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• Genuine Suzuki works machine
• Used throughout Sheene's 1977 World Championship-winning season
• Known history from new
• Presented in 'as last raced' condition
• Offered from an important overseas private collection

The historic works Suzuki RG500 offered here dates from 1977, the year when Barry Sheene won his second, and final, 500cc World Championship. Young, handsome and simply oozing charisma, Sheene enjoyed a public profile among British sportsmen matched only by that of his contemporary James Hunt, Formula 1 World Champion in 1976. When Barry was born in 1950 his father Frank Sheene, a former racer, was already an established figure on the domestic racing scene, preparing and entering machines for other riders. Frank encouraged his son to take up the sport, and in his first season of 1968 the 17-year-old Barry showed immense promise, securing his first wins in April of that year at Brands Hatch.

In 1969 he finished 2nd to Chas Mortimer in the ACU 125cc British Championship and went on to claim the title the following year. At the start of 1970 the Sheenes had purchased an ex-Stuart Graham works 125cc Suzuki, and that year would see Barry undertake his first foray abroad - to Barcelona - where he finished 2nd to Angel Nieto in the 125cc Spanish Grand Prix. Barry's results that year earned him a contract with Suzuki GB and the stage was set for a full World Championship campaign in 1971, with Barry contesting the 50cc, 125cc and 250cc classes. At the season's end he finished 2nd overall behind Nieto in the 125cc World Championship having won three Grands Prix.

Having switched allegiance to Yamaha for 1972, Barry suffered a World Championship season dogged by injury and mechanical failures, but on the domestic front victories at the Snetterton Race of Aces and King of Brands meetings proved some consolation. Back with Suzuki for 1973, Barry won the inaugural FIM Formula 750 European Championship riding a Seeley-Suzuki and continued his strong run of form at home, ending the season as Shellsport 500 Champion, MCN Superbike Champion, and King of Brands. He was also voted MCN 'Man of the Year'.

Suzuki GB continued to support Barry during 1974, supplying a 750 and a 500 for races in the UK and Europe, while Suzuki USA provided machines for the Daytona 200 and other high-profile State-side events. Now Suzuki had a new contender in the 500 class: the RG500 square four, which replaced the outmoded TR500 twin. Barry had tested the prototype in Japan in April; as one would expect of an entirely new design, the RG500 proved fragile at first, with Barry finishing in only two 500cc World Championship rounds in '74. Even so, by the season's end he had secured the RG500's first race win, at the non-championship British Grand Prix at Silverstone. He ended the year Shellsport 500 Champion and MCN Superbike Champion again.

In 1975, before the season had properly got underway, Barry suffered a serious accident that would propel him to worldwide fame. Writing in his book Barry Sheene, Motorcycle Racing's Jet-set Superstar, prominent Grand Prix journalist Michael Scott observes: "Nobody would make it his life's ambition to achieve fame through getting injured. For Barry Sheene, however, the first of two near-fatal accidents was a brilliant career move. This crash, early in 1975, in a pre-race training run at Daytona's famous speed bowl, set several milestones. It was one of the fastest ever motorcycle crashes, at almost 180mph. Secondly, the cause was controversial. Thirdly, the victim made a recovery so courageous that he immediately joined the ranks of the world's natural heroes." Highlights of a campaign delayed by Barry's Daytona injuries would include three wins in the international Formula 750 series and two 500cc World Championship victories.

Barry's 1976 season very nearly failed to get off the ground when cash-strapped Suzuki (they had spent a fortune developing their first four-stroke roadster, the GS750) announced that they would be winding up their Grand Prix racing programme. Fortunately, Peter Agg, chairman and managing director of UK importer Heron Suzuki GB, was able to convince the factory to continue supplying machines for a Grand Prix campaign run from the UK and sponsored by oil company Texaco; thus Texaco Heron Team Suzuki was born.

The 1976 season could not have got off to a better start when Barry won the opening round at Le Mans; by the year's end he had added a further four wins to his tally with victories in Austria, Italy, Holland and Sweden, taking the title with three rounds to spare. On the home front Barry was once again Shellsport 500 Champion and MCN Superbike Champion. Another MCN 'Man of the Year' award was a foregone conclusion.

The team structure changed for 1977, with Sheene and his two new teammates – Pat Hennen and Steve Parrish – responsible for managing their own campaigns, albeit still under the Texaco Heron Team Suzuki banner. To say Barry dominated the 1977 500cc World Championship would be a gross understatement: out of that year's 11 rounds, Barry won six, finished 6th and 2nd in two of the others; and either did not start or retired in the remainder. He took the title with a total of 107 points, 27 points ahead of Steve Baker. Following a by-now established pattern, he was once again Shellsport 500 Champion, MCN Superbike Champion and MCN 'Man of the Year'.

We are advised that this Suzuki RG500 (XR14), frame number '1201', is a genuine Suzuki works Grand Prix machine raced by Barry Sheene during his 1977 World Championship season. Surviving contemporary Suzuki works race records document only two XR14 chassis in use by Sheene during that season: frames '1201' and '1202' with three engines - '1201', '1202' and '1204 - rotated between the two chassis in period.

The original factory race records (preserved by former Suzuki team manager Rex White and now held by former Suzuki works mechanic Nigel Everett) conclusively confirm that frame '1201' competed in multiple Grands Prix and domestic events during 1977, with engines '1201' and '1202' fitted at different stages of the season. No reference has been found in the surviving records to engine '1204' ever having been fitted in frame '1201'. The documentation seen by Bonhams includes detailed technical race records relating to engine changes, swinging arm replacement, bodywork revisions and race retirements, entirely consistent with Suzuki's works race-department practice of the era.

Suzuki's internal machine location records compiled in September 1980 from material supplied by Rex White, identify frame '1201' as a 1977 XR14 works machine. (Barry was able to retain another works machine: frame '1202', fitted with engine '1204'.) It is significant that the engine now stamped '1204' in the Sheene family's XR14 was originally stamped '1202', with the final digit over-stamped with a '4'. Nigel Everett has postulated that a further engine carrying a clean '1204' stamp may have existed, and that the over-stamping may have been undertaken for administrative or carnet purposes, enabling the engine to be referenced interchangeably as either '1202' or 1204' for international travel and customs documentation.

A further record held by Nigel Everett, derived from the Rex White material, documents the accumulated distance covered by each chassis/engine pairing, recording the mileage for frame '1201' with engine '1202', and frame '1202' with engine '1204'. That record indicates that frame '1201' accumulated a significantly greater total distance, consistent with its extensively documented use throughout the 1977 season.

As with many Works Grand Prix machines of the 1970s, exact frame-and-engine allocation for every individual event cannot now be conclusively established. However, the surviving race records conclusively establish frame '1201' as one of the two principal Suzuki works XR14s campaigned by Barry Sheene throughout his championship-winning 1977 season. By September 1980, this motorcycle was recorded as being held in the collection belonging to the aforementioned Peter Agg. Instigator of the Texaco Heron Team Suzuki project, Agg was one of the most respected custodians of historic motor vehicles, and his ownership of '1201' further reinforces its status and rightful place within Suzuki's historical records.

A 'Locations of ex-works machines' sheet dating from 1980 pairs frame '1201' with engine '1202' in the Agg museum. This is as it finished the 1977 GP season at Silverstone (DNF, head gasket). A further internal record dated 1986 again lists this motorcycle as part of the Peter Agg Museum collection. In late 1986/early 1987, the present owner acquired the Suzuki via noted motorcycle specialist George Beale, since when it has remained in their private collection. This is the first time in decades that this historic motorcycle has re-emerged into public view and it represents a truly exceptional, once-in-a-generation opportunity to acquire a fully documented Suzuki works RG500 (XR14) and, crucially, one of only two factory machines on which Barry Sheene contested and won his 1977 World Championship.

What follows was taken directly from the surviving race records; these are incomplete but all entries below explicitly reference frame '1201'.

Domestic and non-championship events:

Brands Hatch – 9 April 1977
•Engine fitted: '1201'
•Result: 1st place
•Noted as probably one of the first races in which Barry Sheene used this machine

Oulton Park Superbike – 29 August 1977
•Engine fitted: '1201'
•Records note 'Donald Duck' type fairing fitted
•Result: 1st place (Shellsport 500 race)

MCN 750 Scarborough, 4 September 1977
•500cc heat ridden with frame '1201' and engine '1202'
•Note reads: 'BRG on rear wheel brake' (BRG = bearing)
•Result: none recorded in the surviving notes

Donington Park 200km – 25 September 1977
•Frame '1201' with engine '1202'
•Retired due to puncture
•Notes record 'Donald Duck' type fairing fitted

Mallory Park – Race of the Year, 8/9 October 1977
•Did not qualify

Grand Prix Appearances (1977)

Dutch Grand Prix (TT) – Assen, 25 June 1977
•Frame '1201' with engine '1202'
•Result: 2nd place
•Records note:
•New crankcases fitted
•New swinging arm fitted

Swedish Grand Prix – Anderstorp, 24 July 1977
•Frame '1201' with engine '1202'
•Record notes new type cowling fitted
•Circuit described as very hard on brakes
•Lap record: 1m 39.8s
•Result: 1st place

Finnish Grand Prix – Imatra, 31 July 1977
•Frame '1201' with engine '1202'
•Technical note recorded regarding crankcases
(Note: this entry is considered anomalous within the records and is best treated cautiously)

British Grand Prix – Silverstone, 14 August 1977
•Frame '1201' with engine '1202'
•Retired with head gasket failure

Reconciling the 1977 XR14 records: frame '1201' vs the 1980 Rex White summary to Suzuki.
It is important to note that the records supplied to Suzuki by Rex White in 1980 are not fully consistent with the surviving contemporary Suzuki works race records. The discrepancy's nature is as follows:
•The 1980 submission attributes the following events to frame '1202':

•Dutch GP
•Swedish GP
•Finnish GP
   
However, the original surviving works race records explicitly document frame '1201' competing in those same events, with detailed technical notes: engine changes, swinging arm replacement, cowling revisions, brake wear, retirements, etc. Corroboration for certain Grand Prix wins is missing.

The 1980 record further attributes the following victories to frame/engine '1201'/'1202':
•Venezuelan Grand Prix – 1st
•German Grand Prix – 1st
•Italian Grand Prix – 1st
•French Grand Prix – 1st

At present, no surviving Suzuki works race sheets explicitly confirm frame numbers for these four events. There is therefore no contemporaneous factory documentation directly tying frame '1201' or frame '1202' to those races. Equally, there is no surviving evidence excluding frame '1201' or frame '1202' from those events. As is typical of Suzuki's race-department practice in the period, exact frame allocation for every event cannot now be conclusively determined.

The foregoing caveat notwithstanding, this without doubt one of the principal Suzuki works RG500 (XR14) machines raced by Barry Sheene during his 1977 World Championship-winning season. Period Suzuki works race records confirm its use in multiple Grands Prix and domestic events, with later retrospective summaries attributing additional results. Please note, the original factory records are available by separate negotiation for the successful buyer of the motorcycle.

Following a period of inactivity, this motorcycle will require recommissioning and/or restoration to a greater or lesser extent before returning to the track and thus is sold strictly as viewed. Prospective purchasers should satisfy themselves with regard to this motorcycle's completeness, history, authenticity, originality and mechanical condition prior to bidding.
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