Suzuki
Suzuki's design team consist of the following: A monkey (their metalugical specialist) who specialises in forging and casting toffee. He is sponsored by the manufacturers of Hammerite - "your Suzuki essential accessory". He also makes their exhaust down pipes and end cans. He used to work on the electrics in the 70s & 80s but then got "promoted" when it got really silly. They only have two engine designers. One is sensible and sees how well he can design engines between 500 and 750cc. The second is a rabid lunatic who thinks the best design philosophy is to build a crank case and gear box for a 25 litre tank engine under the full knowledge than any thing he sticks on top of it less and 1.3 litres will be rebored or replaced, fitted with a turbo and possibly nitrous. Oh and the third makes all the other engines. All three of them suffer from chronic tinnitus so don't understand what anyone means about the sound being like a bag of spanners. Two stylists. They had three, but after the fiasco with the GSXF bikes he got the sack. Now they have one that designs GSXR body work and the other one. Design meetings consist of a get together in a padded room, with a large sheet of paper some crayons and as much crack as they can smoke in a hour. The result, some utter nutter bikes that are asking to be turned into drag racers. However, as all the meetings are either on sunny days or everyone's so badgered they all forget about having to put a decent finish on any bike heading for Britain. Consequently, unless you meticulously clean your Suzi after any outing with the merest hint of moisture it'll rust and rot. Those more cynical would suggest this is a design feature to make sure no bike lasts longer than four years before the rot is terminal and therefore they can sell you the brand new model. Their big bore bikes are the stuff of legends and nightmares, Look at the Bandit 1200, GSXR1100, TL1000S; machines that will provide endless thrills, but kill you as soon as look at you given the chance. They can take the crap idea of a good engine in a cheap and cheerful frame with adequate suspension & basement bargain parts and end up with the bike every one wants to have a go on & crash, the Bindit 6 or 12. Then they sell stuff like the SV650s, Bandit 600s and GS500s. Friendly and still fun, but people only buy, ride and enjouy them and no one really cares as they are not dangerous enough.
Bandit 600
BY Sir Chewburry Gubbins
I'm poor. I'm bloody poor. I've been driving around on Shite Old Bikes(tm) for 11 years, and officially "had enough" when the clutch on my old BMW R80/7 exploded, taking the gearbox with it... >>more
BIKES | September 13, 2001
Bandit 600S
BY Paul Corfield
Suzuki launched the Bandit 600 in the early 90s as a "parts bin" special that brought together the engine, frame and brakes from other Suzuki models. No one expected much of it... >>more
BIKES | September 13, 2001
Bandit 1200
BY darsy
Here's me on my (not stunningly clean, but nice and black) Suzuki Bandit 1200. Could I have picked a second bike more different from my SZR660? Not much... >>more
BIKES | September 13, 2001
GS550
BY Melanie
Suzi is a 1982 GS550EZ. The GS550 is the ancestor of the Bandit 600 and Suzi is a little longer, a little wider and a little higher than said Bandit... >>more
BIKES | September 13, 2001
GS850
BY Molly
I bought my first GS850 off an old friend who had to sell it because he couldn't afford to run both a car and a bike and he needed a car to cart his kids around in >>more
BIKES | September 13, 2001
GSX250
BY Bruce Porter
I bought my (t)rusty little GSX250 back in '91 after 2 years without a stead (I had sold my Triumph 3TA to finance house move and have never sold a bike since)... >>more
BIKES | September 13, 2001
GSX-R 1000
BY Alan Gower
What could possibly be better than Yamaha’s YZF-R1, the daddy, the King, the hooligan machine? How can you improve on perfection, it’s impossible, or so I thought... >>more
BIKES | September 13, 2001
SV650SX
BY Paul Brian
I really, really wanted an R6. I did my direct access and passed my test at the end of March and I was all ready to splash out on a blue one. Before putting down a deposit I decided to start ringing insurance companies... >>more
BIKES | September 13, 2001
TS250C
BY Salad Dodger
My first bike, back in 1978, was a TS185C. It's still in bits in the garage. >>more
BIKES | September 13, 2001
Bandit 600
BY Darren Robinson
First, let me set the scene. I had been riding a well-past-its-best GSX550ES for just over 3 years (given the time it spent in workshops during this time, more like 2.5 years)... >>more
bikes | November 16, 2001
GSXR600 K1
BY gavsta
Last year after years of saying that I was going to do it, I finally went in for my bike test. A few of my mates have bikes and I always said that by the TT the following year that I would be riding properly... >>more
bikes | November 16, 2001
GSXF750
BY Jonty
What have i done - I've bought a teapot, probably the most untrendy, unfashionable bike on the market, and I actually paid money for it.>>more
BIKES | October 17, 2002
GS125ES
BY PDannyD
Has a useful gear selection indicator so learner riders can see which gear they are in. Very forgiving handling.. >>more
bikes | February 8, 2002
TL1000R
BY Tony Keegan
Africa, The Dark Continent. That’s where I wanted to go. On two wheels, down the western seaboard, Mauritania, south-east across the Sahara towards Mali and the Congo and on towards the Cape... >>more
BIkes | September 25, 2001
GSX600F
BY Bagpuss
Come in two flavours : Teapot or jellymould depending on year and preference to lack of style... >>more
BIKES | September 24, 2001
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