Suzuki is a Japanese corporation that produces cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATV’s, outboard engines for boats, and a variety of other products relating to transportation. They have been producing vehicles for quite some time, and they sell their products all around the world. While you do not see to many Suzuki cars on American roads, they car company is popular in other countries, especially countries that favor small motor vehicles. However, you do see quite a few of their bikes. They produce a wide range of motorcycles, and one of the fastest production bikes in terms of acceleration and top speed. We are going to take a brief look at the company, some of their motorcycles, and even the most expensive Suzuki bike ever sold.
Suzuki was founded in 1909 in Hamamatsu, Japan by Michio Suzuki. The company did not have anything to do with cars, motorcycles, or any form of motor vehicle actually. Suzuki started out building weaving looms, a machine used in silk production, for Japans massive and growing silk industry. The company saw large amounts of success with their loom machines, and started to ship them overseas in 1929. Later in the 1930’s the company looked to broaden its horizons and diversify itself.
Michio Suzuki felt the best way to do this was to produce small automobiles that would be simple, cheap, and reliable. Their first prototype cars were produced in 1939, however as World War II broke out the Japanese government forced Suzuki to stop producing cars as they felt that they were “non-essential” items for the everyday Japanese individual to have. After the war ended and the Japanese economy and infrastructure was pretty devastated, the company went back to producing looms again. Suzuki had a decent amount of success in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s as the United States started shipping raw cotton to Japan, and the produced some of the best looms to process it. Unfortunately the cotton market collapsed so Suzuki turned once again to producing motor vehicles. The Japanese people were in need of cheap and reliable vehicles, so Suzuki designed small clip-on engines that could be attached to standard bicycles. By 1954 Suzuki was producing many motorcycles and then began producing cars in 1955 with their successful Suzuki Suzulight. Since then the company expanded its operations and now produces a wide range of vehicles.
Since the company started producing motorcycles before cars, Suzuki takes great bride in their bikes. The have a wide range of motorcycles and many different types of classes to ensure that your specific motorcycling needs are met. The produce sportbikes/superbikes, cruiser style bikes, touring motorcycles, standard motorcycles, adventure bikes, dual sport bikes, motocross bikes, and off road bikes. While they have a large range of bikes, their sportbike line is arguably their most popular.
Like many other Japanese motorcycle companies, Suzuki produces some great sportbikes designed for speed and performance. Their entry level sportbike is the GSX-R600. This bike features a 599cc, four-stroke, four-clydinder liquid cooled engine and a 6 speed transmission. For those looking to go really fast this is a solid bike for $11,199 dollars. However if that is not enough for you then check out their legendary Hayabusa. When it first came out it was regarded as the fastest production bike ever made. These bikes have a top speed between 180-190 miles per hour and can accelerate from 0-60 in a unbelievable 2.4 seconds flat. The Hayabusa can achieve this with its massive 1340cc four-stroke, liquid cooled four-cylinder engine. This bike is top-of-the-line in terms of performance and is one of the, if not the quickest bikes around. For $14,599 dollars you get a motorcycle that can demolish pretty much every supercar ever made in a race. Suzuki made a special version of the Hayabusa dubbed the “AEM Carbon Fiber Hayabusa”. Made entirely out of carbon fiber, the already insanely fast bike was made even faster. However these bikes were produced in very small quantities and cost between $160,000 to $200,000 dollars depending on the configuration. If you are seeking performance than this is the bike for you, however a bike like this should probably be reserved for experienced riders for obvious reasons. Even Suzuki’s smaller GSX1250FA and the GSX-R1000 provide amazing speeds and performance as well. Its no surprise why these bikes are favored by so many racing enthusiasts around the world.
If driving at insane, near-death speeds is not your thing, Suzuki has plenty of other motorcycles to choose from. On the opposite end of the spectrum Suzuki has the TU250X, which is a retro styled cruiser. This bike has a much more calmer rider and is a perfect beginner bike. The TU250X has a 249cc engine, allowing riders to ease their way into motorcycling as it is much slower than their other bikes. The TU250X is robust, reliable, and pretty inexpensive at $4,399 making it very attractive for first time motorcycle owners. Im not going to go into too much detail about their bikes as they have many models, so you can head on over to their website to have a look for yourself. The combination of Suzuki’s large and diverse line of motorcycles in addition to producing some of the best performing, and fastest bikes in the world makes them a very strong motorcycle company whose bikes demand respect.
For a little bonus check out this cockpit video of a Hayabusa in action to see just how fast it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg5BV89_lbs
Photo by Antoine Antoniol/Getty Images
