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/127243
1990 Suzukis u zuki an nou nc ed its New Yea r's resolutions a t its a n n ua l dealer co n ventio n in Pal m Springs, . California, on December 14. With a n elabora te . stage setu p and a mock television ta lk show ca lled Suzuki On Assignment, the show was a h it with dea lers a nd press a like. For 1990, th e J apanese manufacturer 's p lan is twofold, co nsis tin g of a return to th e off-road four-strok e an d dual-purpose market seg me n ts, and th e further development of th e low-co st , no-frills, back- to -ba si cs street bike. What th e two have in common is th a t each is co m p rised of motorcycles a im ed squarely a t U.S . customers. " Design ing a bike specifically for one market is difficult, but you r (the deal ers ' ) co m m itment to Suzuki m ak es it worthwhile, " said Kenji Shimizu, president of Suzuki Motor Co. , Ltd. For sta rt ers, Suzuki has m et th e challenges of th e off-road fou r-stroke and d ua l-purp ose ni ches with two lin es of startlingly sim ilar motorcycles - th e DR line o f 250 and 350cc off-roaders, and th e DR/S lin e of.250, 350 and 650cc dual- sports. " We as ked deal ers to give us their four-stroke wi sh lists," said Bob Starr, U.S. Suzuki 's media director, who went on to exp la in ' that th e su r vey res u l ts s h owed d ea lers believed a 350 would be th e ideal size for an o ff-road four-stroke, while a 250 would cater to you n ger, sm a lle r and/or less-experien ced riders. Mark Bla ckwell , U .S. Su zu ki 's marketing .directo r, stressed th e offroad ca pab il ities o f Suzuki 's dualsport m achines: " America n riders are much more co nce rn ed with performa nce than ap peara nce ," he said, S 6 New markets for the New Year clai mi ng th at w h ile m an y o th er manufacturers' d ua l-sport bikes are rea lly thinl y-di sguised street bikes, th e S uzu ki's DR / Ss are desi gn ed sp ecifi cally for o ff-road use. As a resu lt, the sma lle r di spl acernent o ff-road a nd dual-sport m odels instru men ta tion includ in g a spee do m eter , tach o meter a nd in dicator ligh ts. T he 250s a n d 350s are a ll p ow ered by th e same a ir- a nd oil-coo led, fourvalv e p er-cylinder, SOHC, singlecylinder pow erp lant, with th e excep- Suzuki 's new line of lightweight off-road four-strokes is made up of the white and yellow-colored DR250L and DR350L (shown) . are essentia lly th e sa me m otorcycles, save for the installation of minimal road-going eq u ip me nt which Suzuki' s advertiseme n ts boa st mak es th e dual-sports " barely street legal. " Thu s th e o ff -road DRs co me equipped with hal ogen headlamps, sma ll o ff-roa d-style ta ill ights a nd a resetabl e od o meter , while th e dual sport DR /Ss feature full street-lega l lighting , turn signal s, a nd co m p lete tion of differently-sized valv es and cylin ders - th e 250cc engine measu res 73 x 59.6m m for a n a ctua l di sp lacem ent of 249cc, whil e th e 350's 79 x 71.2mm cylinde r yields 349cc. A dry-sump lubrication system with a sea led reservoir built in to th e frame ba ckb one a nd down tube perm it s a m ore co m pact engine cra n kcase with co rres po n d in g ly in creased ground clearance. A la rge- ca pa city clutch with more plates a nd lighter sp rings is said to ease lever pull. Mikuni Slingshot ca rb ure to rs ar e used on both engines, a 3 1m m unit on the off-road DR250 and a 33mm u n it on the du a l-sport DR250S and both 350s. Fuel ca pac ities ar e 2.5 gallons for th e DR s and 2.4 gallons for th e DR/Ss. Long-travel suspens io n is a key feature on th e DRs and DR/ Ss, and they sha re the sam e 43mm front forks and Full Floa ter rear sus pensio n, with both ends yield ing over I I in ch es o f movement. The for ks a re externa lly-adj usta b le for compression da m p in g and pr eload; th e shock for co m p ressio n/ rebo u nd damping and preload. Digital COl ignition, wid e-ratio six-s pee d transmission, hi gh-level exhaust system with built-in sp ark a rres to r, alu m in u m a lloy cra n kca se guard, qui ck-r elease side cover (for easy access to the foa m ai r filter), a lumi num swingarm with q uickcha nge rear wheel , disc brakes front and rear, Bridgestone tir es and an 0 ring cha in complete the pa ckage. . Suzuki str esses th e ligh t weight o f th e DRs a nd DR /Ss, and as su ch th eir claimed dr y weights ra nge from th e DR2 50's 247 Ibs. to th e DR350S ' 260 Ibs. T he DRs are painted wh ite with yellow fram e/seat , while the DR/Ss are white wi th blue. Another thing th e DRs and DR! Ss have in common is price: eac h of th e 250s will sell for $2999, while th e 350s a re priced at $3299. Rounding o u t th e du al- sport lineup is th e bi g-b ore DR650SL, which is priced at $3599. The 650's 95 x 90.4mm (640cc) single-cylinder engine differs from the smaller 250/