Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ G(") 00 0") ...... ..- . ...... Q,) C ~ ~ ta ch ed to the fra me via a n indirect h ea d a nd co llar arrangemen t to iso lat e vibra tion . But it still ge ts to th e pi lot. An d th e h igh engine speed is the mai n cu lprit. Take th e T em pter up to 55 on the freeway, an d th en p u t your weight on th e pegs until th ey make d irect co ntact with the . frame. You 'll see wh a t we mean. When we firs t go t the 650, with a ll of 57 mi les o n the odometer, it seemed like a n act of Co ngress was necessa ry to get the bike to brea k th e speed lim it and thus it appeared that the variable mass cran k was more p ublic rela tions than so lid engi neeri ng. Bu t n ow that we've put fo u r digits into th e odo rea di ng, the bik e wi ll rev easily to over 8000 rpm and 75-mph cruising is not out of the question. But a 100m ile das h a t 75 is gua ra nteed to produce an unco m fortabl e ride r wit h n u m b fingers a n d feet, an d a . tender bac kside. T he Tem p ter sadd le gets exce lle nt . ma rks for th e just-righ t firmness of th e foam, but dem erits for th e steep ridge in th e midd le of th e s~a t, jabbin g a ll but th e sma llest o f riders righ t in th e middle of th e backside. T he r id ge a lso m ak es it di fficu lt to mov e a ro u nd for co m fort o n a long ride. And o n anothe r note, passengers found th e m idd le o f th eir ba cksides intruded up on by . th e grab rai l in back of th e seat. Something cropped up d uring our test that more or less so lved th e p roblem o f lo n g stretches in th e saddle. Abo ut 110-115 m iles after we fill ed the 3.4-ga llon ta n k, we expe ri ence d fuel sta rva tio n. T he engi ne wouldn ' t co m p letely die, but it sim p ly wouldn't run right. Switch in g to reserve cu red th e fuel starvatio n, but nobody arou nd here lik es to ride very long on reser ve, so we a lways went looking for a gas sta tio n. T he resultant gas stops were usu all y for a li ttl e over two gallons of go j u ice, giving us arou nd 45 m iles to th e ga llon . Our test un it mav have si mply had a clogged pet cock , so this may not be a n in he rent trait of the breed. Wh ile the Tempter tends to feel most co m forta ble in the wee kday co m m uter ro le, we took it o ut to th e tw isries a few ti mes a n d di sco vered tha t this machine handles prett y well. Ne ither end exh ib ite d a ny bad manne rs, a nd th e bik e's good ground clearance a nd ligh t weight lent th em'selves to th e task. T he major ha ngu p was the ri ding posi tio n; ch iefly th e sha pe o f th e handl ebar s. The han dl eba rs a re sha ped in suc h a way th a t y ou feel like yo ur ' re pushing a wh eelbar row when yo u' re rid ing , a n d we co u ld never ge t co m fortable tryin g to push th e G R th rough the co rners when o u r a rms a n d hands were up iri th e air halfway down th e gas ta nk. Although n o o ne liked th e han dl ebar s, shorte r rid ers were more ena- mored of the rid ing posit io n tha n larger o nes . T heIron t end oC the bike got good m arks in both suspe nsio n and braking. T he slotted dis c rotor and acco rn panyi ng hardware was a fine stopper with good lever feel. T he deluxe " 0" model features air adjustabi lit y in th e front C ork. T h e Full Floater rear suspension got mixed reviews, wit h some riders saying th at it was too ha rsh even with th e sof test p reload sett ings, and others sayi ng it worked fin e C th em . or T he shock pr el oad is set h vd raul ically, via a kn ob under the ~arbure tors. Whi le there are five levels indicated via a red do t o n th e kn ob body, th e p rel oad is co nti n uo us ly varia ble from so ft to hard. No rider ever cra n ked th e preload over th e number th ree sett ing, how ever. T he tir es, a 19-in ch er up front and a 16-in cher in th e back, are made by or IRe, a n d C wh at we subj ected th em to in our test, worked fine. T h e front wh eel had a minor case of rai n groove sha ke, but once th e rider go t used to it, it was hard ly no ticeabl e. T he in struments were easy to read, with th e exce p tio n of the gea r indica tor. That was almost im possible to rea d durin g th e day , bu t q ui te bri ght a t ni ght. Durin g 900 or so m iles we pu t o n o ur test Tempter, nothin g sh ook or rattled off, a nd we h ad no mechanical difficulties. The chain is an o-ri ng type, so requ ired lubrica tion should be m inimal. T here was no di scern ible cha in stretc h wh ile we had the bike. Cooling down the tires Most of our test rid ers came away lik in g th e T em pt er, but for most it was a matter o f the mach in e growing . on them. In iti al react io ns were a little sketc hy ; but riding arou nd town , w he re th e GR650 is in its element, was eno ugh to co nvi nce riders of the Suz u ki's merit. We have to ra te the T empter as a n excelle nt choice for the inexperienced rider beca use it is so easy to ride, a nd , doesn ' t p ack th e punch to ge t the n ovice in trouble. Ex perienced rid ers and co n fir med speed addicts would be advised to look elsewhere; ditto for the motorcyclist who plans much in the wa y o f lon g-d istan ce riding. But, give n th e ease o f o peratio n, and th e ex tremely reasonab le price tag ($2199 Cor th e mod el we tested , $1999 C th e spoke-whee l ver sion ), or th e T empter has a lot going Cor it. • 5 pacifications Engine Type Displacement Bore x strl?ke : , Vertical twin. air-cooled DOHC four -stroke . , " 651.6cc. 77 X 70mm. Cornpresslon rano Starting system I g n iti o ~ svstem Transmission , . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carburetor 9 .0 :1. Elect ric. Tra nsistorized. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Five-speed. Two Mikuni CV BS36SS. Frame Type Front tire Rear tire Tubular steel. double downtube, 100 /90 - 19 57H . : 130 /90 - 16 67H . Dimensions . Whee lbase Seat height Dry weight (claimed) " Fuel capacity Suggested retail price : " . , ., ~ _ 56.3 in. 29 .9 in. 393 lbs, 3 ,4 gal. $2199. 25

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