TOYS FOR THE BUOYS
1986 GSX-R750 G, for example, had an inchlonger swing arm to improve handling.
Weight saving is arguably even more important on a bike than a car and Suzuki used air/oil cooling on the GSX-R750 to save the weight of water, pump and radiator. The bike feels light and very compact. Ahead of me is Ian Wilson, an ex-racer who looks after Suzuki’s two-wheeled heritage collection. Wilson is on a 2021 Hayabusa. The ’Busa is another Suzuki game-changer. Honda introduced a bike in 1996 called the CBR1100XX Super Blackbird, a super-sports tourer with a top speed close to 180mph. Hayabusa is Japanese for peregrine falcon, a bird of prey that is not only very fast (over 200mph in a dive) but also preys on blackbirds.
As with cars, an unbridled pursuit of horsepower and performance has infected the bike world. So, too, has overcomplication. The latest Hayabusa has a mind-boggling array of modes and settings for traction control and wheelie prevention and it will smash the national speed limit in first gear. It’s a beautiful piece of engineering and effortless to ride very quickly but it’s a pointless machine. This GSX-R750, however, has a balance of competence and performance that still offers challenge and reward. I don’t really like old bikes but I’m impressed with how good this 1985 machine feels.
We meet at Walter’s Arena, an off-road facility used by rally teams for testing, for a group photograph of all the Suzukis we’ve been playing with over the past couple of days. While Lacey arranges his lights and moves the machines around, I slope off for a drive in another car. Who would have imagined that a pint-sized 4x4 would become a cult car? Word is that when Suzuki launched the Jimny, there were queues around the block at Tokyo dealerships and a huge waiting list. Have a look at the prices being asked for second-hand Jimnys in
the UK: some are over original list. Unfortunately, Suzuki fitted the car with an engine that couldn’t meet upcoming EU emissions regs. The company’s canny solution was to remove the rear seats and sell the car as a commercial vehicle.
Small, light and simple works just as well off road as on and 10 minutes’ mucking around in the Jimny, climbing banks and splashing through puddles, is worth an hour in a new Defender.
I’ve never owned a Suzuki car but I have had at least four bikes. My first road bike was a TS125 trail bike, taken out onto the public road at 5.30am on my 17th birthday. And crashed three days later. The Goodwin family doesn’t need a small four-door hatchback but I could almost buy an Ignis as a matter of principle. To make a statement, if you like.
If Suzuki sticks to its principles of simplicity, light weight and beguiling design, its next 100 years could be even more productive. It will take a company with Suzuki’s philosophy to resist the temptation to create overweight and overpowered vehicles as we move into the electric era.
❝
L