I avoided the 50cc massacre at 16 due to lack of funds, a strange perversion for pushbikes and seeing several of my mates thoroughly mangled on the things, so when I finally had the cash and motivation to get a bike I was 17 and the little red GP looked great, complete with the best looking stripes Suzuki ever put on a petrol tank and upside down ace bars.
It was a very clean 1980 model with a chrome front guard, drum brakes and 6100 miles on the clock. It had fork gaiters fitted which if they appeal to the committed commuter also hid severely pitted forks that were to cost me several sets of seals during the course of my ownership.
To a total beginner it felt pretty damn quick and thanks to nimble handling and almost infinite ground clearance was great fun helped by a lovely, late summer that year. The first fly in the ointment came a few weeks later when a loud knocking noise came from the engine.
Off came the barrel to reveal a scored con-rod where it had been hitting the crankshaft at BDC. I stripped the engine down and took the crank to a bike shop to have the big-end bearing, thrust washers and con-rod replaced, which came to a not unreasonable £20. I discovered that it had already had one rebore and only had one oversize left.
After throwing the engine back together and some gentle running in (very boring on a small bike), I was able to return to some serious scratching, although I would have been much happier if something touched down before the indicators. I live near Mablethorpe, where the bends are unlike anywhere else, as are the holidaymakers who end up in the ditch when they don’t take any notice of the warning signs. In Mablethorpe, the Slow signs before the bends do actually mean slow.
The GP is nimble and light enough to make great fun out of these kinds of roads; it can be cranked over at impossible angles up to 40mph, although higher speeds get it bouncing quite dramatically due to its lack of mass. Top speed is 65mph with a following wind, but shutting off the throttle has the bike fluttering about as if the tyres have lost contact with the road. 50mph is a much more comfortable cruising speed, when the rear suspension could cope OK, although the forks were rather flimsy and can actually be bent if you brake hard.
I regularly do 120 mile trips on the GP and the bike hasn't complained once. The journey takes between 3 and 4 hours depending on which way the wind blows and I could even walk after the end of the journey. That kind of trip also showed up the brakes. The front could have the forks down on the stops and the rear could lock up the rear wheel - but only at first. Unfortunately, brake fade from the drums is terminal.
This is most noticeable on a particularly steep hill with a roundabout at the bottom. By the time the GP is at the bottom all the braking has disappeared and I have to use the bumpers of cars waiting at the roundabout to slow down, which does the front forks absolutely no good at all.
Around big cities the GP comes into its own, being light and nimble enough to avoid kamikazi taxi drivers, whilst having sufficient go to keep ahead of the traffic light scramble. Heavy town use dropped the usual fuel economy of 80-90mpg down to 50mpg.
The bodywork stood up to the ravages of English winters and being left out in the street all the time. I did once try to use a plastic cover on the GP but it caught the wind and fell over, breaking off the number plate. The chrome didn’t rust because I kept it covered in grease. After falling off twice in the wet I was forced to replace the cheapo Kenda rear tyre with a Dunlop. My other major problem was a false neutral between fourth and fifth, but I eventually became used to this.
I took a Star Rider course and soon found that the upside down handlebars rather annoying, although they were a good way of meeting people (complete strangers rush up to you and ask if you realise your bars are on the wrong way around), I kept trapping my knees between bars and tank when trying to go around cones. My brothers bike was robbed of his cowhorn bars that made Part One a cinch.
With 13000 miles on the clock, a few days before my Part Two, there was a sudden loss of power and a smoke screen that would have made James Bond envious. Removal of the barrel revealed gearbox oil in the crankcase. I changed the crankshaft oil seals, split the cases twice before narrowing it down to the disc valve base gasket (which isn’t included in a full gasket set). I managed to apply large quantities of Instant Gasket to cure the problem just before my test - it also greatly improved midrange power.
With the L plates thrown away and the bike needing another rebore, I decided to buy a bigger bike and am now the owner of a RD200, which makes the GP feel like a pushbike speed wise, but handles like a shopping trolley in comparison. The GP probably isn’t a good hack as too many things go wrong with them, but it’s a great first bike and cheap to run in comparison with the rich kids flash 125s.
Stephen Waller