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

Suzuki Giving Away a Motorcycle in Thanksgiving Weekend Promotion

Looking for something to be thankful for? How does a new Suzuki motorcycle sound? American Suzuki is giving away a brand new motorcycle as part of a Thanksgiving weekend promotion.

Hopkins Signs with Crescent Suzuki WSBK Team

American John Hopkins has re-signed with U.K.-based Crescent Suzuki to compete in the 2012 World Superbike Championship. Hopkins raced with Crescent Suzuki this season in the British Superbike Championship, posting an impressive 16 podium appearances including five wins to finish second in the series. His BSB success earned Hopkins wildcard rides in WSBK and MotoGP.

2012 Suzuki Inazuma 250 Announced for UK

Suzuki announced the European version of its GW250 “Baby B-King” entry-level naked where it will be sold as the Inazuma 250. Unveiled at the NEC Show in the U.K., the 2012 Suzuki Inazuma 250 brings back the name Suzuki used for its GSX naked models. Like the larger displacement GSXs however, the new, littlest Inazuma does not appear to be coming to North America.

Suzuki Confirms MotoGP Departure – Hope of 2014 Return

As expected, Suzuki has officially announced its withdrawal from MotoGP racing, though the Japanese manufacturer says it plans to return to the world championship in 2014. Suzuki cites the recession, the value of the Japanese Yen and a series of natural disasters as reasons for suspending its MotoGP program for at least two years. Reports of Suzuki’s withdrawal began circulating earlier this week with some staff members reportedly receiving notice late last week, but signs of Suzuki’s impending withdrawal have been around for over a year.

Suzuki Reports Q2 2011-2012 Results

Suzuki reported its second consecutive profitable quarter from its motorcycle division, following  11 consecutive quarters in the red. For the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2011, Suzuki raked in 62.3 billion yen (US$808.5 million) from motorcycle sales, compared to the 61.4 billion yen (US$796.8 billion) reported in the same period last year.

Harley’s Ed Krawiec is 2011 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Champ

Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Ed Krawiec is the 2011 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion. Krawiec clinched the title with a second-round win at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway that eliminated Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana Jr., the only rider in the field with a chance to overtake Krawiec for the championship. Krawiec advanced to the final round and lost to his Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines teammate Andrew Hines, who finished the season third in points. More from Harley-Davidson on Krawiec’s win: “I think this is really a statement on the season, to end it with an all-Harley final and the championship, and with Willie G.

Milan: Yoshimura special GSX-R600

Celebrating their success at the Suzuka 8hr (last year), Suzuki in their longterm partnership with Yoshimura have put together this trick looking GSX-R600. The Gixxer six has been treated to the full Yoshimura race-kit alongside a host of other parts. Everything about this special is perfect; from the cool Yoshi paintscheme down to the faux race-headlight.

Bear Eats (Parts of) Suzuki Boulevard C50 Cruiser

What’s left of the C50′s seat and saddlebags after a bear attacked the bike. Image courtesy erstarnews.com According to a post on Elk River Star News.com (erstarnews.com) a bear did some serious damage to a Suzuki Boulevard C50 before realizing the cruiser wasn’t as tasty as maybe it first appeared. The Star News reports that Tammy Luukkonen’s damaged Boulevard was discovered by her husband Roy Luukkonen.

2012 Suzuki V-Strom 650 ABS Intro

Suzuki invited a select group of moto-jounalists to the Blue Ridge Mountains this week to sample the 2012 V-Stom 650 ABS. The mildly reworked mid-size adventure-tourer proved itself to be an upgraded version of the popular original model. During the two-day test we rode paved two-lane byways and a few dirt road segments.

2012 Suzuki Boulevard C50T Classic Announced

During Suzuki’s annual dealer meeting the company reported that cruiser sales at large are down 6.2% YTD. However, Suzuki says its cruiser sales are up 12.5%, and in an effort to keep riding this wave that’s handily outpacing the rest of the cruiser market, the company announced the addition of the Boulevard C50T Classic. While the Classic is a carbon copy of the C50T, it does away with the C50T’s standard windshield, passenger backrest and saddlebags.