The Suzuki Owners Club of Great Britain began as a branch of a club that didn't exist. In 1971 the One Seven One Club was formed with thirty members and by the end of 1974 there were almost a thousand. The One Seven One Motorcycle Club had its own premises (based in an old church hall) which housed the Triumph, Honda and BSA Owners clubs, but it soon became obvious that Suzuki's were becoming more numerous than any other make at the club. Their owners got together with the view to opening a branch for the Suzuki Owners, a meeting was held but when the owners tried to trace the headquarters of the club, they found there was no club! So under the guidance of the reverend Tony Lloyd, who at the time rode a GT750 Kettle, the initial meeting was held at the 171 Motorcycle Club in Press Street, Openshaw, Manchester, they contacted Suzuki GB for their approval and founded the Suzuki Owners Club.

Regular meetings got off the ground in September 1973; within a matter of weeks there were a hundred members. Very soon afterwards the idea that branches in other parts of the country could be viable was muted and a London branch was formed in February 1974.
The Southern centre had their initial meeting on the 22nd of February 1974 at St Anne's church hall, South Lambeth, about fifty people turned up but the area was unsuitable for regular meetings to be held there. After a call for volunteers, an Ad Hoc committee decided that no meetings would take place until a permanent place had been found. This proved to be a difficult task as they wished to remain in the London area and it was not until the 8th of April 1974 that regular meetings actually commenced, but the pre-meeting advertising fell flat due to a printing dispute and the posters they had managed to get printed arrived late.

The first combined meeting of North & South Suzuki Owners was held at the 171 club, the southern guys riding up in really heavy rain. There was from all accounts a good turnout, which made their efforts worthwhile. The Church has now been demolished and as far as is known the 171 Motorcycle Club faded away at the same time.
The initial committees for the respective Suzuki Owners Club centres were:

Northern centre
James Denton - Secretary
Charles Parr - PRO

Southern centre
Raye Marshall - Secretary
Ian Barr - Treasurer
Julian Clark - Social secretary
Tony Fagan - PRO
Peter Redman - Editor

The initial meeting places were:
Northern - 171 club, Openshaw, Manchester
Southern - 'Cranbrook', Brookmill Road, Deptford.

The first annual membership fee for the club was £1.80 (plus 20p for a membership badge), for which the Northern members got the use of all the facilities at the 171 club, which included legal aid, a coffee bar, reading room, shop, recreation room and a games room which could be turned into a cinema if required, specialist tool hire and a monthly newsletter containing a programme of planned events at the centre, technical articles and general chat. Each week at the headquarters there were films, talks, demonstrations or runs out.
The Southern centre was still in its infancy and had not organised anything at this time

The aim of the founding club was to help members to enjoy the ownership of their Suzuki machine as much as possible.

The club bi-monthly magazine now known as the Hustler was originally called the Suzuki Owners Club Official Magazine and had a Yellow cover, it was printed in Bristol, as that was where the then editor lived. The Name Hustler was decided on at a committee meeting in Croydon in 1976.
The club magazine now incorporates an events guide that gives a brief description of events that are being organised by Centres, National Committee and individual members. These events provide a venue to allow members to meet and get to know each other. They also qualify as part of the Clubs annual attendance/mileage competitions. Each member has the opportunity to win one of the many trophies on offer; the prizewinners are presented with their awards at the Clubs AGM.

The Club very soon became a national organisation and opened "branches" or Centre as we call them throughout the country. Today we have approximately 22 Centres in the UK, one in Czechoslovakia and one in California in the USA. We also have sister organisations in the USA (SOC-USA) and Denmark (SOC-DK)

Club members obtain a range of benefits for their annual subscription, access to a comprehensive dealers list that offers a range of discounts on parts, services and accessories, this is incorporated in the SOC Discount booklet which is issued twice a year.
Membership also gives the opportunity to secure discounted insurance deals simply by the virtue of being a Suzuki Owners Club member
Memberships also include affiliated membership to the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF), Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) and the National Association for Bikers with Disabilities (NABD). The Club also supports the work that is undertaken by FEMA

The club is ran by a National Committee of unpaid volunteers, elected by the membership

The Suzuki Owners Club is an independent Club, and whilst Suzuki does not own us, we work in close partnership with Suzuki supporting them and promoting the Suzuki marque at every opportunity.

We are a family orientated Club and have many young people amongst our ranks. Some of these youngsters work just as hard as their parents when out and about with the Club. It is the belief that if we teach our young members to respect bikes, to be aware of the dangers of motorcycling and to learn what motorcycling is all about, they will then become safer and better motorcyclists in the years ahead.

Do you have any early photos
of the club and club life?
If so we would be pleased to hear
from you. Send an email to history@suzukiownersclub.co.uk
or call us on 07811 407397