VOLUME ISSUE OCTOBER , P117
the big Suzuki overweight, and
they weren't shy in saying as
much. They found the bike's 296
pounds unacceptable (today's
Suzuki DRZ-400 tips the scales
at 317 pounds!). "It was by far
the heaviest thing we had taken
out into the dirt since fooling
around with TR5-T Triumph,"
Campbell stated. "We thrashed
it around second and third gear
trails, chased our buddies' nose-
tail like sex-crazed ground squir
-
rels, charged the big clay bluffs,
played picky-picky trials riders in
spots, really trying to adjust to
this monster…"
The big Suzuki failed nearly
every test that the staffers put
it through. "Nose heaviness"
and a rear-end that kicked badly
apparently made riding the bike
a chore—and a scary one at
that, Campbell writing that "the
bike seemed to be constantly
conspiring to toss the rider over
the bars." By the CN account, the
Apache needed more than new
shocks or a fork kit; anything
short of an exorcist wouldn't be
able to drive the demons out of
this machine.
The sniping continues
throughout the test: weak
brakes, dirt/street tires that have
too much knobby-like tread for
the street but not enough for the
dirt. The Suzuki had a "lumpy"
idle and the ground clearance
was "nothing to shout about." Its
top speed of 65-70 mph led the
staff to conclude the big Suzuki
was "short-winded" and needed
a larger carburetor to take advan-
tage of the 400cc powerplant.
Nary a positive thought was
"thunk" about this two-smoker.
Near the end of the article,
Campbell did say that, while the
Suzuki's cumbersomeness won't
allow it to "duck and weave all
that quickly on a tight trail," the
rider should fear not, for the 400
"is heavy enough to demolish all
but the more mature trees in its
path."
The Apache's lumbering per
-
sonality stood in stark contrast
to that of its evil cousin, the TM
400 Cyclone. On the motocross
track, the pipey Cyclone devel-
oped a reputation for being dif-
ficult to ride, thanks to a power-
band that operated much like a
stick of dynamite—sizzle, sizzle,
WHAM!
If the Apache had any sort
of firecracker hidden within its
powerband, it wasn't discovered
during this test. Heavy and slow,
unfit for street or dirt, the Su
-
zuki TS 400 Apache seemed to
be something of a dud in every
imaginable way.
CN
STINGER. HUSTLER. SIERRA.
APACHE
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The Cycle News' staff found the big Suzuki overweight, and
they weren't shy in saying as much.
Our review of the 1975 Suzuki
Apache wasn't a favorable one.
