Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

;hiJ ml>unt into comers 'hardt- - , . Groun d c1earal),Ce was aAO surprise . With electric starter, water pump, generat ors, oil pump, ignition bits, three cylinde rs, and four pipes stuffed in there, the 750 'Zooki is quite wide. It looks like you are going to have a lot of parts draggin g the asphalt before you wish. It just ain't so, howeve r. Sure, we could ground it (we don't have a road racer working here for nothin' ). but we had to work at it. When we went out of our way and threw it down we could scrape the pipe on the righ t and the center stand on the left. Even with a passeng er attache d the ground wouldn 't rush up and bite the bike. If you want to carry a passeng er a lot, this is the machin e for the job. It is the best tootsie toter that we have come' up against in quite a while. That seat is big and long and does the necessa ry thing to your bottom . The peg and bar arrange men t is ideal for both passeng er and operato r. The seat is rather high and shorter riders will have trouble touchin g down. You sit up rather straigh t in the saddle which will be a little fatiguin g in a headwin d. Witfi this minor excepti on the machin e is ideal for long hours in the saddle by yoursel f or with a compan ion. Which is what the Suzuki GT-750 is all about. It is built for long haul touring. Everyth ing is built for comfor t. The seat and suspens ion absorb all road lumps. Vibrati on is almost entirely absent at freeway speed. You can use the mirror for exampl e. This is due to somethi ng in the system that stops them rather than a smooth engine. If you put your feet on the engine you can feel some vibratio n, but it won't get to you otherwi se. The big, non-fol ding footpeg s have a massive amount of rubber and they shield your feet. No vibratio n comes through anywhe re else excep t when the engine is backing off or running down at 200 rpm. Most riders won't let it putter down there anyway . It is smooth . Under all rypes of use we obtaine d 40 miles per gallon of regular. This was under conditio ns that varied from tire-spin ning starts to idling for photos to cruising around the neighbo rhood. Better gas mileage is one of the advanta ges of water-c ooling and the touring rider could expect sligh tly better gas mileage . Oil is carried in a tank on the right side of the machin e that holds a tad under two quarts. Oil mileage was about 275 or 300 miles per quart. Expect to need some every 600 miles. Compu ting the distance traveled is easy with the trip meter set in the speedom eter. Most reset knobs are hidden away behind the speedo and hard to reach while travelin g, but the Suzuki' s is on the side and easily gotten at. The instrum ents are even easier to read than the current crop of easy·to- read speedos and tachs. The speedo read rather high, and we found that no one would bother us if we ran the needle up in areas that would usually involve red lights and traffic citation s. Betwee n the speedo and tach is a water tempera ture guage that never thought about compla ining. You could feel the heat from the radiator once the engine had warmed up the water, and that was about as far as needle ever went. Also in the instrum ents are the neutral, flasher, and h.igh-bearn indicato r lights. No amp light though. The transmi ssion was easy to get along with even when you wanted neutral. There was a respecta ble clank when shifting between firs t and second either w.ay but the rest were quiet and positive . Clutch action was quite positive with no slip. ~ w Z W .J ~ C.l 3 CYCLE NEWS LOOKS AT THE SUZUKI 750 The machin e was fairly easy to get on the stand. It was easier still if you used the side stand. The chain is of the endless type which means that it won't break very easily, but when it does you are up the creek with a masterl ink. The rear wheel is pulled out through slots in the back of the swing arm. The handleb ar switche s are well designe d and work well. You can occasio nally hit the turn signals instead of the high low switch, but that doesn't involve any major difficul ty. There is a kill switch on the right bar, and the key is up by the instrum ents. The horn is properl y loud. The choke resides on the left handleb ar and is needed for about thirty seconds after a cold light.up . Nothing broke or troubled us for attentio n during the test which is as it should be for a touring machin e. Which is what the Suzuki 750 is. It is a tourer, and a good one. It isn't a superbi ke. It could be. The engine is right. But the styling and general layout speak of to\\ ring. Maybe Suzuki could make a 750 Sport which bears the same relation to the GT-750 that the -Moto Guzzi Tourer does to the Moto Guzzi Sport. Lighten it up some, drop on a disc, make a smaller tank, and restyle it. It would hold it's own with most anythin g, and do it for a lot longer. The Suzuki seems as though it could tum up in police use like the other hikes in its class. That class is compos ed of the Harley Electra Glide, the Moto Guzzi 850, and perhaps the BMW. It is the class of long time, long distance heavyw eight Intersta te cruisers . As such, it is difficul t to fault. SPECIFICATIONS SUZU KI GT-750 Three cylinder, water cooled two stroke Engine type 7Omm x 64mm Bore x stroke 738cc Displacement 6.7: 1 Compression ratio ...... ...... .•.... ...... ...... ... (3) 32mm Mikuni Carburetion ..-.... 67 @ 6500 Maximum claimed bhp @ rpm ...... ..•... ...... ...... ...... 5 speed constan t mesh Transmission 4.5 gal. Fuel tank capacity ~ 3.8 pints Oil capacity 87.2" Length '.. 34.0" Width 31.5" Seat height 44 .3" Height 57.8" ...... ...... .... ' Wheelbase ...... ...... ...•.. ...... ...... 525 Lb. Weight . 3.25 x 19 Tir.e size, front ...... .•.... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... 4.00 x 18 Tire size, rear About $1600 : Price the radiator cap just behind the With. the tank removed you can see the width of the engine. Note Instruments are goo~ and include a a water temp gauge. steering head. .. , •• I L: "f d'lt

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