Suzuki T350 rebel wins 6 hour castrol race 1972

[givemeagirl]

Joe Eastmure won the Castrol 6 hour endurance race in Australia outright in 1972
on his T350 Suzuki Rebel but was then disqualified for removing the horn and shaving 1mm off the back of the pistons, has anyone ever tried removing 1mm from the pistons and to what result ?
http://www.ozebook.com/compendium/suzi/eastmure.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He went back in 1973 and won again in the 500 class not bad for a bike thats only 315cc it was the known in Australia as the giant killer.

I'v only ever seen one picture from the race does anybody have any more ?

[argo1974]

You may ask Joe himself, he's board member (joethebike).

[givemeagirl]

oh thats great maybe he has some more pictures , thanks

[joethebike]

Sorry to take so long but in any case I have very few photos suitable for uploading and this is the only one suitable. It is from the 1973 race.
Next year the Easter Broadford Bonanza organised by Motorcycling Australia at the Broadford, Victoria track complex has the Castrol 6 Hour Race as its theme and the 350 will have its first road race track outing in 41 years

1973 6 Hour.jpg

[Craig380]

That's a great pic, the chamfered boots tell the story there!

[mike1161]

Yeah, that's a great photo! And look at how big the front number plate is, quite a bit of wind resistance, I'd think. Maybe the rules said you had to use that size to keep everybody "even". What a lean angle, can't be too much contact patch left, leaning over that far. You must have been pushing it pretty hard. Very cool.

[GT750Battleship]

I went to every six hour race at Amaroo Park in Sydney,(now a housing estate ) a great concept & idea by the Willoughby Motorcycle Club (I was a member) you wouldn't believe some of the things that went on....to "bend the rules" by some entrants !! The big racing number plates worked really well for spectators & live Television coverage....yes must have played a big part in wind drag ? They were great days..& I have good memories of the Event
Cheers,
Roger.

[ChrisK]

What a lean angle, can't be too much contact patch left, leaning over that far. You must have been pushing it pretty hard. Very cool.

Joe was one of my heroes of the day being as I had the T250 at the time and he was sticking it up all the bigger bikes. I promptly went out and got a 350! (Race on Sunday, sell on Monday, right?). Being in WA I never got to see him ride but I sure used to pore over the pics like the one above that used to appear in the local publications. If my memory serves me right he had a reputation as a really smooth rider who was able to keep the momentum high. In later years, whilst racing a little FZR250 in historic races in WA I tried to use that technique too, if you haven't got the grunt you need to have good corner speed.
Great to hear that Joe is still alive and kicking and that the old girl is to get another outing!
Joe's address on here shows as Maleny in southern Queensland, which if you haven't been there is an absolutely beautiful part of the world with plenty of good riding roads nearby.

[parksie]

T'was a sad day when they dropped the Castrol 6 Hour race. Many fond memories of watching production bikes race

[joethebike]

I know it's not Suzuki related but with the nostalgia on show here is the only jpg I have of the 1977 race riding to the outright win with Ken Blake. Pity there is not a photo with the rocker cover on the road.

1977 6Hour BMW.jpg

[GT750Battleship]

yep wonderful shot of the late,great Kenny Blake !
Cheers,
Roger.

[joethebike]

No Battleship, I have to correct you, it's me reproducing the T350 style on the BMW

[GT750Battleship]

Sorry Joe,old age kicking in....didn't read it properly....used to live just down the road from where you are in the early 80's....Nambour !
Cheers,
Roger.

[tz375]

The winners.

[Vintageman]

For some reason I only rarely get the "Quote" inserting to work?

Oh well. It was asked if anyone else (wow joethebike on this board) has ever tried removing 1mm off skirt?

I removed 2mm off the skirt of a T305. Very similar to T350, but not sure if they have same port timing. Must be close

I have no hard data, so treat my reply simply as someone who has ridden a couple bikes and made a few bad mods. Maybe I should list those too. One definition of bad for me is the bike just not very street-able anymore. This was a "good" mod for me

The 2mm off the skirt increased the power significantly (I feel so at least 10% maybe). Did not loose much bottom end and climbs mild grades I encounter at >3500 rpms. 4500 to 5500 RPM probably has same power/feel here. after 6000 RPM the bike has noticeable more power. Revs at least a 1000 rpm more than before. It wants to rev versus before you had to force it. I changed nothing else. I run expansion chambers before and after. The only change maybe is if you are low RPM 3K and crack WOT it won't take it, not sure if it was like that before, but it is a known trade off. Crack 3/4 throttle at first it takes it well. Starts just as easy as before and idle well and smooth. I really like ridding this bike now.

The best part of this mod it was easy to do and easy to back out if unhappy (not that T350 piston are easy to find these days). T305 pistons were much easier to find.

I an doing a T350 next and will do 1.5mm or 1.75mm off intake and 0.75 or 1mm off top of exhaust. 1/2 mm off head. Small tweaks, but only want a little more oomph and hope the bike behaves a little different then the T305 just for variety

This time and I am going to run numbers into some free software to determine what my intake timing, exhaust, and transfer timing are and compare this what Graham's Two Stroke Tuning gives for guidelines for example.

Good luck