Suzuki

SUZUKI

PREVIEW '85

These are just the teasers; Suzuki’s real blockbusters for 1985 will be a late Christmas present

What you see here is an unfinished symphony, the first chorus of Suzuki’s 1985 score. Most of the bikes pictured on these pages are revisions of existing models; but just after the first of the year, Suzuki plans to release several completely new models.

Though Suzuki refuses to talk about the exact configurations of those machines, there are a few voids in the company’s ’85 line which beg to be filled. The most obvious hole will be created by the departure of the GSI 100GK inline-Four touring bike. It’s not likely that Suzuki will ignore the lucrative touring market altogether, and we logically suspect that the company will introduce a top-of-theline full-dresser powered by a variation of the 1200cc V-Four Madura engine.

Further speculation isn’t as easy. Suzuki still offers air-cooled GS550 models, but the recent push by the other

manufacturers in the middleweight sport class may prompt Suzuki to introduce a new warbird of its own. In Europe, Suzuki has announced a radical, oilcooled, aluminum-framed GSX-R750 that supposedly pumps out 100 hp and weighs 388 pounds dry. We know that this bike will not be available in the U.S. for ’85, but a smaller, perhaps 600cc, version might be. Maybe.

As for the remaining mystery models, who knows? Suzuki has dropped the SP250 for 1985 and has introduced a new four-valve SP600 dual-purpose bike. Perhaps a 350cc version, designed to knock heads with Honda’s XL350R and Yamaha’s new XT350, is poised for introduction. But for now, Suzuki’s linuep of “new” models for 1985 is limited to the unfaired GS1150, a family of tariffskirting GS700s, the SP600, and refined RM 125 and RM250 motocross bikes. You’ll have to stay tuned for the rest.