Suzuki GSX 750 ES - My Motorcyle

Paul Jeffries is no stranger to motorcycles. The Leeds-based 65-year-old has been riding since he “was 11 or 12 years old”, passed his test at 17, and estimates he’s had “over 60” motorbikes in that time.

His current garage (which is packed to the rafters with motorcycles, motorcycle parts, tools and other motoring paraphernalia) includes a 1992 Honda NX250, a 1955 Royal Enfield Bullet, a 1964 BSA B40, and a Suzuki GSX 750 ES (pictured), though he’s also had a Honda CB750 F2 (“my first big bike”), an Ossa 250 Trials bike and, from the sports world, a Yamaha FZR1000RU and a highly-coveted Honda SP1.

A mixed collection for sure, demonstrating a love for the act of riding a bike rather than a specific kind. “I ride for the feeling you get when it’s just you and your bike,” Paul said.

“You find an empty road ahead and you can just go as fast or as slow as you like, and all your troubles and worries just seem to disappear”.

It’s the Suzuki that we’re looking at today - a 1987 sports-touring bike with a 90HP engine that’ll rev up to 9,500rpm and just about clear 130mph for anyone brave enough.

“I got it because I was in the process of selling my SP1 and needed another bike to ride, and it happened to be in a friend’s garage. He was getting rid of it, and I thought that would do.

“I like it because it’s unusual. You can go to places and know it’ll be the only one in the car park”.

Unusual is certainly a fitting description as, per HowManyLeft.co.uk, there are just six other licensed bikes of the same model on the road in the UK, with another 17 currently marked as off the road. This is a shame as, per Paul, they’re not a difficult bike to run: “They’re easy to work on - there’s nothing complicated about the chassis or engine. 

“There’s no hidden gremlins - these days you have to take the bike to the garage and have them plug it in, but this is something you can fettle at home in your garage.

“Apart from giving it a good clean, I’ve refurbished the brakes front and back, calipers, full oil and fluids change, adjusted the riding position so it suits me, and given it some new tyres”.

With the motorcycles currently in his garage hitting an average of slightly north of 50 years old, it’s no surprise that Paul likes bikes of a certain vintage. “Modern bikes don’t appeal to me because they all look the same - there’s no character with modern bikes”.

With the Suzuki ticking all of Paul’s boxes - old, unusual, and easy to work - would he recommend it to other people? 

“I’d recommend [the bike] to anyone, but I think it will only appeal to people of a certain age group who remember it from their youth, and who find the modern bikes a little too uncomfortable,” he said.

“I had the SP1 for 16 years, and it was a very focused race replica. After a couple of hours you had to stop as it was too cramped… but compared to that, my GSX 750 ES is like sitting in a lounge chair.

“I’ve done some long trips on it - over 200 miles in a day - and I couldn’t have done that on the SP1”.