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/141039
C'l tn " ro "- C'l .... Ol ", ' . c .., ~ w Z W ...J U >- U ~ ......" '\ .. "', The air gets grated th rough the verti cal slicers and " ram med" over the head. Exhaust gases get balance d. w o u ld gri n d me tal j ust taki ng an o ff- ra mp fro m th e free way. A w ee ke nd rid e th r ou gh th e San ta Mon ic a m ountain s p roduced lo ts o f sc rapes an d sparks withou t rea lly ge tt ing on it th a t h a rd. Ch ief offenders seemed to b e the . center sta nd , the inside pai r of the four sp lit pipes, an d the p egs. It w a s kind of surpris ing and a li ttle unnerving to find out how quickly all tha t metal would groun d in the co rn e rs. Bac k off a li ttle fro m t he gr in d ing angles and sp e e d s and the mach in e ' s handlin g behav ior is su rp ris ingly go o d. It's c ivili ze d , yet spirited in kecping w i th t he whole "personalized" image of the 5 5 O. You come away fro m a d a y 's ridin g wi th the impression that the bott om of the GT 5 50 m u st b e V -shaped fro m the le f t-rigb t me tal sc rap in g. A ctual in sp ec t io n didn't indicate anything quite that d ramatic . Claimed gr ound clearance of 7.5 " is e x agge rated , to b e ni ce abou t i l. Access to th e most obvious repair. replace and replenish c o mponen ts is quite good and it lo oks lik e m ost maintenance on the m ach ine would be simp le to acco m p lish. We nev er had to d o a rhi n g to k eep it running so di dn't explore a ll the possib ilities e xc e p t to vis ua lly che ck the generous cap aci ty oil tan k an d insp ect th e e le c tr ics , most o f th e c ri tical b u zz-p op ite ms a re ce n trally loca ted u nde r th e p lastic p op-o ff on the le f t o f th e bike. T h e o il tank is un de r th e le ft side c ov e r. T h e m id -size three d idn ' t see m to u se any o il as th e level d idn 't m ove b y m ore than h alf an inch in 3 0 0 m il es. V isu al testimon y to th is fac t w as th e lack o f smoke in start-up or runn ing. Th e m e tering m u st h ave b e en pretty close to correct an d th e b ike m ain tain e d its very good init ial state of tune through o ut the test. A spark plug ch e c k confi rmed a w e ll-fu n cti on in g CCI. T he 550 was also sparing of th e petrol and consistently got over 3 0 MPG in a m ix of around town and freeway-type ridi n g. One chec k yielded a 32 ~I I' G figure and a n o th e r gave a shade over 3 4 MPG , which we con side re d quit e acceptable . T he n ew "I\." m odel see ms to be an even m or e res ponsi bly designed m achine than its irnrn cdiat e p redecess o r. As m entioned , it ha rd lv smokes a t all , ev e n when cold and ' th e three-in to-four e x ha u s t pi pe sy st em is very , very quie t. Engine noise is also m ini m a l, he lpe d somewh at .b y th e ram ai r shroud ing whi ch also con tro ls w ind no ise to some ex ten t. It is mo to rcy cle a w h ile p le asi n gly no t Low speed (25 -50 MPH) co rnering was stable but ground clea rance was sti ll a problem. q uie t sacrifi cing mea ningful stree t p erformance. A ll of th e Japanese man ufacturers seem to be in c r e a s i n g l y po l I U lion -con scious. Wh eth er th is is accidental or n o t. Suzuki has m an age d to c o me up with a clean , quiet mi dweigh t th at is still 'a fun bike to ride. A gain, this support s the . h assle-free n a ture o f the GT 55 0. Add a lack of o il leaks ; a chain th aI required min im al adjustment but was e asy eno ugh to \v ·ork wi th; nothing terribly eso te ric or ch ro nic ally sick with the machinery; and yo u e nd up ridin g a mot o rc y cl e th at is also easy to live with. It's a b ike for the rider who wa nts 500 c l a s s perfor man ce without sacrificing com fo rt: the rider \..ho is r se cure in his own im age and d igs thin gs tha t work th e w ay the y 're d e signed to w ork-consis tcn tly . II is also a bike whose "time has definitel y c o me . The " cc" displacement # e has go t to e n d soon before reaching rac totally insane proportio ns a nd th e bi g bikes can be very e x pe n sive not onl y to buy but to keep ru nning. On a lillie scooter, you're noth ing m o re than a moving target on th e highwa y . T he m iddle wei gh t machines ar e w he re it ' s a t fo r a m o t orcy cl isl who like to mo tor ra ther th an parade . T h e S uzu ki GT 555 0 is a n im p re ssive m i d w ei ght w it h a re ason able, if n ot co m p le te ly id ea l, ma tc h o f p ric e, pre cis ion a nd p erf o rm an ce . Pl u s it comes in b lu e , green or go ld to m a tc h you r h elm e t , in sid e o f ga ra ge o f favo ri te to uri n g jac ket. .. . . N eat Su zu ki fea tu re is dual (i ndependen t) light ing in tai l light fixture. If one bulb or filament shatters. yo u're not in the dark . No te also wid e bod y pro file compared to relative ly narrow bars. , /// What It Costs to Keep Running LIST PRICE. Tune-up Plugs (B7ES) Points Cond ensers Speed o cable Tach cab le Clutch cable Brake cable (rear) Th rot tle cable $1265. 00 24.5 0 89 (3 needed ) 3.76 (3 need ed) 2.08 (3 needed ) 3. 16 3.16 3.24 4.61 ~ Head light beam Head Gasket Base Gasket Piston Ring Set (complete) 4 .61 16.24 84 (3 needed ) 25 (3 needed ) 7.53 (3 needed I 14 .61 A ir cleaner element 4 .16 Drive Chain (stock) 45.92 Drive Chai n (non-stock) 14 .95 P~ as t i c side cover po ps off to fiddl e wit h elect rics and ge t to the air c leane r, if that's YOUt thing. Necessities, Niceties and Good Stuff A very eff icient. very noisy big disc. l1li4.~ Easily deciphered night and day instruments. A large capacity oil tank and a fair tool k it . Handleba r swi tches that are operable, hand on the throttle.