needed a very high compression
ratio to make enough power to
compensate, leading to major
engine-braking problems. And
it chewed up its valve springs.
Luckily in those days engines
weren't sealed and nor were
their numbers limited.
These were early days, before
the development of (for example)
effective slipper clutches and
engine-braking electronics, and
pneumatic valve springs. Work
continued, though major suc-
cess remained elusive, except
in wet weather. By the time of
Suzuki's first withdrawal in 2011
the vee-angle was a wider 75
degrees, still unique, but the rid-
ers' complaints about speed and
acceleration hadn't changed.
Returning in 2015 after licking
their wounds and regrouping,
the smallest Japanese team
eschewed technical adventure
and embraced convention: an in-
line four that mirrored their street
bikes. And, sneered many insid-
ers, was a copy of the Yamaha,
with its cross-plane combustion
timing and spin-reversing com-
bined balance- and jack-shaft.
But it seemed that Suzuki
had also borrowed some other
important characteristics from
Yamaha, and in some regard
improved on them. The GSX-RR
was a sweet-natured fine-han-
dling machine, lacking only in
out-and-out performance.
This they were able to ad-
dress, up to a point. Inline
fours, with extra crankshaft
main bearings and big-ends and
that balance shaft, have more
internal friction than V4s. As a
consequence, they lack punch
out of slow corners and struggle
S
till calming down after an
epic Oz GP (Welcome
back, Phillip Island.
Welcome back, real grand prix
racing.), the sudden ascendancy
of Rins and the sleek but so far
this year unexceptional Suzuki
give pause for thought.
What did they do right? What
have they done wrong until now?
And why on earth are they giving
up racing?
Suzuki's first MotoGP bike, at
the 2002 dawn of the four-stroke
class, was a 60-degree V4 that
had the virtue of unique engine
architecture and a fine baritone
voice, and the vice of being gut-
less and unreliable.
The quirky narrow-angle vee
was dictated by the decision to
make an engine to fit the two-
stroke RGV chassis. It required a
balance shaft; the engine in turn
P124
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
DOES SUZUKI BUILD A BETTER
YAMAHA THAN YAMAHA?
