“It feels like the hand of God has just pushed you in the small of your back…”
In the early 1970s, accomplished Dutch road racer Nico Bakker decided to construct his own motorcycle frame to handle the power of his water-cooled Suzuki racing engine. The home-built chassis was a success, and the racing community took notice. Other racers began approaching him to build them frames of their own. Soon Nico founded his company, Bakker Framebouw, to produce purpose-built racing frames.
One glance at the storied names of racers who rode Bakker-framed machines is enough to cement the legendary status of the Bakker name.
“By the mid to late 1970s…the list of customers was growing continually. It included some very well know top-class riders such as Phil Read, Cecotto, Agostini, Kork Ballington, Jack Middelburg and many others. The comparatively short time in which this demand was achieved is an indication of the admiration that Bakker machines commanded from the motorcycle racing fraternity.”
Over the years, Bakker has offered both race and street-legal frame kits for a vast assortment of engines. The big Suzuki air/oil-cooled fours were some of the most popular engines for Bakker builds, coming in both street and race trim.
The turbocharged GSX-R1100 Bakker you see here comes to us from Tom Davidson of the UK’s Havoc Paint, who built and painted John “Jacko” Jackson’s “Touch Too Much” 1428cc Harris Magnum II — one of our Editor’s Choice Best Builds of 2024.
However, in this case Tom — a retired physics and sciences teacher — didn’t build the bike itself. Instead, it came from his friend Sander Van Delft, a racer and builder in the Netherlands. Even in Holland, Bakker’s frames are rare…and this one especially so:
“The frame was originally built for racing with an air-cooled GSX1100 motor; it is a 1983 Bakker Formula 1000 beam frame with adjustable headstock making it very, very rare…”
Sander did all the work to fit a 1991 air/oil-cooled GSX-R1100 engine in the frame instead…and what a unit it is. Tom gives us the full specs below, but highlights include a block bored to 1216cc with Gen-1 forged Hayabusa pistons, skimmed head, ZZ-R1100 valve springs, Garrett GT2560 ball bearing turbo, Tial blow-off valve and wastegate, 650cc injectors, custom-built stainless exhaust, and more. The power numbers are staggering…
“On Allspeed’s Dyno up in Scarborough it pulled 252rwhp and 178ft/lb at 10psi of boost, although we think there was a bit of a traction issue on the drum.”
The Bakker Turbo is running a very rare set of upside-down WP endurance racing forks with adjustable yokes. The wheels are ZX-10R mags with AP Racing calipers up front and a Brembo rear caliper. Out back is the original Bakker swingarm and another WP shock. The switch gear comes from Motogadget, and the trick dashboard is a Translogic unit.
Tom repainted the bodywork but retained the original livery, deciding it shouldn’t be tampered with…we’d certainly agree! The white and blue-on-blue-on-blue colorway of this era of GSX-R is about as nostalgic as it gets.
You might think this 252-rwhp monster isn’t but a show queen, a machine that spends the bulk of its time hiding in Tom’s shed…but you’d be dead wrong. Tom used to cover 100,000+ miles per year as a long-distance despatch rider, and he’s put 11,000 miles on this bike since he bought it in 2020!
It helps that the riding experience is so damn addictive:
“It is phenomenal to ride — the old adage of ‘handling like it’s on rails’ describes it perfectly. It is so planted it instills a great deal of confidence. There is no lag when transferring onto boost and when it does, it feels like the hand of God has just pushed you in the small of your back.”
With a little help from Dodge, Tom is hoping to break into the 200 mph club in 2026. We can’t wait to follow this one of a kind Bakker down the runway and into the record books.
Thank you so much to Tom of Havoc Paint for sharing the story of this very special bike. Below you’ll find our in-depth interview with Tom, which includes many more details and stories of the build. Credits for the show shots go to our photographer Roberto Garagarza (@roga______/), our man on the ground at the 2025 Worship Moto Show, where we discovered this machine.
Bakker-Suzuki 1216 Turbo: Owner Interview
• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.
I’m a recently retired A level Chemistry and Physics teacher of 25 years. Like most early teens in the 80s I had a series of C90s before spending a years’ paper round money on a Bultaco Sherpa when I was 14. I’ve been on the road since I was 16 starting on an FS1E, and have had well over 100 bikes all told.
I spent the 90s as a long-distance dispatch rider covering over 100k miles a year, mainly on Pan Europeans, then decided to use my degrees and teacher qualification when my daughter came along, responsibilities and all that. Ever since my first bikes I have rarely kept a bike standard. I am now a full-time custom motorcycle painter trading under the name Havoc Paint which I do in the unit where I build my bikes.
• What’s the make, model, and year of the donor bike?
The bike is a Nico Bakker-framed turbo oil-cooled GSXR. All the documentation from Nico Bakker himself says the frame was produced in 1983 as a race bike designed for an air-cooled GSX1100 motor. The consensus though is the frame must be at least a couple of years newer. The motor in it is a 1991 GSX-R1100.
• Why was this bike built?
The bike was built by Sander Van Delft over in the Netherlands. Even in Holland the beam-framed Nico Bakkers are rare, so when Sander became aware of this one it became a mission to buy it.
Sander had built a few forced induction bikes before and converted carburetor bikes to fuel injection, so this project was to be a culmination of everything he’d learned. The ultimate bike for a Dutchman if you like.
• What custom work was done to the bike?
Pretty much everything has been worked on so everything sits and looks like it could be ‘factory’.
The engine is a 1991 GSXR oil-cooled engine. It has a skimmed stock head with ZZ-R1100 valve springs. The block was bored and honed to 1216cc to take the forged pistons from a Gen1 Busa, then skimmed to give a compression ratio of 9:1. The stock cams were dialed in with adjustable sprockets to give 108/110. The throttle bodies are from a GSXR750 using the stock 255cc injectors, then an additional fuel rail with four considerably more thirsty Bosche 650cc injectors.
Sander made the plenum and used a Tial BOV. Gearbox and clutch are standard but an MTC lockup has been used to cope with the considerable power increase. The ECU is a custom-built MS2, which uses an extra hall sensor and was made by Arttu.
Sander then made the exhaust system, which has headers from 35 x 2mm stainless into a 3” stainless pipe and a reworked Lazer can. The wastegate is another Tial item using a V band onto the Garrett GT2560 ball bearing turbo. Engine covers are from CC Engineering.
The frame was originally built for racing with an air-cooled GSX1100 motor; it is a 1983 Bakker Formula 1000 beam frame with adjustable headstock making it very, very rare. Sander did all the work to adjust the frame to accept the GSXR engine. The subframe, bar a little addition to mount the electrics, and the foot peg hangers, pegs, etc are all original Bakker.
The upside down forks are also really rare WP Endurance racing quick-release items in adjustable yokes. Wheel and discs are from a ZX-10R and the brakes are racing AP calipers.
The switch gear is from Motogadget, clocks Translogic, and the clutch and brake master cylinders are Italian PT Engineering jobbies.
At the back we have another ZX-10R wheel in the original Bakker arm with a Brembo caliper. Shock is another bit of kit from WP.
The bodywork has recently been repainted by me, but exactly following the original livery — I didn’t think that should be messed with.
• Does the bike have a nickname?
Everyone just calls it “The Bakker.”
• Any idea of horsepower, weight, and/or performance numbers?
On Allspeed’s Dyno up in Scarborough it pulled 252rwhp and 178ft/lb at 10psi of boost, although we think there was a bit of a traction issue on the drum.
• Can you tell us what it’s like to ride this bike?
It is phenomenal to ride — the old adage of “handling like it’s on rails” describes it perfectly. It is so planted it instills a great deal of confidence. There is no lag when transferring onto boost and when it does, it feels like the hand of God has just pushed you in the small of your back.
That said, the fuel injection set up has been so well mapped it performs like a normally aspirated GSX-R1100 off boost.
We’re going to try and join the 200mph club on it next year with the help of Dodge. As an aside I think bikes should be ridden, so this Bakker has done the Dragon Rally and covered over 11,000 miles since I’ve had it in my shed. It is consequently not concourse.
• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of?
I think Sander was very pleased with the amount of interaction he had with Nico Bakker during the build. The bike was even invited to the factory’s 50th year celebrations.
• Is there anyone you’d like to thank?
I want to thank Sander for building such an awesome bike and, having said he’d never, ever sell it, allowed me to bring it over here to England to give him the funds to go racing at a more serious level.
A friend and I picked it up from Delft outside Rotterdam between the first and second lockdowns, May ‘20. We were the only people on the ferry and we could see Holland, then Belgium closing down for the second lockdown in our rear-view mirror as we raced back to Dunkirk…
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Instagram: @havoc_paint
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Amazing !