I happen to have a set of those 6 spoke epm wheels sitting in the garage,thought they must be rare as I,ve not seen many.Iwas told they were fitted to some hailwood reps.I think they are 18/3.50 and 18 3.25,i will check tomorrow.When I fitted the 750 motor to my tt2,i fitted a pair of 17 wheels from a monster,much heavier than the epm,s but got a better choice of tyres. However,the bike allways felt more nimble and nippy with the epm,s and avon am22 tyres. I must give tham another try.And the finish on them is just right.

All these pics show quite a few different configurations. 1st pic: FI fork, Campagnolo (5 spoke) front wheel, EPM (6 spoke) rear. 2nd pic: same bike restored by Lou, FI fork, EPM’s front and rear. 3rd pic: RGB fork and a Campagnolo wheel, presumably Suzuki pattern to fit RG fork. Can’t quite make out if the brake rotors/calipers are Brembo or Suzuki (which would have been easier to fit). EPM rear wheel on this version. Lou, do you know if the entire front end was Suzuki components other than the wheel? The last pic is an odd configuration. Appears to be a fairly standard tt2 with a very narrow rear Campagnolo and an FPS front. Both apparently 18”, standard tt2 magnesium slider Marzocchi front fork and standard swingarm. What is the story with this tt2? All the other pics had a rectangular section and much sturdier swingarm. What is the specification of this swingarm? Also noticed several of the pics have a “Fox” decal on the fairing. Lou, did the bike come to you with a Fox shock? I’ve heard Reno was using them at some time. I have a couple of these shocks and it’s a really nice piece. Also have a 16” EPM front marked “Suzuki” that I got from a seller in Florida. Always wondered what it might have been used on. The RGB fork conversion might explain it if it used the Suzuki hub spacing and disc carrier pattern. They are, indeed, very nice wheels.

Matt

All good observations my friends. They are all the same bike! Some time during 1982/83 Reno received the factory TT2 you would see in the '83' twins Grand Prix champion poster. I've often thought of restoring it back to that spec, but she still looks good enough in relatively 'as raced' condition that I haven't. According to Reno there were three sets of RGB GP forks that the Cagiva factory bought and basically tweaked to their specifications. These forks were used on the Team Leoni bikes. I think they were originally used on the Cagiva 500cc GP bikes and found their way to Reno. At one point in my life I had all three sets. I ended up putting them all back on Team Leoni bikes that I restored. The wheels were all Ducati pattern front wheels with 'standard' Brembo race stuff, full floaters and 4 pots. Some of them had billet magnesium triple clamps, others had standard Forcelle Italia f1 style as both the forks used were 40mm. Some of the GP bikes ended up with 42mm Forcelle Italia forks. Yes Reno had sponsorship from Fox shocks, I have one on my TT2. The swingarm on my Adamo bike was made by the very talented Albert Bold of MV Agusta fame. Thin wall chrome/moly with an eccentric adjustment. Some of the other swingarms that he used that looked similar but had a wing nut at the back adjuster.These were made by Eddie Willbanks. A noted flat track frame builder in the states. The one on my Adamo TT is one of one. When I received the bike Matt it had an Ohlins shock and big 17 inch Marvics. Neither were on the bike when he raced. I had all the original stuff, so no big deal to return her to 'as raced' condition. Also Matt, if you look at all the pictures, you will see it was a very special TT2. At one time it had the quick release rear wheel, the super rare magnesium hydraulic clutch. I would think that would make it a factory bike as the production TT2's didn't normally come this well equipped. Pat Slinn says he thinks they only made 6 of those clutch assemblies. I think he and I have counted about 5 we have seen. Also please remember guy's, these are my observations and stories I've been told by Reno and others. Nothing is written in stone, but I try really hard to be accurate and I think this information is pretty spot on. Your Suzuki EPM was probably from an RGB 500! Lou

Thanks for the stories and background, that was really interesting!

An speaking about RGB:s! First weekend of August we have our ”Barber” race meeting, meaning the main event of the season. This year the theme is 500cc and we will gather a bunch of 500 two-stroke racers, from 1970 to 1983. RG, RGB, TZ, Sparton, Husqvarna and a really special barn find; a Kawasaki H1R that after spending 40 years in a barn (literally) has been totally renovated over the last three years. A fantastic job! You can read about it here: http://kawapilot.blogspot.com/

Will post some pictures after the event.

/Björn