Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

The GS500F is a fai red versio n of the GS50 0, w ith styling cu e s tak e n from t he GSX -R line. The VZ 160 0 Mara u de r comes from Suzuki's association w ith Ka w a saki a nd its Vu lcan M e a n St re a k . m oto r an d a lso re c ei v es the l arge r m otor in 2004 .) Whatever your flavor, Suzuki loo k s lik e it has it c o ve re d in 200 4 , from c ru ising to c o rne r carv in g and eve n co m m ut ing. GSX-R 7 5 0 Th e new GSX -R750 t ak es cues fro m its big brother the GSX -R I 000 and re ceives many u pd at es that the big bike re ceived in 2003 . The GSX R75 0 h a s been p u t on a diet a n d loses 5 ,7 pounds fro m its clai m ed d ry we ig ht. T he motor is significantly c hanged fo r 2004 with a new and more com pa ct comb us t ion chamber , l ighter resh aped p istons, and a higher c om pr es s ion ratio , up fr om 12 : I to 12 .3 : I . T h e val ves a r e not o n ly resh ap ed , but they are now made out of titanium to help the bike rev more. T he holl ow camsha fts hav e thinne r walls, which are significantly lighter to help red uc e mechanical and fric tiona l losses. The f ue l-i nj ect i on sys tem is a ll new and f ea tu res twin do ub le -bar rel ed throttle bod ies instead of having four individually linked units . Th is helps to save weig ht w hile also sim p li f y in g t h e l i n k a g e s b et w e en th e un it s. To furt he r im p ro ve the m oto r's efficiency the bike features a lighter, more powerful 32 -bit CPU . T he bi k e also featu res a new fram e that i s pa inted b la ck fo r styling and featu res th e sam e 23 .6 -deg rees o f rak e as its pr edecessor, but has th ree mo re m illim et e rs of t rail , up t o 96 fr om 93mm. An other s ig n i f ic a n t upgrad e is that th e 750 , lik e t he 1000 before it, has new Tokico fo ur-piston radial -m ounted calipers with 3 00mm d is cs and a radia l pis ton m ast er cylinder. Th e G S X - R7 5 0 has b e en co mp l et e l y re st yl ed a nd feat ures n ew stacked head lig hts (l ik e the 1000), which allows the up per fairin g to be n a r ro w er , more aerodynam i c , a n d also all ows the Ram -Air du cts to be moved c loser to t he cente rlin e f or better effici ency . D esp it e all of th e s i g n i fic a n t upgra des to th e bike , the new GSX R7 5 0 will o n ly see a $50 p rice in crease for 2004 at $9499 MSRP. GSX · R600 Lik e the 750 , the GSX -R600 is co m p let ely n ew fo r 2004 . Th e bik e ha s been r ed e si gn e d to be lighter a n d more powe rfu l, dr op p ing 4.1 pou nds t o w eigh i n at a claim ed 3 5 4. 9 po unds. The motor has be en exte n si ve l y c h a n ged for 2004 . Th e c ra nksha ft coo led V -twin borrowed from the SV650 . Bor e and str oke m easures an ov ersqu are 8 1 x 62. 6 m m. Th e DL650 fe atures Suzuk i 's Dual Th rottle Valve (S DT V) fuel-inje c ti on system, co mbined w ith a 16 -bit CPU fo r acc urate inj ec tio n and igniti on . Th e D L650 i s tun ed fo r l o w - t o mi dran ge p erform an ce . It ha s sho rt d ura ti on c a m sh a f t t im in g a n d in creased crank shaft inerti a, all in an effo r t t o put th e po w e r w he re it is m ost usable. The fra me is a tw in-spar aluminum d esign with 2 6 .5 degrees of rake and 1 10mm o f trail a nd a 1540 mm w heelb ase for p lenty of sta bility. T he rea r sho ck is pre load- and rebo und adjustable , wh ile th e 43 m m f or k s have pr ov i si on s for p re load on ly . Th ree-spok e ca st -all o y whee ls, twin 3 10mm d is c s w ith tw in -p i s to n ca li pe rs , and a 260mm disc with sin g le-piston ca lipe r ou t back are other chassis highlights. Th e upp er f airing is des igned to offer p lenty of wind protectio n with its adjustable w ind sc reen. The 5 .8 -gal Io n fu e l t ank sho u ld o ffe r a l o t of range for th ose long rid es. T he baby DL w ill retail for $6 599. has smaller journa ls and ca rri es l i ght er , sh o rt er ; sh ot p eened , c h r o m em o l y c onnecting rods . Th e c y linder head is mu ch m ore co m p ac t th an th e previ ou s b ik e ' s , with th e inclu d ed -v a l ve ang le redu c ed fro m 2 8 t o 22 d egr e e s , res ul t ing in a more co m p a c t co m b u st io n c h a m ber. Th e in t a k e p o rts are m u ch st ra ighter , addi ng to a m uch m o re effi c i e n t des ign . T he bra n d - n ew forge d p i s tons are much lighter and feature shorter, thinner skirts, and flat tops . T he compression ratio has been in c rea sed from 12 .2 : I to 12.5: 1. Th e valve t rain includes ti tani -~!;Di8;l!,!, urn va lves , wh ich are much .~. .~ ligh te r , co m b ine d w ith the new, lighter hollow cam sha fts a nd sm al ler, l ighter bu ck et ta p pe ts ; it a ll ad ds up t o a m otor th at ca n rev 1350 rpm hig he r th an the o ld m ill. T h e f u el - inj e c tion system , like o n th e 750 , fea t ures new t win throttl e b o di e s , wit h two barr el s , e a c h re d ucin g weig ht and si mp lifyin g the l i n k a g e s s i g n i f ic a n tly. Th e C PU has b e en upgrad ed t o a n e w , l i gh t e r 3 2- bi t p rocesso r , t o process mo re efficiently the injection an d ign iti on inform at ion . Th e ex haust sys te m features new fo ur - in to- t wo - into- o ne head ers and runs int o a ca n ister w it h an ali -tita ni um inner co re and an aluminum outer sleeve. T he chassis is all new as we ll and fe atures a black twin -spar fra me, a new ex te rn all y br ac ed swi nga rm, and a redes ig ned subframe . T he r a k e angle has bee n changed to a steeper 23 .6 d eg rees , whil e t ra il has bee n redu c e d f rom 96 t o 9 3 .1 m m . Ju st lik e th e bigger GSX-Rs , the 600 recieves new rad ial -m o unt ed T o k iko c alipers wi th 300mm dis cs up front and a new rad ial- p ist on master cy linder. Th e GSX -R600 w ill retail for exactly th e same pri ce as it di d last yea r at $7999. GS5 0 0 F Pic k i ng u p w he re t he s ucce s sf u l e ntry - level GS500 left off, th e new GS500F tak es th at bik e's best attrib ute s and then add s an all -new f airi ng t o th e mi x. T he fairing features a pair o f verti ca lly stacked headl ights th at look almost identi ca l to th e un it s on th e GSX - R ran ge of sportbi ke s. T he same 487cc air-coo led, paral le l -t wi n f ou r - str o k e e n g i n e, with 3 4 m m M ik un i c a r bu re t o r s , w h ich p ow ers the GS500 also powers the new GS500F. Th e eng ine feeds the pow er to a six -sp eed tra ns m iss io n . The frame is a bo x -section design th at is painted bla ck for styl ing . The w h e e l b as e m e a su re s 55.3 inches . B rak in g is hand led by a four-p iston ca lipe r and single disc up fro nt and a tw in -piston caliper and disc out bac k . Th e GS500F will ca rry a $499 9 MSRP. V Z 16 0 0 From the compan y's association with Kawasaki c o mes t he new p e r f or man ce c ru iser, th e VZ1600 Marauder. T he m oto r is a ru b be r- mo unte d , li quid -c ooled , SOHC, fou r -va lve-p er cylinder V - t w i n . Th e n ew 16 00cc motor featu res digital fu e l injectio n w ith tw in 40m m throttle bodies and two spa rk plugs per cyli n der. T he powe r is put to th e ground thro ug h a c lo se- rat io fiv e -sp eed t ra ns m iss io n and shaft d rive. Rea r sus pens io n is ha n d led b y twin shocks , w h ile up fr o nt i s a 43mm upside -down cartr idge fork . Th e fr ont b rake system fea tures twin si x -piston ca li pe rs and spo rt b ike- sp ec d iscs ; o ut b ac k i s a sing le -disc setup . The fra me is a high -tens ile-steel, double -cradle frame with 3 2 deg rees of rak e and 14 4. 7 8 m m of trail. Th e w h eels ar e 17-i nc h p olished, c astal u mi num whee ls shod w ith r adi al tires. Th e bike wei ghs in at a cla ime d 639 po u nds d r y . The V Z 1 6 00 wi ll reta il fo r $ 10, 999 . eN D L 6 5 0 V - STR O M Th e middlew eight V -Stro m h as all of t he v er sa til it y of its bi g brother the DL 10 00 , but in a lighter , m ore nim b le 650cc -powered pack age. The motor i n the D L650 is a DO HC 90 - degree, 65 0cc Iiqu id cue I e n M A RA U D ER e _ S • S E PT EM B ER 2 4 . 2003 19

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