1979 Suzuki GS1000S Wes Cooley
Miles: 7,000
1 out of 500
$14,500 OBO
Clean title
On Ebay until March 27
Check the ebay listing and call Bob!
Taken from Greg Williams article on the 1979 Suzuki GS100 in Motorcycle Classics:
Suzukis on track
With the GS1000, Suzuki had finally entered the liter-bike era, and they pretty much upstaged the competition in the process. The GS1000 wasn’t just fast, it had excellent handling topped off with effective brakes to pull it down from speed.
Enter Pops and Fujio Yoshimura. For two years, Yoshimura R&D raced a Kawasaki KZ1000 at Daytona, with Wes Cooley as the pilot. A first place finish eluded them until, in 1978, they switched to the Suzuki GS1000 platform, which was much easier to ride thanks to its superior chassis. Mounted on a Yoshimura-tuned GS1000, rider Steve McLaughlin won the Daytona Superbike title, and then in 1979, the team swept the podium in a one-two-three finish. Wes Cooley won the 1979 and 1980 AMA Superbike Championships riding a GS1000, and after that, his name became inextricably linked to Suzuki and the Yoshimura-tuned winning motorcycles.
With Cooley and Yoshimura winning on the track, for the 1979 season Suzuki launched the new GS1000S, a model originally meant for the European market only — until U.S. dealers saw the bike. They wanted them, and eventually they got a very limited supply — approximately 500 of the 1979 edition, and just a few more than 700 in 1980. One, the story goes, for every Suzuki outlet in the U.S. Thanks to the Wes Cooley racing connection, the sporty S was soon nicknamed the “Wes Cooley replica,” although Suzuki never officially marketed the 1000S under any such branding.
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Seller
1979 SUZUKI GS 1000S WES COOLEY 1 OF ONLY 500 BROUGHT TO THE US IN 1979. THIS IS A GENUINE 1979 FIRST YEAR WES COOLEY. ULTRA RARE AND SO HARD TO FIND. I BOUGHT THIS BIKE MANY YEARS AGO WITH PLANS OF DOING A FULL RESTORATION (NOT THAT SHE NEEDS MUCH), BUT I HAVE 2 ’79’S AND 2 1980’S SO THIS ONE IS UP FOR GRABS . THIS BIKE IS ALL ORIGINAL (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE BRAKE LINES) AND EVEN HAS WES COOLEY’S AUTOGRAPH ON THE FRONT FENDER. ALL ORIGINAL PAINT, THE VERY HARD TO FIND ORIGINAL EXHAUST, ORIGINAL LOW 7000 ENGINE, ORIGINAL HARD TO FIND SHOCKS, AND SO MUCH MORE. THIS BIKE HAS NOT BEEN RESTORED AND IT DOES HAVE SOME PATINA ON THE ENGINE, FORK LOWERS, ECT. THIS BIKE LAST RAN A FEW YEARS AGO AND SHE RAN GREAT.
I HUNG OUT WITH WES AT THE BARBER MUSIUM BACK IN 2017 I HAVE MANY PICTURES OF US TOGETHER AND WES SIGNING STUFF FOR ME I WILL ADD MORE PICS AS I FIND THEM. IT WAS ONE ONE OF HIS LAST FEW MOTORCYCLE EVENTS. WES AND I HAD MET BACK IN THE 1980’S WHEN I WAS A YOUNG RACER, SO IT WAS GREAT SEEING HIM AGAIN. HE WAS AN AMAZING PERSON AND ONE OF THE BEST MOTORCYCLE RACERS OF ALL TIME!! HE IS DEARLY MISSED BY SO MANY OF US. WES HAD AUTOGRAPHED ALL MY WES COOLEY FENDERS, TANKS AND PICTURES THAT I BROUGHT TO ALABAMA IN 2017.
I BOUGHT THIS BIKE WITH THE PLAN OF FULLY RESTORING IT BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL STUNNING BEAUTY. BUT WITH OVER 100 BIKES TO CARE FOR AND OVER 40 OTHER ON GOING PROJECTS I JUST WON’T GET TO IT FOR MYSELF. THIS BIKE COULD BE DISPLAYED AS IS OR BE RESTORED. IF THE NEW OWNER WANTS TO CONTRACT WITH MY SHOP WE WOULD CONSIDER TAKING ON THE PROJECT AND MAKING IT A PRIORITY.
I HAVE BEEN RESTORING, RACING, RIDING, FIXING, BUYING, SELLING, AND COLLECTING RARE MOTORCYCLES SINCE GRADUATING FROM “AMI” AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE INSTITUTE DAYTONA BEACH FLORIDA IN 1980. I WAS AWARDED MOTORCYCLE COLLECTOR OF THE YEAR AT THE 2023 BOCA RATON CONCOURS D’ ELEGANCE (THE EAST COAST PEBBLE BEACH) I HAVE HAD JUDGES SAY MY RESTORATIONS LOOK LIKE THEY JUST CAME OUT OF THE FACTORY CRATE 🙂 SO I DO KNOW A LITTLE ABOUT BIKES.
I HAVE OWNED SEVERAL WES COLEY’S THE HISTORY OF THESE BIKES IS VERY COOL. WITH ONLY 500 MADE FOR THE US IN 1979 THIS IS A RARE SPORT BIKE!!
Bob always brings cool bikes. This time he brings photos of himself with Wes Cooley and some nice artwork. Besides the bike being rare, this listing is rare. And we love rare!
In the past 15 years we have posted 11 of these bikes on the site, so about every 16 months our readers have the opportunity to see and purchase another Wes Cooley.
According to a RSBFS post in 2020, “This particular model GS – the 1000S line – was limited to a two year production run from 1979 to 1980. The blue/white paint was extra in the showroom, and the Cooley model was the most expensive GS offered by Suzuki for those years.” Back in 2020 that bike was selling for $14,000 with 9,900k miles. Bob is listing his for $14,500 with only 7,000 miles.
Check out the ebay listing to see more photos and reach out to Bob.
Good luck to the buyer and seller!
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