Early Streetfighter seems about right, although I had clipons fitted most of the time.



Those exhausts were hand made and of indeterminate origin, VERY heavy, and incredibly loud. The bike was good for 140mph though so they obviously worked, but they are one of the items lost over the years.

Piper 3-1 may be an option if I can find a set, as these were the original pipes fitted to the S&L, otherwise I will be having some pipes made to fit. There is actually only a single exhaust mount on the bike, with the left pipe attached to the riders footpeg mount, which is not ideal. The GT's exhausts were mounted in large isolastic fittings as the engine is rubber mounted.

I have just received a new pair of stanchions from Japan, so the rebuild is officially now underway.

Pothole

34,367 posts

308 months

Saturday 18th May 2013
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Love the look of your bike, Victor!

VictorMeldrew

8,293 posts

303 months

Saturday 18th May 2013
quotequote all
Why thank you!

Here's another one I had prior to the S&L, which was also a bit of a beast. I was big into my GT's in the day!


Pothole

34,367 posts

308 months

Saturday 18th May 2013
quotequote all
Don't like that as much. (camp boots!)

VictorMeldrew

8,293 posts

303 months

Saturday 18th May 2013
quotequote all
Pothole said:
Don't like that as much. (camp boots!)
Yes, the hair is a bit ghey too, and what's with the lumberjack shirt? Did I go out in public like that? Blimey, the Seventies have a lot to answer for!