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

Xmas gift for Haslam fans

A LIMITED-EDITION Leon Haslam print has gone on sale and captures the moment the Alstare Suzuki rider took his first World Superbike Championship race victory – at Phillip Island, Australia on February 28 this year. Winning Start has been painted by Isle of Man artist Alan Perkin and the limited edition run of 250 prints are already selling on the online store of Leon Haslam’s website; www.leonhaslam.com. All of the prints are signed by Haslam and Perkin and are priced at £39.95. “Alan Perkin has produced a really nice painting and we wanted to get something out there in advance of Christmas and at an affordable price,” said Haslam. He continued: “The print has pride of place in my house, Phillip Island was my first pole position, my debut on the Alstare Suzuki and my first race win – a memorable start to a great year.” The print measures 630mm x 490mm and is available from the Leon Haslam website or by calling 01332 882584.

Laguna Seca Superbike race: 1979

Got to apologise for the mogadon-inspired soundtrack but this 1979 Kawasaki promo vid' is worth watching just for the footage of Freddie Spencer and Wes Cooley. Watch the slo-mo of Cooley's GS1000 Suzuki on the brakes. It's horrendous.

Moto3. Recession racers?

I've sat through enough manufacturer' presentations recently to know that we're in trouble. Ignoring the still booming Asian markets, the rest of the motorcycle World is in free-fall. Even looking at the figures optimistically we're still only selling half the volumes we were in pre-crash 2006.

Oh yes. You can win this Rizla Suzuki beanie

I dug this beanie out of the Visordown storage room and it could be yours. It is a one-owner model first registered in 2007, only a few miles on the clock but could do with a service (wash). It'll go the one lucky randomly selected person who reviews their GSX-R in our Motorcycle Reviews section.

GSX-R600 long-termer update

When MF asks me if I fancy riding the Visordown test GSX-R 600 for a bit, I hesitate for about a millisecond before accepting. Why? ‘Cos my own courier’s favourite Diversion 900 may be heavy and utterly unexciting, but it is also a comfortable and trusty commuter ride that suits the Smoke very nicely, thanks.

Stafford Bric-a-Brac. Misery and Sadness in excess

Just got back from the Stafford show. It was packed. Largely with groups of silver-haired men.

GSX-R600 and CBR250R the glass is half full

Suzuki’s GSX-R600 might not look that much different to the outgoing model but I suspect this bike could be very much a dark horse in 2011. I say this because two years ago I was definitely not building my hopes up en route to the K9 GSXR 1000 launch. The leaked pictures suggested the biggest change from the 2007 version would be some fresh graphics but I was so wrong.  As it turned out, I was greeted in Almeria with a brand new bike, built from the tarmac up and it proved to be more than a match in every department for the much hyped 2009 Yamaha R1.

Racing vows renewed at Motegi

Over the weekend, an aged Japanese racer reacquainted himself with one of his early loves. Celebrating 50 years of Suzuki racing, Mitsuo Ito took his former flame, the RM63, for a trip down memory lane and a lap around the Motegi circuit. The miniscule 50cc race bike was born from the legend of MZ employee Ernst Degner's defection from East Germany to Japan during the early days of the Cold War.

Niall Mackenzie Blog number 4

My favourite ever BSB brolly dolly has to be Keith Flint. He joined me on the grid back in 1997 at Brands Hatch before I nailed down my second championship with two race wins. A nicer bloke you couldn't ever wish to meet so it’s good to see him out and about regularly on his Crescent Suzuki prepared GSXR 1000.

Leon Haslam replica Arai RX-7 GP

This just in from Arai: "Locked in battle for the World Superbike championship, and putting pressure on current leader Max Biaggi, Alstare Suzuki rider Leon Haslam has a lot going on as the season rolls into autumn. He also has a brand new Arai RX-7 GP replica to show off, which has just arrived into stock at Arai’s UK importer Phoenix Distribution. Leon’s suitably chuffed with his new paintwork: “I’m really pleased with this evolution of my helmet design.