Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

The Suzuki VXBOOL is aimed at vet eran enthusiasts w ho would ap preciate a no -f rills motorcycle. and at beg inning or ret urn ing riders. 350 unit in a number of wa ys, not least th e fact th at it is a wet-sump . configuration. The 650 also varies in that it emp loys two spark plugs, a n alum in um oi l coo ler mounted o n the left fram e downtub e, 40m m Mikuni Slingshot carburetor and a five-speed transmission. As with the 250/350s, there is no electric starter. The 650 sports slig h tly less suspension travel tha n its smalle r siblings , with 9.4 inc hes up front a nd 8.7 in ch es a t rear. A bikini fairi ng, 5.5gallon fuel ta nk, lu gga ge rack, and a dual sea t with fram e-mounted passenger footpegs do their parts to increase the 650's road-worthiness. Suzuki has n't neglected its curre nt offeri ngs, thus its primary off-road race bike, the two-stroke R MX250L, has received a number o f de tail improvem ents for 1990. O n the ' engine side of things, a new two- The barga in -basement GS500E ret u rn s' with eas ily-replaceable tubular steel handlebars . stage AETC exha us t valve system was designed to improve low - a nd mid-ran ge pow er, a nd exha ust port timing was correspondingly altered. A new clutch co ver allows access to the clutch (with more d urable friction material) without removal of th e water pump o r coolant - a boon to six days-type racers who a re req uired to do th eir own trailside main ten ance. T he wat er pump has been moved farther forw ard to better clea r the rider 's boot, as well as to allow the exhaust pipe to protect the pump and lower radiator hose. On the chassis side, the forks hav e improved inner and outer tubes, and The DR250SL (shown) and DR350SL Dual -Sports are ident ical to the DR off-road machines. except for m in imal street-legal equipment, both th e fork s and rear shock hav e been revalved to red uce bottoming. A redesigned rear brake caliper body is said to increase durability a nd braking performance, and a new seal ed-b earing cha in roll er improves its durabi lit y. Blackw ell admitted tha t sa les of th e RMX hav e. been less than spectacular, but said that th e primary reason ma y hav e been th e mod el's late arr iva l, which came betw een th e two sa les pea ks (spring a nd fall ) for thi s type of mach ine. H o wever , . Suzuki has promised to have th e 1990 model in deal erships far ear lier th is year. No price has been set. Suzuki's o nly all-new stree t bike is the VX800L, which was th e sta r of th e recen t Milan, Ital y, Mo torcycle Show (Cycle N ew s #49). " A lot of prospec tive bu yers eithe r ca n' t find, or can' t afford th e type of bike they want," said Blackw ell as he intro d uced the VX. • The VX con tin ues th e back-to basi cs theme that was hera lded by last year's arrival of the GS500E, Suzuki's first bu ilt-for-America bike. T he VX, ho wever, is ai med more towards the ent h usiast, whereas th e . GS500E targe ted th e ent ry -level rider. The VX is powered by a SO HC, four-valve per-cylinder, four-str oke, 45-degree V-twin, whose roots lie in th e Int ru der VS750 cruiser bik e. Each of the 83 x 74.4mm (805. Icc) cylinders is fed by a 36m m Mikuni carburetor , with th e front cylinder using a downdraft-typ e ca rb a nd th e rear using a sidedra ft-type. The liquidcooled po werpla n t uses the left-sid e fra me tube to ro ute coola nt, in an effort to prevent long coo la nt hoses from de trac ting from its clean looks. T he VT's engine is solid- mou nted a t five points in a dual- sh ock fram e, wit h a nar ro w five-gall on fuel ta nk and slight ly stepped, one- p iece sea t. Wh eelb ase is a long 61.4 inc hes, and cla imed dry weight is 484 Ibs. Ca st wheels (l 8-inc h fro nt a nd 17-inc h rear), ' di sc brakes, di gital ignition, six-speed tran sm ission, shaft drive a nd a two-into-t wo exha us t ro und o ut th e package. T he VX800L is ava ila ble in da rk blue or ma roon, a t a suggested retai l price of $4599. The VX's Iorebearer , th e GS500E, received few cha nges for 1990. These include a n ew se t o f eas i lyrep laceab le tub ul ar steel ha nd leba rs, new pa int, and a $ 100 price increase to $3099. The other significant difference in Suzu ki's street bike lineu p is th e revamping of th e GSXR750 sport bike (Cycle News #43). In essence, the 1990 GSXR co mbi nes th e 1988-89 model cha ssis (with su btle rak e/trail cha n ges) with th e longer -stroke pow erplant of th e original '86-87 model (with larger carbureto rs). A cu rved oil co o le r, fo u r-i n to -o ne exhaust system, thicker front brak e ro tors, wider rear tire/wheel, a nd new rea r shock wi th remot e gas /oil reser voi r ar e som e of its o the r features. No price has been set. . On th e su bject of Su zu ki's sales, Tadaom i Shigenoya , vice president of Suzuki Mo to r Co., L td., q u ipped, " I have so me good news a nd some bad news. " Sh ige no ya th en ci ted the shrin king new motorcycle mark etp lace, hi gh cost of new bikes, in creasing safety co ncerns, a nd th e rise in median ag e of ent h us iasts (from 24 in 1980 to 28 in '89) as the ma in problems with th e U.S. market. Blac kwe ll expanded o n that th eme Th e RMX250L off-ro ad has a new two- st age exhaust pow er -v alve. wh en he sai d th at com pe titio n fro m othe r forms of ente rtain ment is the ch ief deterrent to new bike sa les, as well as to th e recruiting of new rid ers. H e also sa id tha t wh ile Suzuki's ATV market sha re is growi ng and di rt bik e sales a re stable, street bi ke sales were di smal in '89. Nevertheless, in th e face of that tough market situation, Suzuki is hoping that its new models wi ll increase its overall new motorcycle market share above its current 15%, with the accent o n a more profitable sha re, rather than o n sheer volu me. A 10-20% increase in dea ler sales is also projected. • 7

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