1968 Crooks Suzuki TR250
No Reserve - Malcolm Uphill's 1968 Ulster Grand Prix machine

Registration No: Un-Registered
Frame No: TR10026
MOT: Exempt

• One of around thirty original TR250s produced
• Campaigned by Malcolm Uphill for Crooks Suzuki through 1968, with results including fifth in the Ulster G.P.
• Restored to a very high standard by Martyn Harris
• Offered with an excellent history file including many period photos of the bike being raced

• The Road and Race Collection

After Suzuki achieved great things with its 250cc, six-speed X6, which was developed for the 1966 Daytona 100 and ridden to second by Dick Hammer, it was decided to take the basic frame and chassis and market it as an over-the-counter racer for 1967. With figures of 35bhp at 9000rpm and a 130mph top speed, the new TR250 was full of promise. Although prepared for the 1967 250cc Lightweight TT, it was dogged by reliability problems and two of three Suzuki GB works riders failed to finish. The factory then gave up Grands Prix in the name of cost-cutting, leaving the racing programme to be pursued by dealers. Eddie Crooks, of Crooks Suzuki in Barrow-in-Furness, acquired frame 10022, and with rider Frank Whiteway resolved its reliability problems; Whiteway finished second in the 1967 Manx Grand Prix.

Frame 10026 was one of several bought by Eddie Crooks from Suzuki GB for 1968. That same year, 33-year-old ace Malcolm Uphill needed a new machine and approached Crooks, securing the loan of 10026. The combination proved effective, with Uphill riding to fifth in the Ulster Grand Prix in August (in June, on an unidentified Crooks TR250, he had come fourth in the 250cc Lightweight TT and tenth in the 350cc Junior TT). The combined points from Ulster and the TT placed him ninth overall in the 1968 250cc World Championship, which was comprised of ten races altogether. Uphill’s subsequent results included sixth at Snetterton on September 1st, third at Crystal Palace on September 2nd, fourth at Brands Hatch on October 8th, and second at Croft on October 28th.

On April 13th, 1969, Crooks sold 10026 for £420 to Eddy Johnson of Newcastle. It continued to be raced widely, and in the 1970 Ulster Grand Prix the Suzuki was entered by Johnson, with Peter Berwick the rider. Berwick later bought the machine, and retired it later in the ’70s. After some 20 years of disuse, it was bought by collector Martyn Harris, who restored it to 1968 specification from 1997 to 2000. Afterwards, it was shown at many major historic motorcycle exhibitions, taking Best Racer at the 2000 Classic & Motorcycle Mechanics Show.

In more recent years, 10026 has resided in another private collection of important historic motorcycles, and will require recommissioning before use. It is offered with much history, including many historic photographs of it being raced by Uphill and Johnson, copies of period magazine articles, restoration photos, the 1967, ’68 and ’70 Ulster G.P. programmes, documents signed by Uphill, an authentication letter from Martin Crooks, and a copy of the September-October, 2010, issue of Classic Racer, in which it was featured.

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