Martin Morrison on his RG500

• Larry Lawrence

Martin Morrison, riding his No. 95 Suzuki RG500, leads Steve Arnold (143) on a Yamaha TZ500 and William Hougaboom on a Suzuki GSXR in a WERA sprint race at Grattan Raceway in 1986. Morrison and Arnold were among a handful of WERA racers in the mid-1980s running 500cc GP bikes. Morrison, from Elida, Ohio, also raced AMA Formula One Nationals throughout most of the 1980s. He was one of the few that campaigned the RG500 against the dominant Yamahas. He bought this bike from Gina Bovaird. Gina was the first woman to qualify for the Daytona 200 and the first woman to race in a 500cc Grand Prix. Morrison scored some top-10 national finishes on this Suzuki. His best was a seventh at Brainerd in 1986.

Martin Morrison, riding his No. 95 Suzuki RG500, leads Steve Arnold (143) on a Yamaha TZ500 and an unidentified rider on a Suzuki GSXR in a WERA sprint race at Grattan Raceway in 1986. (Larry Lawrence photo)

Martin Morrison, riding his No. 95 Suzuki RG500, leads Steve Arnold (143) on a Yamaha TZ500 and an unidentified rider on a Suzuki GSXR in a WERA sprint race at Grattan Raceway in 1986. (Larry Lawrence photo)

8 thoughts on “Martin Morrison on his RG500”

  2. This is the right hander before the little jump behind the paddock area – when the track is run in the normal clockwise direction.

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  4. Great website, brings back a lot of memories. Some others racing 500’s were Jim Knipp (Yamaha TZ500), Mike Elmore (Honda RS500), Thad Wolff ( Suzuki RG500), and Bill Himmelsbach (Suzuki RG500). I purchased the RG500 Gina Bovaird raced in1982 including the French Gran Prix. Bill purchased her 1981 RG500 if my memory is correct. The last I heard she and her husband were considering the Foreign Service with the State Department.

    The RG500 was such a wonderful handling machine compared to the TZ750 I had been campaigning. It was easily 50 pounds lighter with magnesium engine cases, carburetors and titanium fasteners. The engine was made to be quickly serviced with side loading gearbox, four individual cylinders, and crankshafts that could be removed with the engine in the frame.

    I still attend road races (modern and vintage) as a spectator and stay in touch with some of the racers.

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  5. Martin

    Thanks for posting the great info on the RG.

    Gina and Tom did work for the State Dept. They lived several countries, but mainly in Pakistan.

    I talked to her a year or so ago. Her and Tom are divorced and Gina does Dressage competion now.

    Larry

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  6. What a surprise to see this picture. Those 500s would eat me up on the straights, but in the corners the new stock GSX-R 750 could stay with them. I really enjoyed my mid eighties road racing.

    Now I am a lawyer approaching 50 years of age. My memories of those times get better every year.

    Visit me at: DUI2DRIVE.com

    Bill Hougaboom former, GSX-R 750 racer

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  7. Pingback: Rider Files » Hougaboom Leads at Blackhawk (1986)

  8. I enjoyed that race, and I believe it was the last time I rode the TZ500J. Formula 1 was terminated by the AMA and I had run through all of the cranks and cylinders for the 500. It was pretty down on power by this race. I hung up the leathers and bought a GSXR 1100 for the street. Grattan had a year end race for all of the race winners so i took the slicks off the 500 and put them on the bone stock GSXR and tried to race it. Really bad choice as it handled very strangely and was a dog compared to race prepped GSXRs. I grounded the stock pipe and went down.

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