Suzuki Celebrates 100th Anniversary

Suzuki's journey has been full of interest and diversification as Michio Suzuki first established the Suzuki Loom Works in 1909, before moving into the world of motor vehicles just after World War II. Suzuki's loom business flourished over 30 years as he invented a new type of weaving machine, along with establishing more than 120 patents in the textile field. Despite his success, Suzuki saw the need to diversify and based on a growing consumer demand, embarked in 1937 on building a small car. Within two years he had completed several prototype four stroke, four cylinder, 9.7kW small cars, but they never went into production as with the onset of World War II the Japanese Government declared civilian passenger cars a "non essential commodity." Following the war, Suzuki continued producing looms, and like Honda began producing clip on motors for bicycles.

The first Suzuki motor bike
As demand for looms subsided, Suzuki looked to capitalise on the demand for cheap transportation and in 1953 produced a simple motorised bicycle, the 'Power Free'. The seed was sown for the production of fully fledged motorcycles. In 1953, Suzuki scored the first of many racing victories with the 60cc Diamond Free, winning its class in the Mount Fuji Hill Climb. By the following year Suzuki was producing 6,000 motorcycles per month and had officially changed its company name to Suzuki Motor Co. Ltd.
Manufacture of motorcycles commenced in 1952 and while the company celebrates its 100th anniversary, it has been making motorbikes for just 57. From the offset, through to the early 1970s, all Suzuki motorcycles were powered by two stroke engines - the biggest being the water cooled triple cylinder GT750. Its first motorcycle, the Colleda appeared in 1953, and was a 125cc three-geared two stroke engine, after which Suzuki developed rapidly and by 1960 was entering bikes in world class competition.

Success
Suzuki scored a coup in 1961, persuading Ernest Degner, a rider and technician from the successful Easy German MZ Company to defect and to bring the company secrets to Suzuki. With his assistance Suzuki won the 1962 50cc world champion-ship and the 50cc and 125cc titles the following year. They won the 50cc world championship again in 1964, 1966 and 1967 and the 125cc title again in 1965 before withdrawing from Grand Prix racing.
Suzuki was even more successful in motocross, using single cylinder two strokes in the late 1960s and 1970s. Joel Robert won the 250cc world title in 1970, 1971 and 1972 and Roger De Coster the 500cc title five times between 1971 and 1976.
Meanwhile the company sold 50cc, 125cc and 250cc two strokes for the road.
An interesting model was the RT63 rotary valve air cooled twin from 1963, originally produced with both rear and forward facing exhausts. The gearbox was eight speed and of the cassette type, making it easy to remove the gear ratios for alteration.
A landmark model was the T20 Super Six two stroke twin of 1965. The aircooled 500cc twin T500 Cobra followed in 1967, and the impressive three cylinder water cooled GT750 in 1971. Its 750cc engine produced 70hp delivered awesome performance, but its handling and brakes were not in the same league! Suzuki followed up with smaller air cooled triples - the 380cc, GT380 and 550cc GT550.

The Wankel experiment
Suzuki backed the Wankel engine in 1970, taking a substantial claim in the technology from NSU, believing it to be the motorcycle of the future - the rotary engined RE5. The direction proved a disaster for Suzuki, with the RE5 being big and heavy, with poor performance and fuel economy. The machine survived for only two seasons with disappointing results. Suzuki replaced it with a close copy of the Kawasaki Z1000, producing 750cc and sold as the GS 750. This was followed by the GS 1000. Both models were successful and sold well.
The TR750 was a racing version of the road going GT750, but was less than impressive. Suzuki returned to Grand Prix racing with the 500cc RG500.

By the late 1970s, having established its reputation with a strong line-up of two-stroke bikes, Suzuki made the big transition to four-stroke street bikes with the introduction of the legendary GS series. By the early 1980s, Suzuki had firmly staked out its territory as a major player in the market for tough, reliable, high performance road machines.
Suzuki motorcycles were also kick-starting the era of lightweight superbikes. Starting with the first street bike truly modeled on race track specifications, the 1986 GSX-R750, Suzuki has continuously refined the GSX-R formula in the key 600 and 750cc displacement categories.
In 1999, GSX-R riders dominated the competition on their way to winning the AMA Superbike, AMA 750 Supersport and FIM World 600 Supersport titles. 2006 Suzuki introduced a totally new GSX-R750: the lightest and most powerful GSX-R ever produced.
It is this dedication to continual refinement that has kept Suzuki GSX-Rs at the front of every race track starting grid and first in the hearts of serious street riders. Beginning in 1960, when Suzuki was awarded a Replica Trophy for its initial entry in the 125cc class at the famed Isle of Man TT, Suzuki riders have waged war on racetracks around the world, netting a disproportionate share of victories - including nine World Championships in the premier class of GP road racing, 27 World motocross GP titles and scores of AMA Championships, plus victories at LeMans, the Bol d'Or, and class sweeps at the circuit where it all started: the Isle of Man.
Suzuki continues to deliver innovative bikes, both on and off road models, and in 1982, Suzuki took the lead in the hot new market for all terrain vehicles by introducing the first four-wheeled ATV, the best selling QuadRunner LT125. A full line of four-wheeled ATVs soon followed.

Like other Japanese manufacturers, Suzuki offer a wide and varied range of models for all purposes and tastes, from 50cc upwards. Many are only marketed in specific markets, but Australia enjoys a large model range from Suzuki. As you can see from the timeline below, Suzuki has been a leader in many areas and continues to deliver some outstanding models and concepts.
Hayabusa 1300 - A decade of dominance
Suzuki was best known for its two stroke motorcycles and so the advent of a bike as impressive as the Hayabusa 1300 must be regarded as a defining moment for the company, combining incredible performance in a sculptured package, to create, what many regard as the ultimate two wheeled sport legend.

Birth of a legend - The Hayabusa 1300 created a sensation as soon as it was unveiled in late 1998. In fact, the futuristic styling of its wind cheating aerodynamic lines and the hard to fathom potential of its large displacement 1299cc engine defined such radical new levels of sportiness, balanced performance and unique looks that the motorcycle world wasn't sure how to respond at first. That is, only until riders experienced the effortless acceleration, sporty handling and sheer pleasure of riding the 'ultimate sport' motorcycle on the road.
To ride the Hayabusa - Japanese for "Falcon" - was to be immediately convinced that something special was taking place. Never had a bike of such size and with such power been able to stop so effectively, handle curves so predictably, and feel so comfortably agile throughout a ride. The Hayabusa's versatility and effortless acceleration immediately defined a new class of balanced performance and riding satisfaction. Word spread quickly. The 'Busa, as it became affectionately known, soon earned the respect and admiration of an ever growing crowd. It became the choice of those who sought an ultra competent open class bike for a wide range of riding. It even became the choice of those seeking the ultimate custom bike for turning heads on the street or at bike shows.

The Hayabusa's reputation and tales of its unrivaled performance soon made it a legend. And such resounding acceptance helped it prevail against competitors by demonstrating significant sales growth for each of the eight years that the original Hayabusa was on the market.
After dedicating four years to its development and refinement, the sleeker, more powerful second generation Hayabusa was released in 2008. It continues the legend in a distinctive performance package.