“Bridgestone’s 350 GTR was undoubtedly the finest of the 1960s mid-sized two-stroke motorcycles in both quality and innovation and as a testament it created one of motor-cycling’s greatest myths – that the big four Japanese motorcycle companies forced Bridgestone to stop manufacturing motorcycles.” That’s how Old Bike Australasia opens up their description of the 350 GTR, a bike that all the magazines gushed over when it was released. Cycle World added that “we consider it to be one of the handsomest roadsters in all of motorcycling, with a superbly successful blending of Japanese smoothness and English cobbiness. Further, it’s, as we’ve said before, a full-size motorcycle, as big and as fast as any five-hundred — and considerably faster than most.”
The Bridgestone truly was faster than its 350cc competition thanks to the use of rotary valve induction – BS claimed 40 horsepower at 7,500 rpm. About 6,500 examples were built in total and OBA called it Bridgestone’s crowning glory – I recommend you check out their profile here for more information.
This example (VIN: NA1-009582) isn’t as stock as I was hoping for but it’s interesting in a different way, as it’s a period “one off race bike that was raced during the 70s and has been off road for a hot minute.” It supposedly started out of “The Shop” in Memphis, Tennessee and the the seller says that because Elvis bought bikes from The Shop, “the man who raced this wore an Elvis suit and raced this bike all over the country and towed it with his Gold Wing.” It doesn’t currently run and there’s some damage on the right side from a crash but I sure hope it gets saved. Bonus points – the Elvis suit worn by the racer is included…
Find this Bridgestone for sale in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with a BIN of $2,499.95 here on eBay.