Will Puckett's 1999 Suzuki GS500E

NAME: Will Puckett
HOMETOWN: Fresno, CA
OCCUPATION: Machinist

Every once in a while, a unique motorcycle will stop me dead in my tracks, and at Bonnier Motorcycle Group's 2017 High Pipe Scrambles event, Will Puckett's 1999 Suzuki GS500E did just that. Let's be honest—Suzuki's GS500E was a solid little bike, but its reputation for being somewhat gutless and uninspiring remains unfailing even to this day. This was the reason that I almost walked straight past Will Puckett's 1999 GS500E, until my wandering eye happened to notice that it had an early '70s Yamaha RD350 engine stuffed into the frame. If there's one thing I love, it's an engine swap from one motorcycle to another. To me, it's just one more puzzle piece that so adequately sums up the "can-do" spirit of the motorcyclist.

Will began with a 1999 Suzuki GS500E that he found on craigslist, after having seen similar engine swap projects online that caught his interest. As Will put it, “I knew I had some old RD350 parts lying around, so I decided to go for it. I got the bike fairly cheap, as it had a blown engine, but I actually ended up paying more in back fees in order to register it!”

After a friend of his discovered his top-secret Frankenstein project, he decided to give Will a spare Suzuki GSXR fork from the mid ‘90s, and a set of Ducati 851 triple clamps. Nothing fit (of course) so Will, having worked as a machinist, decided to adapt them himself. He made a new steering stem, and also machined a set of sleeves for the headset bearings. A steering damper from a GSXR was also added to keep headshake under control.

A longer rear shock was added, salvaged from a GSXR 750, which meant Will had to clearance the swingarm in order to make room. The stock front wheel from the GS500E wasn’t going to fot the larger axle from the GSXR, so Will designed and produced his own custom axle, along with the necessary spacers.

The “new” two-stroke engine needed a constant IV of oil to keep its internals properly lubricated, and instead of simply buying a pre-made oil reservoir, Will cut an old fire extinguisher in half, added some bungs for oil lines and welded it back up. An intake runner from a Yamaha Banshee was installed, and a set of carbon fiber scooter reeds were mated to the reed block. The GS500’s new two-stroke heart sounds its familiar buzz through a set of expansion chambers that were actually made for an RD400, fitted with Toomey stingers. With final dyno readings showing around 40 rear-wheel horsepower, Will assured me that the bike was definitely very rideable, not as peaky as people might think. “That intake and K&N filter really smoothed it out, and added some low and mid-range power.”