[visordown.com] - Return of the 500cc GP bike

[Ninjette Newsbot]

REMEMBER Suter’s 500cc two-stroke from back in 2009? Well it’s set for a return in revamped form and will be raced at next year’s World GP Bike Legends events.

Although info is scant prior to the bike’s official unveiling on September 20, it looks to be a similar machine to the one Suter created six years ago. That bike used a chassis and styling derived from the short-lived Ilmor MotoGP project combined with a 500cc two-stroke V4 making something in the region of 180-200bhp. Or 'plenty' to take a less scientific approach, particularly when combined with a sub-130kg weight.

Last time around, the bike was intended to be sold as a Paton, with green paint and the ‘Paton Gran Premio’ name. It re-emerged in 2012, looking much the same, as the Suter SRT 500. It’s not clear if any were actually sold, but they were theoretically on offer at around £90,000 a pop.

Now it’s got a web-page where it’s teased – with restyled bodywork, by the look of it – as the Suter MMX 500, although the organisers of the World GP Bike Legends event refer to it as the ‘Legends 500’ and say it will race at the as-yet-unannounced events that they’ll run next year in the mould of this June’s inaugural event at Jerez.

In short, it’s all a bit unclear right now, but World GP Bike Legends claims:

“The legendary riders are lined up and ready to race, and with the Suter machinery in evocative period livery, World GP Bike Legends events in 2016 will be louder and more spectacular than any other race meeting on the planet.”

“The added safety and reliability of the new machines will allow for unbelievable elbow to elbow battling the like of which has never been seen in the classic racing world, and it’s sure to wow fans and provide incredible TV too.”

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