Found in a garage in buckets this Pepsi Gamma restored and rode after rotting away in a damp garage for 12 years. A Classic 80's two stroke brought back to life 30 years later.
In 1996, I got my first sport bike, it's RG125 gamma, I love this bike, I change pipe, carburetor, piston and something, top speed almost 160 km, that's wonderful time.
Hi Neal that's a great video by the way showing what an RG Gamma should go and sound like ! I think many people in the uk don't realise what a difference the original power valve makes because back in the day no one had them ! And like you say by blocking the chamber off you lose all the mid range,it's amazing what a difference it makes going up hills as well, In Europe they were lucky they had the compete bike with no restrictions, that's probably why they were more popular in some European country's, but I suppose the less there are here the more money they are worth. Another thing that amazes me is the amount of Gamma's you see with a tiny air filter that sound muffled and rubbish ! Suzuki designed that air box for a good reason !! Anyway getting to the point I've restored an RG 125 Gamma 1986 original blue and white, it's completely original like yours with the Woking power valve, looks bloody lovely but I haven't quite found the right size jet to work with the power valve, if you have any info for me I would be most grateful. I know that any second now this bike is going to go like the clappers!!! Cheers Gary
Gary Walsh hi. Standard is a 185 main. But I run a 195. And a br9es spark plug just to make sure the engine stays in one peice. With standard air box that is. And standard nozzle. It should be flat to the bottom of the inlet where the needle sslides in. If it's at 45 degrees someone has installed a power nozzle. Also there should be a rubber bung in the pilot jet so it only fees thru the hole into the main jet.
In Europe everyone used to block powervalve since it caused problems in midrange rpms because of cinder. Units in UK without powervalve can be solved, updated, unrestricted & re-boosted with metal tube in powervalve hole, so that chamber is always closed. It loses low rpm torque but gains power since 6000 rpms. All together with OEM jets from Europe OEM settings
Brings back memories bought mine brand new April 1989 F72UUY, it got written off by insurance as a Aston Villa Player knocked me off in his Lotus Esprit. Loved that bike.
Yamaha TZR YPVS could beat that. So it wasnt the fastest around definatly not in 88 and 89 upto 93. RG 125 22bhp, TZR 125 upto 38bhp. Even the very basic TZR 125 was 30bhp in 89 so please dont talk crap. TZR could be bored out and smash 120mph.
Nice video Neal. I am rebuilding an '88 model now, though I am not going to have a front fairing on mine and it will have renthal bars. I have a couple of German RG80's too.
used to have one.. it was absolutely bullet proof and fast as foook… what have you done to de-restrict it? … mine was good for about 105 with the fairings on… SUZUKI EVER SINCE.. ;-)
Had 3 of these back in the day. Like the restoration, except for the after market indicators on the back, and mirrors. And where are the side panel decals?
i WAS Happy that I could beat anyone from traffic lights on my RG125 until a man came to my work in a MERCEDES Sprinter LWB (empty) and he HAMMERED me in a drag race!!!
No thread build sorry Jason, I have a few pictures, maybe I could knock some thing up with them. Unrestriction is a long winded thing. Suzuki took the powervalve unit out completely. I managed to get one and put it back in. Otherwise you trade mid range for top end by putting a powervavle blank in. That and a washer that was tack welded into the front of the exhaust is all that restricted them. Top speed wise vmontijo, it will go off the clock in the right conditions. But the clocks are non too accurate. The poor little bike would go even faster with a smaller rider, I am quite big for it.
Nice Video! I just got mine on the road, and I am so glad you posted this video - mine does not rev like yours, - maybe to about 9-10k rpm is all then kind of bogs for some reason? Thinking my Power Valve might not be opening? Pulls nice a crisp in the middle revs (6 - 9k rpm)... but never feels like the PV is opening... doesn't sound like yours in the higher revs... I will continue to sort mine out! Thanks again! Vm
+vmontijo Sound like yours maybe standard. They restricted them to 12hp for the learner laws back in the 80's. Good news is it is simple to derestrict them. First there was a washer tack welded in 3 spots in the exhaust header to restrict gas flow, just take off the exhaust and make sure it is removed. Second Suzuki totally remover the entire powervalve system. It consists of a black electronic box in the nose cone of the fairing under the headlight. You may find the block connector with nothing plugged in. The other part of the powervalve goes on the left hand side of the barrel. They too remover the electric magnetic solenoid and valve and replaced it with just a alloy cover. I managed to find and replace the entire thing on mine. The usual thing to do was put a blank in there to get max top end power at the expense of midrange. The valve works by opening a chamber into the exhaust header at belower 7500rpm increasing the volume of the exhaust to make it 'tuned' for mid range power. At 7500rpm the valve snaps shut via a electronic signal from the black box to the electromagnet solenoid. That decreases the exhaust volume and 'tunes' the exhaust for top end power. Trevor in the post above explains how to make a blank. The bike should be just as reliable as ever for the unrestriction. Personally I change the standard BR8ES sparkplug for a BR9ES, this makes the engine run just a little cooler. Some people changed the main jet for one richer too. A standard engine was tuned to stop revving at about 10,000rpm this is a fairi low state of tune. I heard raising the top of the exhaust port 2 or 3mm unleashes the engine potential and lets it rev a little higher. Dont mess with that unless your sure because it cant really be undone once you file or grind metal off the port.
Hard to tell if the clock is going from 5-7 thousand rpm or 50-70 MPH.. Some nice fresh sticky road surfaces wherever u iS? Shame they didn't make super wicked rubber for those cheeky rimz?
Hello! Im restoring at the moment a RG 80 Gamma. It was my first bike 25 years ago. Cold you do me a big favor by telling me something about your mirrors (from which bike, where to buy, etc)? They look much more better than the Suzuki stock. Best regards from germany...
This exact bike (unrestricted/tuned) was my daily commuter to work (if it wasn't I would have killed myself before I was 18 as NOT having this wonder bike would have led to depression beyond all imagining).... Leaving shit job every day on This bike was ONLY reason to live! and Live we DID! I remember firing mine through 7 odd inch of fresh snow on top of black ice... (whilst still on massive multi doses of LSD ---- Yes Ian.. you were right all along ... TURD))...never dumped it though but never... Stood me in good stead for not killing myself on litre monster bikez
+MrJay500 I cant remember saying it needs setting up seems you may be confused? It is very well set up as the video shows. It is not possible to ride a RG like this if it was not set up correct as it would hole the piston or seize up. What makes you think it is a bit slow. You do understand it is a 30 year old 125cc bike. Todays new four stroke 125cc bikes cant keep up with it. I could understand if your comparing it to a modern sportbike. My ZX10R would be faster in first gear yes but that is totally missing the point of this video.
+Trevor Partington Hi Trevor. Yes I have owned one, This is my video, I still own the RG125, it was me that rebuilt it. My ZX10 is faster in 1st but you missed the point of why I said that, NrJay commented thinking it was slow so I stated yes it is slow compared to a ZX10 maybe not realising it is only a 125 and it is 30 years old. I also owned one of these when I was 17 yes 30 years ago. So yes I have and still own a RG125 this is my video of me riding my RG125 that I rebuilt. What was you wanting to bet your Mortgage on? I do my own tuning and know quite a bit about two strokes. The RG is VERY VERY particular about the piston you put in it. This is a huge tip that could save you a lot of money. The only piston that last in a RG125 is the standard genuine Suzuki piston. Put one of the cheep £25 ones in off ebay it will chew it up in less than an hours running. Buy genuine Suzuki pistons. The standard jetting on the RG125 is a work of art, As is the standard airbox. Lots of people changed the power nozzle in the carb and run a K&N. BIG mistake. Suzuki went to a lot of trouble to develop the airbox and jetting. Powernozzle came along and sold thousands of jets to people wanting to run K&N's lol The sound of the open carb is awful too because the piston porting cause strong intake pulses and those are the exact reason it is better to run with the airbox. Just like the exhaust the airbox is a tuned shape and volume to enhance the engines running, suzuki went to a lot of trouble to get it right, keep it on. The standard nozzle runs with a much wider spread of power and if you tune the engine to rev higher it works well. A powernozzle is tuned for a standard engine from the old school RD days way of thinking to have a 7 to 10,000rpm powerband, same are 'racing reeds and Micron pipe, They are all designed to the 7 to 10 band. The RG was the first of the true two stroke screamers altho Suzuki kept if calm it does respond well to engine porting to get the new school, 7000rpm the engine starts running well at 10,000rpm it hits a powerband and screams round past 12500rpm way of thinking. Add bolt on bits and that all goes tits up. The sprockets just happen to be spot on too, as the gear ratios keep the engine in the band all the way to 100mph that is 10,000rpm in top and funny thing is in top gear 1000rpm=10mph. So with the thinking of tuning an engine for highter rpm an engine that revs to 11500rpm on standard gearing will hit 115mph about right for a 125 in perfect down hill with wind behind you conditions. So standard gearig it is then. I probably forgot a lot more stuff I would love to share with everyone about the RG125 so feel free to post again as it may jog my memory more.
I had the RED after Party After Market Belly Pan (crappy that it wasn't a STOCK part) Then when some Dross little East Asian brood brats pushed it over onto the kerb while I was at friends house (Parents denied all knowledge even though we had watched them do it from upstairs .. they decided that I was liable because they "Don Speak ongliesh" Which satisfied the police and insurance company (I was just about 18 year old and had worked my arse off for 37-40 quid a week for 3 years... guess how much a WATER PUMP costs for an RG125??? (in addition to a replacement belly Pan - which took 3-4 months to save up for)--- don't worry.. some thieving git made the best use of it (thrashed it on wasteland while the Derbyshire police pretended to chase them while they trashed all of the stolen bikes into the canal) and I never had a bike for over 10 years after due 2 insurance & financial misery and TOTAL DEPRESSION etc)
I got mine with.... er 7 miles on the clock... if not less.... I am/ was a lucky child... I am SO jealous of my childhood self... And have NEVER been able to forgive the detritus given skin that stole my baby. does that make me a bad person? I would peel them and salt each layer until they were ready to start torturing properly
![RIDE 4 - Suzuki RG 500 1987 - Gameplay (PS5 UHD) [4K60FPS]](/img/n.gif)
Nice one matey... I had one of those brand new aged 17 in 1987 I am now in the process of doing one up
Mate this takes me back. Loved my old gamma. 1989 and 17 again. Used to see off my mates tzr no problem! Happy days!
My first bike. Bought it new in 87. Brings me back. Cheers!
Same here!
And me!!!!
In 1996, I got my first sport bike, it's RG125 gamma, I love this bike, I change pipe, carburetor, piston and something, top speed almost 160 km, that's wonderful time.
Love it, enjoyed the 85 soundtrack as well. A good hack you had there. I soooo need an rg 125 to go with my slabby 750.
I HAD ONE IN 80S BEUTIFUL BIKE .
Hi Neal that's a great video by the way showing what an RG Gamma should go and sound like ! I think many people in the uk don't realise what a difference the original power valve makes because back in the day no one had them ! And like you say by blocking the chamber off you lose all the mid range,it's amazing what a difference it makes going up hills as well, In Europe they were lucky they had the compete bike with no restrictions, that's probably why they were more popular in some European country's, but I suppose the less there are here the more money they are worth. Another thing that amazes me is the amount of Gamma's you see with a tiny air filter that sound muffled and rubbish ! Suzuki designed that air box for a good reason !! Anyway getting to the point I've restored an RG 125 Gamma 1986 original blue and white, it's completely original like yours with the Woking power valve, looks bloody lovely but I haven't quite found the right size jet to work with the power valve, if you have any info for me I would be most grateful. I know that any second now this bike is going to go like the clappers!!! Cheers Gary
Gary Walsh hi. Standard is a 185 main. But I run a 195. And a br9es spark plug just to make sure the engine stays in one peice. With standard air box that is. And standard nozzle. It should be flat to the bottom of the inlet where the needle sslides in. If it's at 45 degrees someone has installed a power nozzle. Also there should be a rubber bung in the pilot jet so it only fees thru the hole into the main jet.
@@nealbennett394 222@ we're you from mate you got 125
In Europe everyone used to block powervalve since it caused problems in midrange rpms because of cinder. Units in UK without powervalve can be solved, updated, unrestricted & re-boosted with metal tube in powervalve hole, so that chamber is always closed. It loses low rpm torque but gains power since 6000 rpms. All together with OEM jets from Europe OEM settings
Excellent I'm 17 again lucky boy.
Arguably the best looking and best overall 125 of all time. Great video, thanks for making this 👍
I had a new Pepsi in 89 g233rpn still remember it 30+ years later brilliant bit of kit. My pal has 2 Rgv 500’s sound epic 💪
Brings back memories bought mine brand new April 1989 F72UUY, it got written off by insurance as a Aston Villa Player knocked me off in his Lotus Esprit. Loved that bike.
That brought me back a few years.. Thanks for posting 😎
Fond memories of my D reg Pepsi - Graveney motorcycles - gr8 fun😜
Great bike. I am about to start rebuilding one for my first bike!
Nice bike I wish mine went as well thanks for sharing.
Excellant little bike..☺️👍.. goid sensible riding.. the engine sounds strong!! Love it.. and some!!!🤗✌️
I collected mine, brand new in 1986, on the day of my 17th birthday. Every birthday since has been an anti climax.
Big up all Junglists. Amen
I had one of these back in 88 or 89 loved it to bits. Flat out at 105mph it was the fastest 125 around. I didn't have a power valve on mine
Great power
Yamaha TZR YPVS could beat that. So it wasnt the fastest around definatly not in 88 and 89 upto 93. RG 125 22bhp, TZR 125 upto 38bhp.
Even the very basic TZR 125 was 30bhp in 89 so please dont talk crap. TZR could be bored out and smash 120mph.
@@andisadler2897 funny that, my friend's TZR wouldn't go past 80mph
Nice video Neal. I am rebuilding an '88 model now, though I am not going to have a front fairing on mine and it will have renthal bars. I have a couple of German RG80's too.
used to have one.. it was absolutely bullet proof and fast as foook… what have you done to de-restrict it? … mine was good for about 105 with the fairings on… SUZUKI EVER SINCE.. ;-)
i could get 107 mph out of mine .
nice bike love it
Had 3 of these back in the day. Like the restoration, except for the after market indicators on the back, and mirrors. And where are the side panel decals?
i WAS Happy that I could beat anyone from traffic lights on my RG125 until a man came to my work in a MERCEDES Sprinter LWB (empty) and he HAMMERED me in a drag race!!!
I used to have a 30 hp rgr125 on an l reg. That did a hundred mph easy.. ahh the memories
👍
No thread build sorry Jason, I have a few pictures, maybe I could knock some thing up with them. Unrestriction is a long winded thing. Suzuki took the powervalve unit out completely. I managed to get one and put it back in. Otherwise you trade mid range for top end by putting a powervavle blank in. That and a washer that was tack welded into the front of the exhaust is all that restricted them. Top speed wise vmontijo, it will go off the clock in the right conditions. But the clocks are non too accurate. The poor little bike would go even faster with a smaller rider, I am quite big for it.
Nice Video! I just got mine on the road, and I am so glad you posted this video - mine does not rev like yours, - maybe to about 9-10k rpm is all then kind of bogs for some reason? Thinking my Power Valve might not be opening? Pulls nice a crisp in the middle revs (6 - 9k rpm)... but never feels like the PV is opening... doesn't sound like yours in the higher revs... I will continue to sort mine out! Thanks again! Vm
+vmontijo Sound like yours maybe standard. They restricted them to 12hp for the learner laws back in the 80's. Good news is it is simple to derestrict them. First there was a washer tack welded in 3 spots in the exhaust header to restrict gas flow, just take off the exhaust and make sure it is removed. Second Suzuki totally remover the entire powervalve system. It consists of a black electronic box in the nose cone of the fairing under the headlight. You may find the block connector with nothing plugged in. The other part of the powervalve goes on the left hand side of the barrel. They too remover the electric magnetic solenoid and valve and replaced it with just a alloy cover. I managed to find and replace the entire thing on mine. The usual thing to do was put a blank in there to get max top end power at the expense of midrange. The valve works by opening a chamber into the exhaust header at belower 7500rpm increasing the volume of the exhaust to make it 'tuned' for mid range power. At 7500rpm the valve snaps shut via a electronic signal from the black box to the electromagnet solenoid. That decreases the exhaust volume and 'tunes' the exhaust for top end power. Trevor in the post above explains how to make a blank. The bike should be just as reliable as ever for the unrestriction. Personally I change the standard BR8ES sparkplug for a BR9ES, this makes the engine run just a little cooler. Some people changed the main jet for one richer too. A standard engine was tuned to stop revving at about 10,000rpm this is a fairi low state of tune. I heard raising the top of the exhaust port 2 or 3mm unleashes the engine potential and lets it rev a little higher. Dont mess with that unless your sure because it cant really be undone once you file or grind metal off the port.
Hi is that a dep exhaust I'm contemplating on buying one for mine
There were no RG125 in my country only RG R150 Air cooled. But its acceleration was evil, better than Ninja 250
How fast does yours go top speed? Mine only about 65-70mph right now... not running quite right at the high end... thanks!
Hard to tell if the clock is going from 5-7 thousand rpm or 50-70 MPH..
Some nice fresh sticky road surfaces wherever u iS? Shame they didn't make super wicked rubber for those cheeky rimz?
Great,I recommend you Air Cleaner HifloFiltro P/N HFA3105 it matchs with OEM airbox, performance ok
Do you have a build thread anywhere??
Hello! Im restoring at the moment a RG 80 Gamma. It was my first bike 25 years ago. Cold you do me a big favor by telling me something about your mirrors (from which bike, where to buy, etc)? They look much more better than the Suzuki stock.
Best regards from germany...
The only 125 which beat my old yam rd 125
I had 3 gammas, 2 mk 1's which were faster than the mark 2. And I blew of 2 tzr 125s on a mk1.
22 bhp standard enough said. Loads of quicker bikes. 1980 RD 350LC would wipe the floor with this.
Bloody cars always in the way.
Ace
WHAT Pipe is on that?
GORGEOUS!
Standard exhaust with some generic tail can. The tail can has now fallen apart and standard can is back on. It's actually faster with standard can on.
This exact bike (unrestricted/tuned) was my daily commuter to work (if it wasn't I would have killed myself before I was 18 as NOT having this wonder bike would have led to depression beyond all imagining).... Leaving shit job every day on This bike was ONLY reason to live! and Live we DID!
I remember firing mine through 7 odd inch of fresh snow on top of black ice... (whilst still on massive multi doses of LSD ---- Yes Ian.. you were right all along ... TURD))...never dumped it though but never...
Stood me in good stead for not killing myself on litre monster bikez
was going to say seemed a bit slow but like you said need to set it up proper
+MrJay500 I cant remember saying it needs setting up seems you may be confused? It is very well set up as the video shows. It is not possible to ride a RG like this if it was not set up correct as it would hole the piston or seize up.
What makes you think it is a bit slow. You do understand it is a 30 year old 125cc bike. Todays new four stroke 125cc bikes cant keep up with it. I could understand if your comparing it to a modern sportbike. My ZX10R would be faster in first gear yes but that is totally missing the point of this video.
+Trevor Partington Hi Trevor. Yes I have owned one, This is my video, I still own the RG125, it was me that rebuilt it. My ZX10 is faster in 1st but you missed the point of why I said that, NrJay commented thinking it was slow so I stated yes it is slow compared to a ZX10 maybe not realising it is only a 125 and it is 30 years old. I also owned one of these when I was 17 yes 30 years ago. So yes I have and still own a RG125 this is my video of me riding my RG125 that I rebuilt.
What was you wanting to bet your Mortgage on?
I do my own tuning and know quite a bit about two strokes. The RG is VERY VERY particular about the piston you put in it. This is a huge tip that could save you a lot of money. The only piston that last in a RG125 is the standard genuine Suzuki piston. Put one of the cheep £25 ones in off ebay it will chew it up in less than an hours running. Buy genuine Suzuki pistons.
The standard jetting on the RG125 is a work of art, As is the standard airbox. Lots of people changed the power nozzle in the carb and run a K&N. BIG mistake. Suzuki went to a lot of trouble to develop the airbox and jetting. Powernozzle came along and sold thousands of jets to people wanting to run K&N's lol The sound of the open carb is awful too because the piston porting cause strong intake pulses and those are the exact reason it is better to run with the airbox. Just like the exhaust the airbox is a tuned shape and volume to enhance the engines running, suzuki went to a lot of trouble to get it right, keep it on.
The standard nozzle runs with a much wider spread of power and if you tune the engine to rev higher it works well. A powernozzle is tuned for a standard engine from the old school RD days way of thinking to have a 7 to 10,000rpm powerband, same are 'racing reeds and Micron pipe, They are all designed to the 7 to 10 band. The RG was the first of the true two stroke screamers altho Suzuki kept if calm it does respond well to engine porting to get the new school, 7000rpm the engine starts running well at 10,000rpm it hits a powerband and screams round past 12500rpm way of thinking. Add bolt on bits and that all goes tits up.
The sprockets just happen to be spot on too, as the gear ratios keep the engine in the band all the way to 100mph that is 10,000rpm in top and funny thing is in top gear 1000rpm=10mph. So with the thinking of tuning an engine for highter rpm an engine that revs to 11500rpm on standard gearing will hit 115mph about right for a 125 in perfect down hill with wind behind you conditions. So standard gearig it is then.
I probably forgot a lot more stuff I would love to share with everyone about the RG125 so feel free to post again as it may jog my memory more.
Is this England??
Yes
I had the RED after Party After Market Belly Pan (crappy that it wasn't a STOCK part) Then when some Dross little East Asian brood brats pushed it over onto the kerb while I was at friends house (Parents denied all knowledge even though we had watched them do it from upstairs .. they decided that I was liable because they "Don Speak ongliesh"
Which satisfied the police and insurance company (I was just about 18 year old and had worked my arse off for 37-40 quid a week for 3 years... guess how much a WATER PUMP costs for an RG125???
(in addition to a replacement belly Pan - which took 3-4 months to save up for)--- don't worry.. some thieving git made the best use of it (thrashed it on wasteland while the Derbyshire police pretended to chase them while they trashed all of the stolen bikes into the canal) and I never had a bike for over 10 years after due 2 insurance & financial misery and TOTAL DEPRESSION etc)
I got mine with.... er 7 miles on the clock... if not less....
I am/ was a lucky child...
I am SO jealous of my childhood self...
And have NEVER been able to forgive the detritus given skin that stole my baby.
does that make me a bad person?
I would peel them and salt each layer until they were ready to start torturing properly
Shame about the mirrors, not been original