Suzuki GT185 Yamaha CS5
In the early 1970s, with the bill for insurance on a 250 crushing your average young rider’s spirit and apprentice wage packet, the sporty Japanese 200 was just the thing. They were cheaper to buy and run, could be coaxed into long journeys, were moderately fast and could be thrown about.
Your biggest decision was which motorcycle brand to go for. This kind of youthful tribalism was very important at the time, almost as much as which football team you supported or who was your favourite Pans Person (Dee Dee, since you ask). Suzuki, with everybody’s hero Barry Sheene on their team, had an advantage in the street cred stakes. Until he left for Yamaha and you had to sell your Suzuki and buy a Yamaha and branded leathers.
“Electrics included a combined 12-volt DC generator/starter motor unit, backed up by a kick-starter. While this might be considered a technical marvel, it had its origins back in the 1920s when belt driven combined Dynastart systems were used on cars, starting engines via a belt”
YAMAHA’S PURPLE PATCH
Yamaha had a bit of a head start in the tiddler twin stakes and had been making 200s for a little longer than Suzuki. Unlike their rivals they concentrated on small two-strokes for most of the decade, their biggest offering being the four-stroke XS650, while Suzuki made 550 and 750 triples of much gaudiness alongside their smaller twin pot screamers.
Yamaha’s CS5 was launched in 1971 and only lasted a year before being replaced by the CS5E, and that was only in the shops for a few years before it too was superseded by the RD200. Today this can cause some issues with parts supply. It had a compact 195cc twin cylinder engine. The 180-degree two-stroke had a four-main-bearing crankshaft with needle roller small and big-end bearings. It was strongly based on the already proven CS3 engine, but the top end had ne t started
on the CS5 and continued into the end of the decade on the RD200 that replaced it just a few years later.
The round barrels and trimmed-down cylinder head fins of the CS3 became square and modern and the heads had been redesigned internally too. It had a two-stroke oil pump, which was branded on the Yamaha as the Autolube system, and a pair of 20mm carburettors squirted the fuel into the engine. Helical primary gears drove a wet clutch and five-speed gearbox. Electrics included a combined 12-volt DC generator/starter motor unit, backed up by a kickstarter. While this might be considered a technical marvel, it had its origins back in the 1920s when belt driven combined Dynastart systems were used on cars, starting engines via a belt. Some 1960s Villiers motorcycle engines had them too.
There was a single-downtube spine frame, which retained the CS3 model code. It looked pretty spindly and was matched with a conventional telescopic front fork and rear swingarm. Physically the CS5 is smaller than the GT185. Like other 200s it used skinny tyres, a 3 x 18-inch rear and 2.75 x 18-inch front. Brakes were drum with a 7-inch twin-leading-shoe at the front and 5.9-inch single-leading-shoe at the back end.
SUZUKI’S TEEN DREAM
The Suzuki GT185 arrived in 1973. The job of the 185 was to provide a budget alternative to their GT250, and it had a few eye-popping extras, not least its Ram-Air cooled cylinder head. It’s always been a questionable addition, more style than substance and on the 185 this innovation was cast into the head, rather than being an occasionally rattly bolt-on shield. The GT was a 184cc two-stroke parallel twin with a four main-bearing crank. The conventional piston-port design sported a pair of 20mm Mikuni carburettors and lubrication was by Suzuki’s CCI (Cylinder Crankcase Injection) system. Primary gears drove an 11-plate wet clutch to a five-speed gearbox.
The electrical system was fed by a 12-volt DC generator that also doubled as the starter motor, mounted on the left-side end of the crankshaft. The device was only offered on sub-200cc bikes, and it’s just possible they were a marketing ploy to make the little Suzuki easier for the novice to start. The extra weight of the starter wasn’t a huge issue on the GT185 as it was vastly lighter than the GT250. A
kick-start was included as back-up. There was a single downtube steel tube frame of moderate rigidity with a telescopic front fork and a rear swingarm controlled by a pair of extra bouncy shocks that looked better than they performed. Both ends ran on skinny 18-inch tyres. After the first model used a feeble TLS drum, this was quickly replaced by a very sophisticated hydraulic front disc for 1974, which gave the GT considerable cachet in the bus-stop bragging stakes.
The GT is well equipped, with twin clocks, an ignition switch in the middle of the bars, and used versions of the kit fitted to its bigger siblings.
THE GT AND THE CS FACE OFF
There are a few significant differences between the CS5 and the GT185.
The CS5
The build quality on the Yamaha looks and feels far better than the Suzuki. The purple and white paint job on their CS5 is positively lustrous and very early Seventies and the lines of the little Yamaha are gorgeous. Yamaha described the look as ‘Europa’ styling, and the design of the peanut style tank and tin side panels quickly became Yamaha’s signature look, until the coffin style tanks of the RD range arrived later in the decade.
Instruments and switchgear are excellent, as are the long, seam-free, silencers. The Yamaha picks up the power much lower down the rev range, starting almost as low as 3000rpm, arriving with what might even be described as grunt. And Yamaha played a blinder with the CS5’s replacement the CS5E, which used reed valves, a then new Yamaha innovation and their Torque Induction system made a big difference to the way the power arrived at the back wheel and made everything more tractable. It seems the word torque in Torque Induction actually means something. The front drum makes short work of hauling the lightweight twin to a halt. The drum brake is a little fierce and requires careful management and adjustment to stop the front wheel locking up.
Handling is more than acceptable. It doesn’t bounce about too much, and the lightness of its being makes for a hugely entertaining ride.
THE GT185
The GT is likewise a dinky little thing, not quite as small as the CS5, but still a diminutive motorcycle. It was designed for skinny young riders who it suited perfectly.
The gearbox is easy to stir and it has to be. The GT has little in the way of discernible torque and does virtually nothing until you get to 5000rpm. If you let it drop below 3500rpm, it will feel as if it’s going to die at any minute and you’ll need to drop it two gears to get things spinning again.
Once you grab a big handful of throttle and get to 5000rpm, however, it’s time to shut up and hang on. Everything starts to happen extremely rapidly. It will shoot off, hedges becoming a blur, the cloud of blue smoke being left far behind. Drop the clutch without care and the front wheel will become exceptionally light indeed, reaching for the sky. It is this kind of hooligan behaviour that endeared the little Suzuki to so many young riders, who would of course claim they meant to do it to their friends, and say it was accidental to those in positions of authority.
Handling is interesting. The soft shocks and equally soft forks, combined with a surprising amount of travel mean that the back end can wallow, while forks bottom out in corners. This unfortunate combination is a challenge if you get over-enthusiastic and would have been all the worse for an inexperienced rider. Though possibly that teenage fearlessness and the rider’s ability to bounce without doing themselves a mischief might have been a suitable counter.
The finish on the Suzuki was a little more garish than on its rival from Yamaha. The designers liked metalflake and chrome in abundance, yet neither paint nor chrome were thickly applied, and the GT would deteriorate rapidly if not looked after, which was a shame.
On the whole though, the GT has more of a massive grin factor. It would have made you feel like king of the hill back then and retains this charm. It’s massively entertaining and is far more capable of providing nostalgic teenage kicks than a sports moped that will be twice the price.
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE
You could have both for the price of a British 650, but if you had to choose?
The Yamaha looks like a two-thirds size 350, yet despite its size the Yamaha feels larger and more capable than the Suzuki. What it doesn’t quite have is the Suzuki’s edge-of-your-seat, fast accelerating, performance. It’s a lot less frenetic and would be easier to live with. It couldn’t really be described as sensible, but for the young riders it was targeted at, it was at least easy to ride.
These little 200s had a short shelf life in the UK. After half a dozen years in the showrooms the 200 twin was killed stone dead by the advent of the 125cc learner law. Both Suzuki and Yamaha created cooking versions of their twins for the commuter market, the SB200 derived from the GTs replacement, the X5 and RS200 from the RD200. But the 125 learner laws caused the sporty twins to become largely valueless, and they were left rotting in sheds. With a short shelf life for the model, parts for the Yamaha can be hard to find and expensive when you do track them down, both NOS and used. Apart from the move from drum to disc brake, the GT185 remained largely unchanged, apart from colour and trim. Suzuki have a Vintage Parts programme and many parts are still available new, at a price. (£101 for a starter solenoid anyone?) This availability could tip the balance in favour of the GT.
It’s hard to pick a best buy, but the Yamaha just edges it. It handles better and the power delivery is easier to live with. The build quality is superior, and it’s a prettier bike all round. In reality they both have their virtues and vices, and if this is the kind of machine you fancy, either of these tiddlers will satisfy you.