Commuters, also-rans & alternatives: Suzuki GS750
Okay, so you might very well be questioning why anyone in their right mind would lump the Suzuki GS750 and its descendants into a collection of also-rans. Surely it’s better than that? Well, yes and… er, no. Ask yourself this – when did you last see one in action? Do you know anyone who has one? Do you know of anyone who specialises in them? The answers to these questions are likely to be medium to strong negatives. However, if you answered yes to any of the above, please get in touch!
Some background might be useful here to substantiate and support this apparently fallacious claim. Perversely, and ironically, the Suzuki GS750 is linked to the firm’s Wankel-engined rotary bike upon which much hope was pinned. When the RE5 bombed, the three-quarter litre four was rapidly propelled into the limelight, along with its 400cc twin-cylinder cousin. Suddenly these two machines were going to be the joint saviours of Suzuki after the disastrous foray into the world of trochoidal two-wheelers.
Given that Suzuki hadn’t marketed a four-stroke since 1954, the GS750 marked a very significant volte-face for the Hamamatsu factory. Yet, to its credit, it did an astonishingly good job. However, Suzuki had had a team of engineers working on various four-stroke projects from the early 1970s, essentially as a Plan B. America had already made rumblings about air pollution and two-strokes were an obvious target. Perhaps too much faith and hope had been pinned on the RE5, along with too much investment, but thankfully someone in upper management had the wit to sanction an alternative line of thought.
The resultant 750 was the company’s life saver and would go on to be the bedrock of almost a decade of other inline fours. It was also remarkably well engineered and proved to be a robust piece of kit. Key to the design was a pressed up crank that used roller bearings in its bottom end. Some might say that was a hangover from Suzuki’s two-stroke experiences, yet the reality was a little different. Yes, roller bearing cranks are strong and work fine with the ‘hit-andmiss’ oiling of a two-stroke, but Suzuki had looked elsewhere for its inspiration. It’s no coincidence that Kawasaki’s first air-cooled four-stroke four used an almost identical arrangement and, as engineers would later discover, the GS750 was effectively a downsized Z1 motor with some key design upgrades. The bike borrowed the Kawasaki’s bore size but reduced the stroke, creating a seriously over square set-up that aided high rpm potential. Almost unique for the period was the in-house designed automatic cam chain adjuster that actually worked without serious issue; Honda must have been more than a little miffed!
One period road test called the GS750 ‘the Superbike Snake in the Grass’ because it was just so understated, yet exquisitely effective. Determined to ensure its new flagship didn’t have any obvious problems, Suzuki had spent a lot of time and effort on the bike’s chassis. There was essentially nothing radical about the bike’s running gear, yet it handled significantly better than the likes of Honda’s 750/4, Kawasaki’s various 900/1000s or even Yamaha’s XS750 triple. The headstock was well braced with carefully considered sheet steel gussets and short tubular cross braces connecting the upper frame rails to the spine. Below the headstock were more steel pressings welded to the tops of the downtubes. Elsewhere, heavy twin-walled pressings reinforced the lower rear engine mounts and swinging arm pivot area which ran needle roller bearings. Many consider the GS750 to be the first big-bore Japanese bike that handled properly.
Surprisingly the launch bike ran points and coil ignition even though Suzuki had been in the vanguard of adopting CDI systems. Wire spoked wheels with single discs were the order of the day and, finally, someone had seen sense by equipping the GS with a 4-into-2 exhaust that cut down on unnecessary mass. Styling was pleasant, if more than a little conservative, yet fitted in with the firm’s corporate lines and profile of the period.
There was little doubt that the all-new GS750 was a winner and significant step forward, so why is the bike overlooked and marginalised today? After all, the bike was the very foundation of a raft of air-cooled fours that would propel Suzuki into the future! Reason Number One has to be the subsequent GS1000 that did everything the 750 did but bigger, better, faster, etc. After increasing the stroke and carrying out internal modifications, Suzuki found the new one-litre engine was actually lighter than that of the 750!
Reason Number Two is that, after the GS1000, the GS750 seemed almost tame, bordering on bland. It wasn’t soulless, yet the 750 somehow failed to be dynamic despite being such a good bike. That it is said to be the original UJM (Universal Japanese Motorcycle) is probably both a blessing and a curse. And yet, despite all this and a lot more, the GS750 remains one of the classic scene’s most overlooked bargains: £1500 will buy you a project in need of some TLC while £4000 gets you a very tidy and original example. In a world where Fizzy mopeds are fetching £10,000, a decent GS750 might very well make an awful lot of sense.