Why is it that most 70's bikes look so much cooler than what we have now? Your bike, CB750's, H1 & H2, Water Buffalos, CBX, GS 1000, XS11 Special on and on. I have a blue Z900RS and love it , but the bikes back then looked excellent.
I had a 1973 GT-380, back in the 1990s. Mine was orange. I do miss that bike. This is a wonderful job at the restoration. Kudos to the guy who did all that work.
I had one, clocked up 35k miles on it and it never missed a beat. The sound from the original pipes is something I will never forget as long as I live.
Beautiful. My first street bike, at age 16 in 1975, was a 100% completely stock 1972 Suzuki GT380. Having stock pipes it was quite a bit quieter than that one. It had fairly low mileage on it, and was only 3 years old when I bought it. It wasn't that nice, it didn't have all the polishing and attention to detail. Back then it was nothing special. Well, actually it was, but nobody, including myself, knew it back then. After 5 years I traded it for a brand new 1980 Suzuki GS450L, an early Japanese cruiser style bike. It was much more comfortable and reliable than the GT380, but nowhere near as exiting to ride. However, it got me into long distance riding, or touring, which is what I still enjoy most nearly 50 years later. I've racked up around a million miles during that time. And I am very proud of the fact that not a single one of them was on a bike with EFI or ABS.
Maybe so, but not having carburettors as part of maintenance is a great thing.. Electric start is much better that skinning your shin. But i agree with ABS. I like to have control over rear wheel skid ,or not.
Beautiful. I too had put expansion chambers on my 380 way back in 78. Was a fantastic bike. Upgraded to a Honda CB750 and never looked back... until now. I may seek one out. ;]
Bought one near Genk Belgium in 1980 to tour on and get to work at the Ford plant. Was a Canadian exchange student at the time. Good times!! Took it to the UK, France, Switzerland, Italy and into Yugoslavia. What a blast riding up the coast with no helmet and Purple tinted sunglasses. One thing that was a problem was the abysmal fuel economy. Handled great as a touring rig.I'd loveto try the one in this video. lovely resto
Absolutely lovely machine! I had a silver metal flake GT380A back in the day. Loved that bike, took it all the way from Dundee in Scotland to Bordeaux France with a pillion passenger, tent etc. It handled the whole trip without a glitch, so reliable! Enjoyed that holiday so much, often think of it and that bike. I'd love to have one as spectacular as this now!
This was my first m/cycle new in 1974 it is was one model before this face lifted model.It was a joy to ride and being a three cylinder 2 stroke the engine was vibration free and smooth.The seat was the most comfortable I ever had.One thing on the newer model I think was a retrograde step was ditching the fork gaiters cos they really did keep the muck out. The performance for that time was sizzling
Smoothest engine I ever owned. Not super fast but reliable, quiet and fun. Rode it from Los Angeles to Canada and back. Bangin gears all the way. Sold it for $600.
Nice bike, Had a teacher in HS that had one. After I graduated I bought a new 77 GS550, all the controls look the same. It was a 4cyl. 4 stroke, but this 380 inspired my purchase. Owned it for 45+ yrs., the charging system on these old Suzuki's were a pain, but great bikes overall.
This was my first big bike after I passed my test 40yrs ago, I did a straight swop for my Honda 125 twin for two GT380's, one was road worthy the second one was complete but needed some work to get back on the road.
I was riding a KH 250 when that bike was 2 years old, properly maintained all the triples started first kick, i had Kawasaki triples. My mate Kev spent a lifetime going on about how wonderful his gt 185 was. I saw lots of gt's when they were new and they seemed to be a really solid bike, i never owned a Suzuki. Kawasaki and Honda. Kev died 2 years ago, gt 550 z 1300 , gs 1100 until just before he died. 5 close friends, kev was always the Suzuki guy.
Those Hagons sound a lot better than stock exhausts. 👍😁 I seized the middle cylinder on mine. I couldn't be bothered to fix it and gave it to our postman at the time.
I had a black 1977 with standard pipes. Great fun, but heat seized Infront of a couple of coppers, promptly got attested for being underage with no licence, insurance, tax, and MOT. The temptation to have this aged 16 was too strong, rightly so. Great times.
A few years ago, my brother in law’s mate knew someone with one of these still in it’s original crate, essentially brand new, not even fully assembled and PDI’d. I would have loved to have got my hands on that, but aside from the fact he wasn’t selling and I wouldn’t have been able to afford it, this was in Milan, so a long way to van it!
I bought an RD400 in 1979 . . .the dealership had a GT380 and an RD400 and I went for the RD which was a faster an more nimble bike but I always loved the sound of the Suzuki and Kawasaki 2-stroke triples and the howl as the rpm increased - much nicer than the RD's
I thought that the tool kit was on the left. It was not designed to have ‘spannies’; though it is a beautiful bike. I hope that he’s got a set of original exhausts. If he has, he needs to TREASURE them.
Just been working on mine. Needs a good blast though, two stroke gunge drips out drainholes in exhausts when not had a good run in a while, part of the ownership experience! Good old smokers, mine is looking great now in Candy gold and part restored. Not the fastest things but fun and they still turn heads. Look out Coventry.....a smokescreen coming 😂
I owned a 1974 one, gold finish, 6 speed gears and a LCD display to let you know which gear you were in and you needed it - you were forever changing gears to keep the engine on the boil. It lacked torque - a headwind or a slight hill and you had to change down a couple of gears. Thirsty too at 47 mpg. It could top 100mph with a tail wind and accelerated well and felt nimble.
Had one of these as a teenager, did my own maintenance 3 sets of contact breakers, never did run well as I mistakenly thought you timed them for when they closed and not when they opened 😳
Great idea to start up your expansion chambered two stroke right beside a rest home where elderly people may be still asleep, then rev it up. I love older motorcycles, and I've ridden a Gt 380 back when they were new, but even with stock pipes you need to respect that others may not share your love of exhaust sounds and ride the throttle with others in mind. Lovely old bike by the way.
It's daytime and the guy owns his property, it's his hobby and he's not being disrespectful, probably made some old guys day and was watching and listening out the window remembering old times when he probably rode, chill out, I could see if he was doing burnouts,or wide open or something. I used to live by old age place and drove my 79 Camaro blown everywhere, they loved it and would always wave. I feel he was being more than respectful
Had a GT380A circa 1985, beautiful bike....always started first time. Loud as f*ck when firing up on choke ! Luckily my parents neighbour then was an ex biker himself 😉😂
Absolutely beautiful I use to have one in the late 70s. It had a 3 into 1 exhaust and I wish I had it now. Is this part of your collection or for sale?.
Hi Robert, These bikes were designed to run on leaded petrol, how do they handle non-leaded? Or do you have to mod the engine? Apologies for the naive question.
back in the day the 380 wasent my thing dont know why i had a 500 twin and my best bike a kettle in candy red also i owned a re5 but it was recalled by dealer it got very hot as i remember 1976 ish
Lovely bike same colour of my 76 a model had it over at the IOM TT this year and so many people interested in it any tips on alloy polishing it's so shiny
Just polish the alloy now and then with White Diamond metal polish. www.amazon.co.uk/White-Diamond-Detail-Products-Microfibre/dp/B0821NT9YC/ref=asc_df_B0821NT9YC/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=404437550154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13268805820678234879&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006925&hvtargid=pla-851013623203&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=89736174921&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=404437550154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13268805820678234879&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006925&hvtargid=pla-851013623203
