1968 Bridgestone 350 GTR
No Reserve

Registration No: SDM 267F
Frame No: 04913
MOT: Exempt

• "The most advanced motorcycle ever to be mass-produced."—Cycle
• One of very few sold in Britain, with full ownership history and only around 19,000 miles from new
• Restored with new old-stock components in 2000

• The Road and Race Collection

In the 1960s, the Bridgestone Tire Co. of Tokyo dabbled in the production of complete motorcycles, and this is what Cycle magazine had to say: “Like the 175cc motorcycle that Bridgestone introduced a couple of years ago, the 350 GTR has been designed to the limits of modern technology. In overall concept, and almost every detail, the most advanced motorcycles ever mass-produced. It is an enthusiast’s dream; a motorcyclist’s motorcycle.” It featured a 345cc, disc-valve, twin-carburettor parallel twin with a six-speed transmission, and employed oil-injection and aluminium alloy cylinders with chrome bores. Bridgestone claimed output of 40bhp at 7500rpm, 0-60mph in under five seconds and speeds of 100-110mph.

Our 350 GTR was one of very few sold new in Britain. Painted Red and registered on March 15th, 1968, it retailed through dealer Bill Smith to D. G. Roberts of Cwm Dyserth, north Wales, who kept it until 1972. The next owner was Roy Unsworth of Staffordshire, who had it until c.1982. After one more owner, Graham Weeks would keep it from 1986 to 2016. Remarkably, the absence of licencing stamps in the green logbook suggests it was never used by Roberts or Unsworth. The earliest M.O.T., from 1984, shows 2,072 miles.

Weeks undertook a restoration using new-old stock parts in 2000. This saw the replacement of the speedometer, which displayed around 12,500 miles from new, and also of the original fuel tank, to enable a colour change into the rare Bridgestone Blue. Another owner purchased the machine after Weeks’s death, then in 2018 it was bought by our vendor for his collection. After some light recommissioning, including a general service in 2020, it has been kept in good running order. In addition to the current V5C, historic V5(C)s and the original green logbook, it is to be sold with many M.O.T.s, recent invoices, and original Bridgestone literature including the rider’s manual, technical handbook, and a sales pamphlet. The Bridgestone comes complete with a spare fuel tank, original seat and engine parts.

For more information, please contact:
Mike Davis
mike.davis@handh.co.uk
07718 584217