The story of motorcycle racer Ernst Degner is straight from a Cold War spy thriller: stardom, defection to the West, selling socialist two-stroke secrets to Suzuki, and dying a mysterious death. But his life also explains the curious fact that, while Honda and Kawasaki built their first superbikes as air-cooled, four-stroke, four-cylinder machines, Suzuki ended up building Japan’s first water-cooled motorcycle and took on their competition with the mighty GT750, a two-stroke triple. Now, some fifty years on, the wonders of social media have helped us discover what just might be one of the best custom Suzuki GT we’ve seen. Meet Corey Potter and his wicked-in-white 1975 Suzuki GT750 from the South Coast of NSW, a two-stroke triple tracker and the ring-a-ding-ding king of the year.

Believe it or not, Corey isn’t even a professional builder, and modestly describes himself as just a guy “who likes to tinker in the garage.” He’s built some seriously cool bikes over the years, but for now, he’s not entertaining the idea of taking on any commissions. However, I have a feeling there will be people beating down his door once they see this killer creation. A true enthusiast, Corey had only ever owned a two-stroke dirt bike, but with a love for the smell and the sound, he just knew he needed a triple. “I managed to find a ‘bike’ that was little more than a rusty roller, with a corroded crankcase in a box. No cylinder or head, only two pistons, and looking very, very sad. So, I decided this was the perfect project bike, and as I was rescuing it from entropy-induced death, I didn’t feel bad at all about modifying it to get it back on the road.”

Corey could have gone with a restoration-type project, but with a bike this far gone, it was the perfect opportunity to push the limits of the platform. With a love for Trackers, the ideas began to whirl in his brain. Unlike the ‘widow makers’ from Kawasaki, the GT750 has a very solid frame with excellent welds, so the main change Corey made was to shorten the subframe and fab in end caps for a neat and tidy look. Atop the upper rails, a subframe for the seat was neatly fabricated with machined standoffs and 3D-printed base pads, ensuring everything sat spot-on. On the underside, an aluminium plate was brilliantly fabricated to box it all in and provide a place for the number plate holder to be bolted on.

The next transformation for the chassis was in the handling and braking department. The ever-popular Yamaha R6 forks were chosen and rebuilt with YSS cartridges. The lowers were beautifully lathed and shaved, before being cerakoted in black, and Cognito Moto supplied the triples. “I designed a custom carrier for the Brembo disc and had a mate machine it on his CNC mill. While that was being run, I played around with designing a blanking cap for the right-hand side. I 3D-printed a few prototypes before turning and milling the final product.” The caliper itself was milled to clear, and the stock front hub was bored to take the R6 axle, with custom spacers to hold it all straight.

At the rear end, the swingarm was massaged to allow for the fitment of a Banke Performance hub. It was then on with Buchanan stainless spokes and a set of 19-inch Excel rims wrapped in Dunlop rubber. More clever fabrication allowed for a rear disc conversion with a Brembo caliper, and a set of YSS piggyback shocks raised the rear, drastically improving the handling. Look closely and you’ll notice a super neat white hugger in place, and the rest of the bodywork is all first-class. The Saddlemen Tracker seat sits on the aforementioned custom subframe, the side and front plates are all carbon, with the sides mounted on 3D-printed standoffs, allowing the oil tank to be viewed from any angle.

“The two-stroke oil header tank is a repurposed Aeroflow expansion tank with some custom mods.” Lots of mods in fact, including a level gauge with a filter breather and a Speedflow ball valve to ensure the crankcase never floods. But to ensure lube flows when needed, Corey machined the handle to accept a small magnet, and a reed switch illuminates the oil pressure light on the dash to let you know you’ve left it off; genius! And when the engine is this good, you don’t want it starving.

The cases were split, and parts had to be sourced from all over the world, with a near disaster when floodwater hit Corey’s workshop. The crank is fully rebuilt, the cylinders ported, and there are new pistons and a full rebuild kit. Everything was machined as needed, and it all went back together with stainless bolts.

To keep her cool, Corey shows off more of his amazing fabrication skills with a custom alloy radiator, overflow, and an electric fan for those bloody hot Aussie days. The stunning pipes are based around a Swarbrick TR750 kit, which Corey pieced together before letting James from Spread Cheese loose with the TIG, purging his welds for a perfect finish. To keep the beast well-fed, there’s a bank of 38mm SmartCarb SC2s, which, for clearance purposes, required Corey to design and print a set of custom 3D manifolds. The foot controls sit on custom-machined mounts for punching through the gears, and Corey’s job of integrating the Brembo master and running a white Venhill line that almost disappears, is a masterclass in detail.

Owning a bunch of black bikes, it was time for something different! “Sam at Colourfuel helped put together a coherent design from my big bucket full of crazy ideas. The striping includes a subtle metallic fleck, and the depth of the black is endless. The matching helmet stripes were a last-minute decision, but I love them.” The frame and cerakote work was handled by Damon at The Coating Garage, and from the engine to the expansion chambers, he’s done a killer job! The rest of the bike is a mix of the best parts on the market and Corey’s clever thinking.

The custom loom runs a bunch of Motogadget goodies, and there’s a “mo.lock,” headlight and radiator fan buttons, and an Autometer coolant temp gauge mounted into a custom plate in front of the tank. The parts list is just too long to type, but the pictures tell a thousand words. And South Coast NSW, stand up, because we’re now home to a sensational Suzuki smoker that’s the perfect mix of speed, sound, and that sweet two-stroke smell.

[ Corey Potter ]