Project Cobra: ’72 Suzuki T500 Street Tracker

Vic Shield helps a good mate ride again…  

The Suzuki T500 — known as the Cobra, Titan, or Charger — appeared in 1968, marketed as the “the sports cycle that couldn’t be made.” At the time, a theory persisted that an air-cooled two-stroke bigger than 350cc would overheat, use too much fuel, and have too narrow a powerband for regular street use. 

“‘CAN’T BE BUILT,’ the skeptics said. ‘It wouldn’t be possible to cool it enough to keep it from seizing, what with two such large pistons so close together. And besides, the fuel economy would be atrocious!'” –Cycle World

Soon after the introduction of the 500 Cobra, however, the naysayers’ doubts were put to rest. Especially after Suzuki modified the piston ports for ’69, reviewers found this 500cc two-stroke to be a great all-around performer on both the street and track.

In fact, Cycle World would insist this Suzuki “Superbike” made an excellent touring motorcycle:

“Needless to say, the people who said it ‘couldn’t be built’ are keeping pretty quiet these days. Not only was it built, but it has been an almost unqualified success in all respects. And, with a suggested retail price of $899, it has to be one of the best touring motorcycle bargains going.”

This T500 takes the Cobra theme all the way. It comes from our buddy Vic Shield of Vic’s Custom and Classic Motorcycles, whose two-stroke customs you’ll likely recall, including his recent “YamaGamma” project.

421cc Two-Stroke “YamaGamma” Hybrid

This Cobra has a special story behind it, as it was built for Vic’s good friend and seat trimmer, John Ewens, who was involved in a bad motorcycle accident that left him with 52 broken bones. 

“He hadn’t ridden or been on a motorcycle for over 10 years until I asked him if he wanted to go shotgun in my sidecar for a run out to a big bike event. This was the starting point for his very limited (due to said past injuries) move into motorcycling again.”

 

John’s reentry wasn’t exactly slow — his first ride back was at the 1/8-mile Heritage Sprint event that Vic sponsors each summer.

“I sponsor an event called the Heritage Sprint held every year in Kent, usually the first weekend in August, and this was the goal for John to ride again. The first bike he rode at the 1/8th-mile sprint was an old Greeves two-stroke, and this gave him the thirst for more speed…not hyperbike acceleration, but just enough to compete against his son on a Harley. That’s when the idea came up for this Cobra.” -Vic

Vic gives us the full story of the build and custom work below, from a non-running import with lots of missing parts to the street tracker you see here. 

“This is no trailer queen, it will appear at the Heritage Sprint racing down the 1/8th of a mile track, and if the weather allows, as many bike events as possible. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, as the saying goes, however I love it and it makes John smile, so that’s all what counts.” -Vic

That’s exactly our attitude, Vic! Without further ado, we’ll let the man himself give you the full rundown of the build and the story behind it. We wish John many years of fun and safe riding on this smoker!

In the Builder’s Words…

Years ago a good mate of mine, John Ewens, my upholstery and seat trimmer, was involved in a bad motorcycle accident leaving him with 52 broken bones and unable to move properly for a few years. He hadn’t ridden or been on a motorcycle for over 10 years until I asked him if he wanted to go shotgun in my sidecar for a run out to a big bike event. This was the starting point for his very limited (due to said past injuries) move into motorcycling again.

I sponsor an event called the Heritage Sprint held every year in Kent, usually the first weekend in August, and this was the goal for John to ride again. The first bike he rode at the 1/8th-mile sprint was an old Greeves two-stroke, and this gave him the thirst for more speed…not hyperbike acceleration, but just enough to compete against his son on a Harley.

That’s when the idea came up for this Cobra.

Another mate of mine has been importing classic motorcycles from Canada for years and has quite a collection of non-running two-strokes. We took a visit and decided that it was sacrilege to cut up an original Suzuki twin and found this bike tucked away with lots of parts missing…it was the ideal bike and it had looked like some mechanical work had been going on before it was sold. We paid my mate for the bike and loaded it into my van with all the necessary paperwork to register it in the UK.

Back in the workshop, the first job was to refill all the fluids as these have to be drained when shipping overseas. The petrol tank was left dry and the carbs attached to remote fuel vessels around my neck….bit sketchy but we had to see if the bike rode before I started to build John his dream ride.

On the fifth kick (strange as the kick start is on the left hand side), the bike fired into life. It spluttered a bit, but this machine has been sitting for years in Canada and the UK. I knocked it into gear and it pulled like a train… Project Cobra was go.

To keep the minimalist look of a street tracker, I removed all the lights and indicators; we are lucky in the UK to have a daylight test certificate for road use. This allows any vehicle to be used during the hours between sunrise and sunset…common sense prevailing. It will never be used much and has been built for a weekend cafe blast rather than a commuting machine.

A single seat unit was sourced from one of many motorcycle jumbles, and this was modified to fit the cut-down frame and different suspension units. All the bodywork was then taken to our paint shop for a good covering of Porsche yellow.

Once the bikes panels and tank were shining as bright as the sun, they were taken to Andy Forest at Hangar 10 Airbrush Studio for the Cobra design. There are no stickers on this machine — everything you see has been airbrushed and then clear-coated again.

John being a trimmer made the unique seat with snake-skin and heavy-duty vinyl to match the line of the serpent’s body.

Electronic ignition was fitted along with my old 36mm Mikuni carbs from The Mutant. The original carbs were corroded in the airways and these race carbs worked better and fitted well in the frame. Pod filters to gain more airflow helped feed the engine, which now had a set of 1990s Allspeed expansion pipes bolted onto it. The down pipes are original, and the expansion section was welded onto these after some working out where to cut them.

The wheels were stripped and the original rims blasted and power-coated gold, then they were strung with stainless spokes onto black hubs. We wanted that old-school look and not loads of chrome.

Renthal motocross bars were fitted with new levers and the GPS speedo and new rev counter mounted to a fabricated stainless bracket.

Large block enduro tyres clad the rims, and once all assembled the bike was given a good clean and polish.

This is no trailer queen, it will appear at the Heritage Sprint racing down the 1/8th of a mile track, and if the weather allows, as many bike events as possible. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, as the saying goes, however I love it and it makes John smile, so that’s all what counts.

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Builder: vicscustomautos.co.uk

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