Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126641
Kicking the t ires When the Suzuki van rumbled u p the street minus its cargo of one G R650 , all eyeballs focused on the silver and blue twin-piston machine. The chrome fenders, together with the tank's shape and pai nt scheme immediate ly shouted out. " T riu m p h !" But the plate on the steering head reads " Ma de in Japan." Continuing on with the once-over, we found the instrumentation to be simple and adequate, but our first impression of the handlebars ' was that we wouldn't like them much. First impressions aren't always wrong. The seat looked plush, but we had reservations about the steep step in the middle. . The on ly other reaction the first meeting with the Tempter gave us was that the machine was definitely a step away from the Star Wars-bred machines we'd been riding. Scrubbing in the tires Impression: ~q83 Suzuki GR6S0D Tempter Oriental technoTriumph By Dale Brown Photos by Karel Kramer and Brown Just when it seemed that the arena for bigger displacement vertical twins had dwindled to a few existing models and marques, Suzuki chose the 1983 model year to introduce a pair 24 of techn o logi cally advanced I 65Occverticaltwins, both cal led Tempter. The G R650D (mag wheels, air-adjustable forks ) and the G R650X (sp oke wheels, $200 less to purchase) make up the Tempter lin e. Both feature Full Floater single-shock rear suspension, compact engines with a new trick dubbed the " varia ble mass crankshaft" and a host of other features. With things like hollow camshafts, balancer shafts and oil jets aimed directly at the pistons, the Tempter is a new breed, although the more-expensive D model has been styled to look not unlike the venerable Triumph Bonneville. The most interesting fea tu re is the variable mass crankshaft. What Suzuki has done is to mount a flywheel j ust inboard of the generator on the left side of the crank. T he flywheel is co n nected to the cran k via a centrifugal clu tch. Below 3000 rpm the cl utch remains attached to the flywheel. Above the 3000 rpm ma rk , the magnets on th e cl u tch pu ll loose and the fly whee l freew heels on th e cran kshaft. What Suzuki intended was a machine that would have good to rq ue o ff the bo ttom of the powerband, yet sti ll h ave good revving ability and easy run ni ng at higher engine speeds. We' ll deal with how it worked a littl e later.I . I • • T he Suzuki struck us as a fine commuter machine, and used in that mode, it worked great. St art ing was sublimely easy, and o n ly a few moments of warm-up were req uired before one cou ld get un der way. From a stop the Suzuki is very difficu lt to sta ll: a positive aspect of the variable mass crank. T he ligh t weight (396 pou nds claimed) and good lo w-end power make this two-wheeler a fine machine for the inexperienced rider to tool around town with an occasional jaunt on the freeways. Despite the technology, the engine is a straight-forward design with two valves per cylinder and an undersquare 77 x 70mm bore and stroke. The combustion chamber is Suzuki 's twin-dome design , and the compression ratio is 9.0:1. Two CV Mikuni BS36SS carbs feed the fue l/air mixture to the engine. On surface streets the five-speed gearbox has well-placed ratios, a lthough first gear is a shade too low for our tastes and the bike revs too hard and runs ou t o f power too soon. Shifting was genera lly easy, but the change up from second to th ird was difficult under a load . While the G R perfor ms w i th aplomb on the streets, highway and • freeway ridi ng is a different ma u er . Wit h the fine low-end o ut p ut, th e Suzuki needs a six -speed transmission. In fact, it cries out for one. At 60 mph, the engine is turning about 5000 rpm, a nd the vibra tion qu ick ly gets to the rider. The Suzuki does have a couruerbala ncer, the h and lebars are rubber~?t,Intedr a,nd tlJe .f~ tpegs are at-