New Australian member

[joethebike]

New to this site but not new to Suzukis. Been riding for 51 years now having owned a T20, T250, T500 Cobra, T350J and currently riding a 2005 Suzuki DL650.

Raced all of the bikes except the DL with my T350 something of a celebrity in Australia having won the Castrol 6 Hour Production race on it in 1972 against the 750 Kawasaki triples and all the rest of the bigger bikes - but was then excluded for not having a horn on the bike.

Rode the same bike in the 1973 6 Hour and won the 500 class then used it as my road bike until 1984, restored it in 2000 and continue to use it today. All up it has done about 90,000 miles with the gearbox still completely original despite all the racing and road use.

Also raced an ex Ron Grant TR750 flexi flyer (very frightening) and a TR500.

The T350 was replaced as my road bike by a 1982 Honda CX500EC (Sports) which has done 227,000 km to date with the DL replacing the Honda, but the CX still holds a treasured spot alongside the T350 in my little collection.

Currently pulling the T350 apart to replace outside crankcase seals on the 2nd crank used in the bike after the original wore the hardening off one of the crankpins. However, considering what that crank went through it was a testament to Suzuki quality.

Joe Eastmure
Maleny, Qld, Australia

[H2RICK]

Welcome, Joe.
That's quite a lot of Suzuki history in one post !!!
It's amazing how durable these old girls can be, given proper maintenance.
I guess you'd be the ranking T350 guru on this (or any other) message board.
It sounds like we're of an age....but you seem to have lived a far more....um...er......"adventurous" life than I have, at least when it comes to track time.

[Zook-e]

Welcome Joe,

Yep, quite a history. Look forward to your posts, input and stories.

[alanr]

hey joe,good to see another 350J.you"re new and your help is wanted already,Im having trouble getting baffles for mine.any ideas you can see my project under two stroke street.

[joethebike]

H2RICK
If you want to see a write up of the 1972 race this web site has a condensed version of an article I wrote on the race.

http://www.bikeme.tv/bm_articles/riders ... ry-vii.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

AlanR, Google SuzukiSimon in the UK who may have some.

[H2RICK]

Quite a story, Joe. Too bad you were jobbed because of a missing horn and "modified" pistons. Sometimes those judges go over the top on stuff like that.
Interesting reading, though. That was quite an unforgiving track you raced on, what with many corners WITHOUT runoff areas!!!

[tz375]

Welcome Joe,
I remember reading about those amazing rides when i moved to VIC back in the seventies and when I finally got to sit on the banking at Amaroo to watch a 6 hour race, I could not believe how dangerous it looked. I raced Classics at Oran a couple of times, but never did race at Amaroo, though I watched a few races there.

Good to have you around.

[GreenMachine]

Thanks for putting up the link mate - very interesting!

I'm just down the hill near Kenilworth - might see you on the road!

Nick

[stevegt738]

Welcome Joe, I remember reading about your ride in a mag around '80. It's good to see you still have the 350, it's a real piece of Aussie folk lore now. The Willoughby club certainly had a history of dodgy/controversial decisions. Another DL650 rider, the damn things are everywhere. I bought a K9 about 18 months ago so my old GT could have a rest, but it's a bit bent at the moment. So the old girl is back in service.