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Cult bike Suzuki GS 750
Amazingly mature performance
Judging by the fact that Suzuki only launched four-stroke engines under massive pressure, the first work, the Suzuki GS 750 from 1976, must be regarded as an astonishingly mature achievement.
D.he motorcycle boom in the 1960s did not begin everywhere in the USA, but rather in California in particular. The economy between San Diego and Sacramento was – taken in isolation – one of the five largest in the world, a huge number of wealthy beach boys parked a big motorcycle in the garage next to the surfboard. But because the sunshine state wanted to clear the smog over Los Angeles, in the 1970s it threatened the world’s strictest emissions laws. Which meant that next to the said board there would only be room for four-strokes.
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Cult bike Suzuki GS 750
Amazingly mature performance
Not until California got serious…
Honda never had a problem with that, Kawasaki reacted long ago, even the two-stroke giant Yamaha steered on course with the new XS models. Only Suzuki remained stubborn: The third largest manufacturer happily sold its tried and tested and cultivated two-stroke engines and crowned the program with a heavy lead Wankelkrad, the hapless RE 5. It wasn’t until California got serious about it that Hamamatsu remembered its own basic research and brought up several years old concepts for one Four-stroke family emerged, which with two and four cylinders should range from the middle to the upper class.
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From the start, the easy-revving inline four-cylinder turned out to be very durable. The overall package was also right: a smooth victory in the MOTORRAD group test of 1977.
Although the trend had long been towards full liter displacement, Suzuki could no longer change the course in the necessary haste: In 1975 a 750 prototype was ready, and the following spring the pre-series in the Odenwald was measured against the high goals of the developers. For weeks, including the German importer Fritz Roth. And that was a good thing, because the GS 750 presented in autumn was an instant hit.
Your air-cooled four-cylinder does not deny that it comes from the same time as Kawasaki’s Z1. So it has two overhead camshafts that operate two valves per cylinder via bucket tappets. It would have been modern to have the crankshaft rotate in plain bearings to reduce vibration, but the GS, like the Z1, relies on roller bearings – and it tingles. In addition, the designated short-stroke engine doesn’t exactly show off its torque, something only goes off above 6000 tours. And that’s right: Up until then, MOTORRAD had not measured a better accelerating 750 cc.
And until then, MOTORRAD had never seen a Suzuki that was so well made – and only very, very few Japanese suspensions that rush through curves of all radii in such a stable manner even on poor surfaces.
The needle-bearing swingarm alone suggests that Suzuki did not want to repeat the mistakes of the others. That is why the GS 750 received a second disc in the front wheel after its presentation at IFMA 1976 and thus a decent brake system overall. Comfortable seats and one of the first standard O-ring chains increased the quality of travel, the great freedom of inclination promoted the sporting spirit – the 750 had to be so versatile almost 40 years ago to really please.
Today Suzi bewitches because outwardly she is completely a child of her time. At that time, it laid the foundation stone of a success story with simple elegance and solid design, on which the technically closely related GS 400 with twin and soon afterwards fours from 500 to 1100 cm³ contributed. Thanks to California.
Market situation
Market situation: The GS 750 was only available from 1976 to 1980 and only had wire-spoke wheels in the first year. Beautiful and complete specimens are now rare. Anyone who can find an object to be restored must know that many parts are difficult to get today. So the bargain should be as complete as possible and still not cost more than 2000 euros in a reasonable condition.
Club / IG / Internet: www.gs-classic.de; www.suzuki-gs.de
Technical data and information
Data: Four-cylinder, four-stroke in-line engine, 748 cm³, 46.4 kW (63 hp) at 8800 rpm, 52 Nm at 8100 rpm, five-speed gearbox, tubular steel double loop frame, weight with a full tank of 253 kg, tires at front 3.25 H 19, rear 4.00 H 18 , Tank capacity 18 liters, top speed 197 km / h, 0-100 km / h in 4.5 seconds.
Literature: The GS series finds adequate space in “Suzuki motorcycles since 1952” by J. Gabebner and J. Kuch, Motorbuch Verlag, only available in antiquarian versions.
Specialists: Old Nippon-Fours are in good hands at Bikeside in Durmersheim: www.bikeside.de, phone: 0 72 45/10 88 23. The long-time dealer Zweirad Beinert in Gutersloh, www.beinert-online.de, also has a heart for old Suzis , Telephone: 0 52 41/9 23 60.
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