A blast from the past!
In March 2021 I was browsing through some of my old motorcycle magazines. There are plenty to choose from as I still own every edition of Two Wheels magazine from January 1973 until December 1992. I keep telling myself that they'll be valuable one day - crazy, I know, but there's nothing much about motorcycling that is logical.
I chose the December 1992 issue because these magazines are a good place to look for ideas for future motorcycle restoration projects - historic vehicle registration in NSW requires the bike to be at least 30 years old. The fact that my next motorcycle will likely be electric, though, doesn't mean that I should stop dreaming!
Towards the end of the magazine, nestled amongst the opinion pieces, I saw a photo of a Suzuki T500J - a 2 cylinder, 500cc two stroke. My eyes were drawn to the photo because I owned one just like that from 1974 until 1976. Then I looked down at the author of the article and saw my name.
I had completely forgotten that I had written this article. It may provide you with some insight into my obsession. This is unliklely, but in 1992 I thought it worth a shot.
The cover.
Mum never did find out about my off road excursion on Brown Mountain - thanks Dad!
I owned my Suzuki before I starting photographing everything in my life, so I only have one or two photos of my 1971 Suzuki T500R. The matt paper, on which the photo was printed in 1975, imparts the strange texture of the image.
In case you are wondering about the specs of a Suzuki T500 R Titan, here they are:
Footnote: in the article I call my Suzuki a "J" model, but I'm now pretty sure it was an earlier "R" model.