12,410,000 yen at auction! The winning bidder for Yoshimura's oil-cooled GSX-R complete is... what kind of person?

The Yoshimura GSX-R750 #604 complete machine, which was displayed at the 2025 Tokyo Motorcycle Show and drew a great deal of attention, was sold at auction in October for the astonishing price of 12.41 million yen. We interviewed the winning bidder at the delivery ceremony held on January 11. We interviewed the winning bidder at the delivery ceremony held on January 11, and asked him about his passion for Yoshimura.

⚫︎ Text and photos by Kenji Natsume

A representative of a Suzuki dealer and an ardent Yoshimura fan!

The successful bidder for the Yoshimura GSX-R750 #604 complete machine (hereafter referred to as "#604 complete") was Mr. Shinichi Okamoto, the representative director of Nara Suzuki Sales Co. in Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture. The company is an authorized Suzuki dealer belonging to the G-Lion Group, which operates car dealerships and restaurants in Japan and abroad, and also operates SBS Nara Kashihara, which sells Suzuki motorcycles.

On January 11, Yoshimura held its own "Touring Break Time" event at SBS Nara Kashihara, which is run by Mr. Okamoto, and held a delivery ceremony for the #604 complete car during the event. Yoshimura President Yohei Kato and Satoshi Tsujimoto, who rode the original #604 car, were on hand at the event and presented Mr. Okamoto with a special edition key and a commemorative gift at the delivery ceremony. In front of the #604 complete machine, which he saw for the first time, Okamoto-san had a very emotional expression on his face. As already announced, the winning bid for the #604 complete machine was a surprising 12,410,000 yen, but why was Okamoto-san so determined to win the #604 complete machine? "When I saw the information that the #604 complete was going to be sold at auction, I knew I wanted it anyway, regardless of whether this was a business or not. To tell the truth, I used to participate in motorcycle racing when I was younger. I was originally an employee of Suzuki, and the reason I wanted to join Suzuki was because Suzuki had an in-house racing team and I wanted to race on it. The GSX-R750 that Mr. Tsujimoto was riding at the time was a bike that riders like us had always wanted to own. I was only 19 years old when Yoshimura's GSX-R was being auctioned. Yoshimura was exceptional to me. I felt that motorcycles = Yoshimura and Suzuki = Yoshimura. I still go to the Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race (8 Hours Endurance Race) with my family to cheer them on and wander around the pit area dressed like a Yoshimura staff member. When I was still at Suzuki Motorcycle Sales, I was also a manager of a motorcycle store, and I always recommended Yoshimura parts to my customers."

Love for Yoshimura has not faded even after giving up racing

Okamoto-san raced from the age of 18 to 24. He rode a Suzuki GSX-R400 in the Suzuka 4-hour Endurance Race (4-Hour Endurance Race), which was the gateway to success for 8-Hour endurance riders. At the time, however, the motorcycle boom was in full swing, and with more than 600 teams entered, it was not an easy time to qualify. At the last event Okamoto entered, he was third on the waiting list, but no one canceled his entry for the final, and he was eliminated from the qualifying round. I still regret not being able to compete in the 4-hour endurance race. I had the chance to ride with Tsujimoto-san and the other top international A-class riders at Suzuka Circuit, and I saw how they rode up close and personal. Because of that, I gave up racing."

Although he has stepped back from racing, Okamoto's passion for Yoshimura has not cooled. Yoshimura has established a cooperative system by signing "Yoshimura Partner Shop" agreements with motorcycle dealers around the country to support users, but at the time Okamoto-san launched SBS Nara Kashihara, Yoshimura had not signed any new partner store agreements. However, Mr. Okamoto, who had an extraordinary passion for Yoshimura and its products, went to the Yoshimura pit to talk directly to Mr. Kato, the company president, when he was watching the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race. He was granted the right to become a partner store. He said, "Now that we are a partner store, we have established a relationship with Yoshimura. Before we purchased the #604 complete, we heard about the hardships involved in its production." "Currently, there are almost no genuine parts for the GSX-R750, but we were shown videos of the staff making each and every part to create the #604 complete, and we heard about the difficulties they went through. The #604 complete is a bolt-on, bolt-off, and bolt-on complete. The #604 Complete is a perfect reproduction, down to a single bolt, with the same weight as the original parts. I believe that this bike, made with such hard work, is worth more than its purchase price." The #604 Complete that Okamoto-san purchased will be displayed at SBS Nara Kashihara in the future. He is also considering exposing it on SNS, for example, and displaying it at regularly held fairs. However, Okamoto-san did not purchase the #604 Complete just to display it. As a company, we are trying to focus more on motorcycles in the future, so I hope that many people will see the #604 Complete and share our sense of value. However, this is also a bike that I personally wanted in the first place, without any business relationship, so I intend to ride it a bit. However, I'm sure my employees will do everything in their power to stop me (laughs). At the delivery ceremony, Okamoto-san was handed a commemorative key. In front of the many fans gathered at the venue, Okamoto-san started the engine. Although the temperature was low due to the arrival of cold weather on the day of the ceremony, Mr. Okamoto's hands appeared to be shaking slightly. I was nervous when I started the engine," he said. I was nervous when I started the engine, but my joy was even greater. All of our customers had smiles on their faces, and I was very happy that we were able to purchase the car. Information about our purchase has already circulated, and we have already received various comments from all over the place. Some of them even asked us to sell them to them for more than the bid price. The price went up in 10,000 yen increments toward the end of the auction. The auction originally ended at 11:30 a.m., but the re-bidding went on and on, and the auction ended at 4:00 p.m. I was working that day, so I was not able to bid. I was working that day, so I asked the manager to do the bidding. In the end, I asked him to bid as hard as he could until the end because I would buy it with my own money." SBS Nara Kashihara has been actively developing its management, including expanding its sales and service system, in the hope that more people, especially young riders, will become interested in motorcycles. The purchase of the #604 Complete was not only Okamoto-san's personal desire, but also one way to spread the joy of motorcycles to many riders. Our company is a consolidated subsidiary of the G-Lion Group, and I learned various management principles from Toshihiko Tabata, the head of the group. One of Tabata's mottoes was "The moves you make are infinite," and I believe that becoming Yoshimura's partner store and obtaining the #604 Complete were the result of thinking positively about everything and taking all possible measures, just as Tabata had said. It was a very good delivery ceremony with a lot of people coming to the event. Yoshimura makes various parts without any manufacturer's barrier. I think this is because Yoshimura wants to let as many people as possible enjoy the fun of motorcycles, and we feel the same way. We also want young people to experience the sense of speed that motorcycles can give them. Through events like this one, we want to convey the joy of motorcycles to as many people as possible."

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