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In 1968 U.S. Suzuki brought over a
250cc motocrosser with a twin-cylinder
configuration that
came on like
gangbusters and had a power band of
500 rpm. This left the bottom end
super-flat, but wow, what a drag racer!
It was completely unmanageab le and
gave the rider a bow-legged stance to
boo t, thanks to the upswept expansion
chambers on each side. Suzuki paid
three top expert riders just to throw a
leg over it twice a month . The riders,
Gary Conrad, then District 3 7 Number
One desert Iigh tweigh t, and Preston
Petty and Walt Axth elm, two top
mo tocrossers, picked up scattered wi ns
here and the re b ut never really had great
success. By the end of the year, the 250
was history. It never saw production.
In
1969 Suzuki hired Swedish
motocrosser Olle Pettersson as rider and
research -and-d evelop men t engineer. His
job: turn a Suzuki 250 into a
wo rld -championsh ip calibre machine.
Enter th e former world champ Joel
Robert and they win the crow n in 1970.
With that, Suzuki unveils not a 250
p roduction motocrosser but a 400.
Hint of things to come r ' Yo u bet. In
1971 they add Roger DeCoster to the
roster in the 500 class. By the end of
the year they had two wo rld titles and a
second in th e 250 class through Sy lva in
Geb oers. Not b ad .
th ree
world
m o tocross
With
ch amp io nships to its credit the Suzuki
TM400J Cyclone should be the
ultimate in motocross iron. So we
p ic ked up the Cyclone in mid-Decemb er
and subjected it to a full month of
tes ting.
Presen tl y the 400 is b eing ridden
under U.S. Suzuki sponsorshi p by d esert
ace R ich Thorwaldson and top 'crosser
J oh n DeSoto in So uth ern Califo rnia. We
checked over their machines and fou nd
the differences between their bikes and
th e production models, tucked the
in fo nna tion away in ou r brain. and
h ead ed for our first outi ng in the desert .
A t fir st sitting the b ik e feels tall in
the seat. This was pointe d o ut by
designer Pettersson at the first unveiling
in late '69. It ma y have been Japan's
belief that since we Americans are
n orm all y larger, we need ed it higher.
Anyway, the h igh seat puts your weight
to o far forward and feels very awkward.
Start in g is easy o nce yo u ge t th e h ang
of it, and k eep a fres h p lug in .
Rememb er , you 're kic king over 396
cub ic centimeters of engine so one good
whomp starting from the very top of
the stroke does the trick. As a bonus,
the kickstarter is connected t o the
primary drive so you can start it in gear,
which w ill h appen often since n eu tral is
a b ear t o find.
Stock, the 400 is too hi gh -gear ed
with a 15- too th countershaft sprocket.
A 13 wo uld h elp immensely. As is, it
has to be overrevved in order to pull its
-
U
ow n weight, a light 23 6 pou nds. Once
rolling, the b ike will st and straight u p in
first o r second gea r at half th rottle. We
eve ntually found out that the trick to
riding the Suzo o k is using the top three
gears; it keeps the power to rear wheel
m uchmo re manageable. Then you have
to re memb er that the r's can't drop off
m uch or the m otor comes to an abrupt
h alt , despite th e mild 6.5: I compression
ratio. We'll go into the cure lat er .
The front forks are excellent, offering
seven inches of tra vel and superb action.
More than once they saved an
overly-arnbitious rider from a mouthful
of so il by always h and lin g the job
assigned . th em . They n ever bottomed
but , surprisingly, weren 't to o stiff,
either.
The rear shocks were, at best,
adequate . The springs, even at the
softest of th e five settings, always
d elivered the rider a healthy jolt to the
spine. The buyer who doesn't change
th ese fo r so m eth ing else had better b uy
a seaso n t ic ke t at the lo cal m assage
p ar lor. In fact, we o nce substitu ted the
stock shocks for a pair of road racing
shocks we had la y ing around, just to see
what would happen. Not only did the
things smooth out back there, but more
power was transmitted to the ground
d uring heavy acceleratio n.
.
The p ointl ess electronic ignition,
which Su zu ki calls " PEl " , is a real pl us.
We never had to tinker with the tim in g
the whole ti me we had the bike. All we
did was change a plug now and then ; it
always ra n st rong.
The five-speed trans has a lot going
for it except for the elusive neutral.
Then again, this bike wasn"t built for
people who like to use neutral. With the
short throw and evenly-spaced gears, all
the rider has to do is think it into gear,
clutch or no, up or down.
T he brakes wi ll stop this flyer any
ti me and right-now.
The 1972 model features a slightly
larger oil tank than the earlier models. It
is a wise idea to keep your eye on the
level as often as possible. It can be
tricky because the tank is tapered
downward, giving the illusio n of faster
?i! consumptio n as you roll alo ng . Oil
mjection I S proving to be perfectly
reliable in racing and should be the
thing of the future. Th is is one area
where road machines served as proving
grounds for the racers, where usually
the reverse is true.
Overall eye appeal is great. The
yellow and b lac k tank, ye llow p lastic
fenders, an d b usi ness-like anodized
black engine set the package off.
A large all-enclosed air box gets the
job done and is eas y to get to.
Flowing off of the engine is a huge
expansion chamber made of pressed
steel. Production-wise, it is better than
the m ore common ro lled-cone type. On
o ur first outing a youngste r strolled u p
to us and pointed at mid-p oi n t on the
chamber. "Y up. Your's did it. Mine did
it , too. They all do it." Sure enough,
there was a little crack on the pipe just
below the kickstarter. Hard t o t ell if it
h ad any effect on t he performance b ut
it must be annoying for anyone who
buys a Cyclone.
In an attempt to get 8.6 inches of
clearance (som e engineer says we must
have 8 -10 inches of clearance in order to
sell to desert and motocross riders) t he
engine was raised in the frame; hence ,
th e end of the 400's handli ng . J ap an's
goal was to hit you racers with a true
motocross
competition machine fo r
under $1000, which they did. But here
is the mods you are going to have to
make in order to have a first-class racer :
- Ch an ge the quick th rottle to th e
street ty pe. The engine just h as t o o
q uick a response for an yone ex cep t
top-no tc h experts.
- Lo wer the engine in the frame two
inches, by adding metal just below the
steering head and at both rear cradle
mem b ers . A lot of people have do ne this
so it shouldn't be m u ch trouble to look
up an enthusiast who is experienced in
this m o d ifica t ion. Yo u'll still have
p lent y of clearance afterwa rd.
- Find an enterprising pipe b uilder
and p ut him to work. While you're at it ,
find some way to quiet the thing down.
- Fo r desert , lengthen the swingarm
inches. For motocross, remove the
top rear shock mounts forward a hal f an
inc h. This w ill improve the way t he
ma ch in e tracks.
- If yo u st ill find th e 1'M 4 00J
unma nageab le, detune the engine by
lifting a heavier crank out of its b ro th er ,
the TS400J Apache. That's the
street/trail model.
Better yet, have y our dealer set it up
this way before you buy. Sure, it's going
to cost over a grand that way but so
does every ot he r racer in this class.
Now you have a full -blown racer like
the champs ride (m in us the magnesium)
at no more cost than the competition.
You've a lso go t 40 horses you c an
handle and an excellently-detailed
ma chine desi gned to win races. Buy it,
have it ch anged (o r save some bucks and
do it yourself), a nd win.
I"
SUZUKI TM-400J CYCLONE
Length
Width
He ight
Wheel Base
Ground CI earance
Dry Weight
Engine T ype
Th e shiny yellow paint glistens in the sun. The overall styling. engineering, and performance gave the TM400J the personality of a butterfly .
84.3..
36.4 "
4 5 .1..
5 5 .1"
8 .6"
230 Ibs.
2-stroke , air-coo led
aluminum single cy linder
Bore & Stro k e
3 .23" x 2.95"
C.C
396
Compression Ratio
6.5 :1
Ignition
PEI (Point less Electron ic Ignition)
Carburetor
VM34
Ma ximum Output
40 hp/6500 rpm
Ma ximum T o rq ue
32.8 ft .-lb s./6000 rpm
Tran smission
' " .5-speed constant mesh
Clutch
Mu lti -plat e, wet disc
Starter
Primary kick
Brak es: Front
Right hand, internal
expand ing, single leading
Rear
Right foo t, internal expanding
Suspension : Front . . T elescopic, oil-d ampened
Rear :
Sw inging arm , o il-dampened
Front Fork T ravel
7 .1"
T ir es: Fro nt
3 .00-21 4 PR Full Knobby
Rear
4 .00-18 4 PR Full Knobby
Color
Aspen Yellow
Fue l T an k Capacity
2.4 gals.
1.5 pts .
Oi l Tank Capacit y
40 degrees
Cl im b i ng Ability
All prices and specifications subject to change
without not ice.
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