Making It To The Top 4
Suzuki Motorcycles Past and Present
By Staff Writer

The Suzuki Motor Company was founded by Michio Suzuki, a son to a Japanese cotton farmer. He was born in Hamamatsu, a small town 200 km from Tokyo, in 1887. As Michio grew up he became a carpenter and an enterprising young man. In 1909, at the age of 22, he constructed a pedal-driven wooden loom, and started to sell his product. Suzuki Loom Works was founded. The business went well, the order stock was growing and Michio Suzuki further developed his machine for the silk industry. New, much more sophisticated machineries were developed and the business was blooming.

Eleven years later, in 1920, Michio Suzuki decided to introduce his business to the stock exchange. The days of a small family business were long gone; Michio Suzuki needed the capital to be able to expand the business to meet the demands of the growing market. The founding of Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Company (Suzuki Jidosha Kogyo) in March of 1920 is regarded as the start of the Suzuki Motor Company as we know it today. The company celebrated its 80-year anniversary in 2000.

Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Company got the capital needed for the investments and the company was now growing fast. Already in 1922 the Suzuki Jidosha Kogyo was one of the largest loom manufacturers in Japan.

By that time, Japan was not the large industrial power that it is known today. The most important export items were fabrics and cloths. In 1926 the new-established Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Company started to export looms to the Southeast Asia and India. But the market was soon to be sated, the high-quality looms from Suzuki lasted practically forever and the demand for new looms was getting gradually smaller. Suzuki started to consider manufacturing other things on the side of the weaving machines.

There were hardly any manufacturers of motorcycles or cars in Japan before the Second World War. Soichiro Honda was to build his first cyclemotor in 1947. In Europe and the United States there had been motorcycle and car industries for decades.

The Otto motor had been patented in Germany in 1876 and the Einspur, Gottlieb Daimler’s first motorcycle prototype was built in 1885. Robert Bosch introduced a low-tension magneto the motorcycle before the end of the 19th century and by the time Michio Suzuki was designing his first loom, European companies like Zedel (later NSU), Royal Enfield, Puch, Peugeot, Norton and Husqvarna were already producing motorcycles, as well as Indian and Harley-Davidson in America. There were already motorcycle magazines and motorcycle clubs organized reliability trials in Europe. The first Isle Of Man TT-race was held in 1907, two years before Michio Suzuki started his loom works.

There is no question about it; the Japanese were not pioneers in designing motorcycles. The Japanese manufacturers came into the business decades after Europeans and in the beginning they mostly copied the design and the technical solutions of the European machines. But we all know what happened; a couple of decades after the Second World War the mighty Japanese manufacturers dominated the motorcycle markets of the world.

But let us get back to the time before the war. Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Company is an impressive company but there was little demand for its products. Suzuki considered going into the automotive business. 20,000 vehicles were imported to Japan annually, still not satisfying the growing demand for cheap commuting vehicles. Michio Suzuki noticed the market gap and made his first move.

In 1938 Suzuki made its first prototype of a car, based on the Austin Seven. The Suzuki research team had bought an Austin from England, dismantled and studied it and a few months later was able to make a replica of the British 737cc car. Japan possessed little technical knowledge of how to produce good cars or motorcycles and imitating the car manufacturers in Europe seemed to be the way to get started.

But the timing was lousy. Japan was already preparing for the war. The project was abandoned and the Suzuki’s version of the Austin Seven was never mass produced. That would not have been that original idea anyhow; Nissan's first automobile was based on Austin Seven.

After the war, there came a period of rebuilding and economic instability. The manufacturing of weaving looms was renewed but a wave of strikes at the forties and in the beginning of the fifties and the post-war chaotic financial structure nearly destroyed the Suzuki Loom manufacturing Company.

According to a story it was Michio Suzuki’s son, Shunzo, who came with the idea of motorizing his bicycle a fall day when riding home from a fishing trip. Without any specific goal, only for his own pleasure, Shunzo went to his drawing board at home and started to design his own cyclemotor. Nevertheless the story is true or not, manufacturing cyclemotors saved the company from the edge of a crash.

In November 1951 the engineers of the Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Company started to design an engine that could be attached to a bicycle. The idea was not unique; there were actually over 100 other Japanese companies that had come up with the same idea. Soichiro Honda started his Honda Technical Research Institute in 1946 with renovating used small engines used by the Japanese army during the war and mounted them onto bicycles. A year later, Honda started to make their own engines. By the time Suzuki put his first cyclemotor into production Honda (now renamed to Honda Motor Company) owned 70% of the commuting market.

Before the 36cc Power Free engine was released, a 30cc prototype, that was given the name "Atom" was created by Suzuki. The Atom was never mass produced.

The high quality of the Suzuki’s cyclemotor made it to stand out and made it a big hit in Japan. Many of Shunzo Suzuki's original ideas were used on the final product.

The engine was a "square" 36 x 36 mm piston-ported two-stroke mounted within the cycle frame, just above the pedals. It powered the cycle through the normal pedaling chain and required special chain-wheels to enable the rider to free-wheel while the engine was running. The engine could also be pedal-assisted, or disconnected completely.

The system was so ingenious; the Patent Office of the new democratic government granted Suzuki a financial subsidy to continue research into motorcycle engineering.

Unlike most of its competitors, the Power Free did not use army surplus or proprietary engines and was built entirely by Suzuki. Suzuki manufactured even the carburetor and flywheel magneto.

The Power Free, launched in late '51, was only on sale for a few months before it was substantially improved. Just after the release of the Power Free the Japanese government changed the requirements to be allowed to ride a small motorcycle. No driver's license were longer needed to ride a bike with an 4-stroke engine up to 90cc or a 2-stroke engine up to 60cc. Suzuki started immediately to develop a new cyclemotor which engine capacity was increased to 60cc. and a two-speed gear was incorporated.

In 1953 a new model, the "Diamond Free" was introduced. This was built on very similar lines to the Power Free and used the same method on transmission. The engine capacity was now 58cc (43mm x 40mm); neat alloy side panels tidied up the unit's appearance. Power output was 2 bhp at 4000 rpm.

There were many detail variations during the production of these cyclemotors, particularly in the design of the fuel tank, chain covers and exhaust system. Additionally, a variety of special frames was available, incorporating such features as drum brakes, strengthened or sprung forks, and even crash bars.

The Diamond Free had the usual handlebar controls: a lever operated clutch, a thumb lever for the choke, and a throttle twist-grip. The two-speed gearbox was controlled by a lever mounted on the frame's seat tube.

Although virtually unknown in the West, many thousands of Power Free and Diamond Free machines were sold in Japan. 1954 saw the end of Suzuki's cyclemotors with the introduction of the "Mini Free". This was a 50cc moped, being only sold as a complete machine.

By 1954, Suzuki was producing 6,000 motorcycles per month, and changed its name to Suzuki Motor Co. Ltd in June 1954.

Mini Free was, however, still very cyclemotor-like in appearance, having a conventional bicycle frame. The engine was mounted ahead of the bottom bracket and a Vee belt from the engine drove a pulley clipped to the spokes of the rear wheel. The Mini Free continued in production until 1958 and a more conventional moped, the "Suzumoped" replaced it.

In October of that year, Suzuki introduced their corporate "S" logo, which was used on all their bikes and is still used by the motorcycle division.

Suzuki's involvement with both cyclemotors and complete motorized bicycles was stopped in 1959. Since then its under-50cc output has been mainly fixed-footrest machines.

June 1960 Suzuki takes their factory-prepared 125cc Colleda racers to the Isle of Man to compete in the lightweight TT. Although they did not win at their first attempt, they managed respectable fifteenth, sixteenth and eighteenth places. Suzuki was anxious to show the buying public their machines were fast and reliable.

The "Selped" moped was one of the company's biggest sellers; it was later boosted to 80cc, and was to become one of Suzuki's best sellers, the A100.

By the end of 1962, Suzuki had won their first World road racing Championship in the 500cc class, and in America, Suzuki was setting up their new headquarters under the "U.S. Suzuki Motor Corporation" banner. The company decided that it needed to test its prototype machines on a purpose-built track; construction was started in 1962 on its 5-mile Ryuyo test track near the factory and was completed in 1963.

Suzuki made steady progress in road racing and in 1964 they surprised the road-race fans by entering into the world of motocross Grand Prix. Entering the Japanese motocross champion, Kazuo Kubo, in the Swedish 250cc Grand Prix, but without the same success they had achieved earlier in road racing. Although their machines were fast, they did not handle well. Suzuki's engineers went back to the drawing board and returned to Europe in 1966, with completely redesigned machines, which saw moderate success. In 1967 Suzuki signed up their first non-Japanese motocross rider, the Swede, Olle Peterson.

It was European, Joel Robert, who in 1972 won the World Championship, Suzuki's first. Suzuki won several more times, and won the 125cc class every year since 1975. October 1967 saw the introduction of the 500cc Titan road bike. This was known through its 11-year production as the Cobra, Titan and the Charger, finishing production as the GT500. It was a 500cc twin-cylinder two-stroke, which handled quite well and became very popular.

The trail bike, with its on and off-road capabilities, was the big success story for all the Japanese manufacturers and in March 1969 Suzuki launched their TS range, with knowledge gained from the motocross World Championships.

But it was with the two-stroke machines that Suzuki achieved their greatest successes, both on and off the track. In October 1969 they opened another factory at Toyama to produce small capacity two-strokes.

A machine, which took the motorcycling world by surprise, was the astonishingly quick GT750 Two-Stroke triple cylinder capable of well over 110 mph with acceleration to match. At 540lbs, it was not a lightweight, but with 67bhp it could push itself from 0 to 60mph in only five seconds.

With the confidence gained from producing the large capacity GT750 Two-Stroke triple, Suzuki announced to the world that they would introduce a totally new 500cc four-cylinder, Two-Stroke racer called the RG500. As a mater of fact, the RG500 was to become the single most successful racing machine of modern times, and by the time it had completed three racing seasons it had won two World Championships with Britain's Barry Sheene aboard.

A model worthy of mention is the RE5. This was Suzuki's attempt at producing a rotary-engine machine. Based on the Wankel design from Germany, it proved to be a costly and expensive failure.

In 1976 Suzuki made a bold decision to introduce a range of four-stroke machines. The first machines were the GS400, a 400cc twin, and the potent four-cylinder 750cc GS750, with double-overhead camshafts.

In 1977 Suzuki dropped its line of large street going Two-Stroke triples. This was a sad year for the Two-Stroke.

In October 1978 Suzuki unveiled the powerful shaft-drive GS850G. They also introduced a completely new look and styling for a new and revolutionary range of Superbikes. Called "Katana", it promised a performance and handling never before seen on a road-going bike. Featuring Twin-Swirl combustion chambers and many other highly advanced technical features, the first Katana was the GS1000S.

March 1982, saw the introduction of the XN85 turbocharged 650cc superbike. By the end of the 1982 road-racing season, Suzuki had won the 500cc road-racing World Championship for the eighth consecutive time, the 125cc motocross World Championship, and their sixth 500cc motocross World Championship.

In 1986, Suzuki originates the mass-production repl-racer Superbike with its revolutionary GSX-R750. Never before had a bike so racy been offered to so many riders. Many of the best American riders of the last 15 years honed their skills on GSX-RS, riding into Daytona glory and other championships.

Suzuki has come a very long way in the U.S. market since the firm began selling a small line of inexpensive, lightweight motorcycles here in 1963.

Now Suzuki is one of the world's "Big Four" motorcycle makers, offering a complete range of advanced street, off-road and race-winning machines. Globally, Suzuki is among the dozen top automakers, and sells more models than ever stateside. Inventor of the four-wheel ATV, Suzuki is dramatically expanding its QuadRunner lineup, and soon a new factory in Rome, GA, will manufacture them in the U.S. For boating enthusiasts, Suzuki serves up a wide array of outboard motors, many of them featuring electronic fuel injection and four-stroke power.

American Suzuki Motor Corporation is everywhere, on two wheels, four wheels and on the water. To help serve millions of customers nationwide, there are six corporate offices, staffed by hundreds of sales, technical, accessory and distribution staff. Across the country, there are more than 1,600 independently owned Suzuki dealerships. And the number is still growing.