Suzuki Motorcycles

About Suzuki

Suzuki Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan, which specializes in manufacturing automobiles, four-wheel drive vehicles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines.

In 1909, Michio Suzuki (1887–1982) founded the Suzuki Loom Works in the small seacoast village of Hamamatsu, Japan. He was making looms, did some cars for a short time, faced cotton market collapse in 1951 and so he came to new products.

Suzuki's first two-wheel ingenuity came in the form a bicycle fitted with a motor called, the "Power Free." Designed to be inexpensive and simple to build and maintain, the 1952 Power Free featured a 36 cc, one horsepower, two-stroke engine. An unprecedented feature was the double-sprocket gear system, enabling the rider to either pedal with the engine assisting, pedal without engine assist, or simply disconnect the pedals and run on engine power alone. The system was so ingenious that the patent office of the new democratic government granted Suzuki a financial subsidy to continue research in motorcycle engineering, and so was born Suzuki Motor Corporation.

In 1953, The Diamond Free is introduced and features double-sprocket wheel mechanism and two-speed transmission. That year Suzuki scored the first of many racing victories when the tiny 60 cc "Diamond Free" won its class in the Mount Fuji Hill Climb.

By 1954, Suzuki had officially changed its name to Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd. S mark was adopted as corporate emblem in 1958.

In 1955 the Colleda COX debuts, a 125cc bike equipped with a steel frame. It features a 4-stroke OHV single-cylinder engine with three-speed transmission.

Using MZ’s technology (Ernst Degner defected to the west while racing for MZ in the Swedish Grand Prix, and he took knowledge of Walter Kaaden’s expansion chamber designs), Suzuki wins the newly created 50cc class in the World Championship. The company will win the class every year until ’67, and win the 125cc class twice in that period, too.

The T20 is released in 1965 (aka Super 6, X-6, Hustler). This two-stroke, street-going Twin is one of the fastest bikes in its class. The ‘6’ in its name(s) refers to its six-speed gearbox. The T500 ‘Titan’ (1968) is an air-cooled parallel-Twin two-stroke.

In 1971 the GT750 2-stroke surprises people with its three-cylinder liquid-cooled engine. In North America, it’s nicknamed the Water Buffalo; in the UK they call them Kettles. Also the TM400A motocrosser goes into production, a 396cc bike designed for 500cc motocross races.

With the GS750, Suzuki finally builds a 4-stroke, four-cylinder road bike in 1976.

The 779cc DR-BIG, dated by 1990, has the largest single-cylinder engine in living memory. The much-loved 16-valve, 1156cc air/oil-cooled Bandit 1200 appears on the scene in 1995.

In 1996 Suzuki calls the new GSX-R750 the ‘turning-point model’ thanks to its twin-spar frame instead of the older double-cradle frame. The engine is also redesigned and featured 3-piece crankcases, chrome-plated cylinders and a side-mount cam chain as well as Suzuki Ram Air Direct (SRAD) system.

Moto blog

Öhlins USA Suspension Cirkus of Speed Tomorrow, September 28

Rain or shine, the second annual Öhlins USA Cirkus of Speed will take place tomorrow, Saturday, September 28, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Did we mention it’s free?

Suzuki MotoGP Team Make Progress In Final European Test At Mugello

A week on from the Suzuki MotoGP  test at the Misano circuit, and the team has wrapped up its final test of the season at Mugello. Here, team riders Randy DePuniet and Nobu Aoki tested a new cowling, an updated chassis, as well as further revisions to the electronics package. The new cowling was reported to give a better top-speed performance without any negative effects under different circuit conditions, so it was an improvement and step-forward from the team’s initial test of it in Misano.

AIMExpo Outdoors! Space to Host Demo Rides, Off-Road Experience

The inaugural American International Motorcycle Expo (AIMExpo) is just weeks away and promoter Marketplace Events Motorcycle Group today announced the details of AIMExpo Outdoors! The nearly 400,000 square-foot outdoor interactive and experiential space located on the grounds of Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) will feature a variety of activities throughout the five-day event geared towards trade, media and consumers. The centerpiece of AIMExpo Outdoors! is the exclusive demo areas designated for testing the newest models.

Why I love BSB's Showdown

It has lovers, haters and even many that still don't understand it but everyone in British bike racing is currently talking about the BSB Showdown.  With my rider's or team manager's hat on, I wasn't convinced when it was first announced in 2010 but I'm now totally converted and enjoy every part of the season as intensity increases.  And being a value for money Scot the best thing is you get four championships under one umbrella.  Championship # 1; In the early rounds everyone on the grid has aspirations of taking the title but as the season progresses, the focus narrows down to making sure you secure that top six showdown spot over the first nineteen races (riders can also drop their worst two results).  Championship #2; For the confident front runners, over these races, the real goal is the podium credit championship (3 for 1st ,2 for 2nd,1 for 3rd) which then gives them a points head start after things are put back to zero for the final seven race shoot-out.  Championship #3; The best of the rest championship (7th and below) that will be battled over the final races. Championship # 4;  Over the final seven races the British Superbike Champion is crowned. The recent adding and reshuffling a few top name riders for the Showdown has already spiced things up so hold on tight for the remaining five races!

2014 Suzuki Burgman 125/200 Revealed; 200 Version Coming to US

The big news from Suzuki this past weekend was preview and release of specs for the new 2014 V-Strom 1000 in France at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Slightly overshadowed however was the official unveiling of two new Burgman scooters with 125cc and 200cc engines. European consumers have had the Burgman 200 and Burgman 125 (perennially one of the top selling scoots in Europe) for more than a decade now while here in North America, we’ve only have the larger Burgman 650 model.

2014 Suzuki V-Strom 1000 Specs Released

Suzuki continued its nearly year-long tease for its new V-Strom 1000, releasing new pictures and full technical specifications for the highly-anticipated adventure tourer. We first saw the 2014 Suzuki V-Strom 1000 at the 2012 Intermot Show in Cologne last October. For a concept, the V-Strom appeared close to being ready for production, and the new photos of the production model show very few visual changes from the past year.

Ack Attack Streamliner Will Attempt To Break 400 MPH – Video

The Top 1 Oil Ack Attack streamliner motorcycle, currently the world’s fastest motorcycle with a top one-way speed of 394.084 mph and a world record speed of 376.4 mph, will attempt to set a new world record by topping the 400 mph barrier during Mike Cook’s Bonneville Shootout by VARTA Powersports, Sep. 12-16. Designed and built from the ground up by Mike Akatiff, the Top 1 Oil Ack Attack’s bullet-shaped chassis is made from chromoly tubing.

WSBK 2013: Nurburgring Race Report

Tom Sykes has taken over the lead in the 2013 World Superbike Championship standings after splitting race victories with Chaz Davies at Germany’s Nurburgring circuit. Both races ended prematurely however with red flags during the final laps. Pata Honda‘s Jonathan Rea and FIXI Crescent Suzuki‘s Leon Camier both crashed on the 18th lap of Race One after running into oil spilled on the track from Pedercini Kawasaki racer Federico Sandi‘s ZX-10R.

Öhlins USA Cirkus of Speed Is Saturday, September 28

Rain or shine, the second annual Öhlins USA Cirkus of Speed is Saturday, September 28, 10:00am to 3:00pm, in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Need reasons to come? First of all it’s free, including “Police Rodeo” star Ben Wolfe, of Lock & Lean, performing precision motorcycle riding.

Suzuki Introduces Extremely Rare 2014 GSX-R1000 SE Limited Production

In honor of Suzuki’s 50th Anniversary in America, the company has introduced the exclusive, limited-production Suzuki GSX-R1000 SE – with a total of just 50 numbered motorcycles to be sold through Suzuki dealers in America, and only 100 produced worldwide. No internal modifications have been made to the GSX-R1000, but the visual changes are quite obvious. Bling is the name of the game, and this SE model adds singular style that is most evident in the polished and chrome-plated frame, plus the machined and polished chrome rims with clear-coated blue spokes.