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TunerGP 2015 – Mende-Suzuki GSX 1400 AMA

Sheer madness

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A 30 year old motorcycle from the youngest TunerGP – seriously? Absolutely! Because what Christian Mende conjured up from the Suzuki GSX 1100 E from 1984 is pure tuner spirit!

"It doesn’t just do what you want, it’s still real motorcycling." Ex-GP driver Arne Tode hops from one leg to the other, grins over both ears and then wipes the sweat from his forehead. No doubt: the Mende-Suzuki GSX 1400 AMA is not a scalpel like all the newer super athletes. But the thick drive has pressure from idle, which you can measure wonderfully and thus draw beautiful black lines on the Sachsenring.

TunerGP 2015 – Mende-Suzuki GSX 1400 AMA

Sheer madness

"You have to come up with something for every problem"

The former Supersport runner-up started with this conversion in 2011. At that time, a customer came to Mende’s workshop with a 1984 Suzuki GSX 1100, and after a test drive, the GSX had bored into his tinkerer’s brain. At some point he built the manifold system himself.

After many tests on the chassis, Mende found out that the fork of the Triumph Tiger fits perfectly with specially made triple clamps. The steering head angle of the Mende-Suzuki is of course no longer the old one and the geometry of the series frame is absolutely useless. So you build something like that as a tuner and racer. A GSX-R 1000 was allowed to sacrifice its swing arm for the rear, and a Wilbers shock absorber came in. “You have to come up with something for every problem,” says Mende. “There is nothing. Alone until the racing chain was properly on the run. "

Like driving a car without power steering

Then it’s time. The light turns green and the PS tester lights up. It immediately becomes clear what Arne meant. Turning in, turning over – all of this requires strength and the right, determined impulse. But that’s exactly what makes it so attractive, it’s like driving a car without power steering. Here real guys decide where to go, nothing is washed away. The feedback from the chassis is really good, but of course it’s not as crystal clear as with a real racing motorcycle. Even simply tearing open the shower in a large aisle is a real beginner’s mistake in the post-carburetor era, then the fat engine of the Mende-Suzuki GSX 1400 AMA will just choke up – but that also saves electronic bells and whistles such as traction controls.

That doesn’t mean that the Mende-Suzuki GSX 1400 AMA doesn’t push. Quite the opposite: if you open the throttle in a linear fashion, you will be swept away by a torque wave so that your spit stays away. You can even really adjust to it, because every spin releases a bit more bang. After the second turn at the latest, you can play with the rear wheel on the home straight and do light drifts – without fear. And then it stomps brutally towards the next braking point.

Real guys decide here

In addition, the absolute braking stability at the end of the straight lets you rejoice. The brake is very easy to adjust. It’s hard to believe that the saddles of a Z 1000 SX are enough to catch the bike. But 185 kilos is not a ton load either – the Mende-Suzuki GSX 1400 AMA is much lighter than it looks. Only an anti-hopping clutch would prevent the slight punch tendency in hard braking zones. “Maybe it will come,” Mende promises. Christian also calmly accepts the criticism that the seat is a bit wide and tilts into the thigh when hanging off. “The frame is so wide in the original, that couldn’t be any different from when I built the rear. But maybe I’ll change that too – it would be nicer anyway. ”And the Popometer would be even more pleased. 

When we finally translate the motorcycle a little longer to soften the strong vibrations in the upper speed range, it gets even better. To be honest: As nice as it is to arrows around the Sachsenring with scalpels, the laps with the Mende-Suzuki GSX 1400 AMA were particularly fun. With the wide handlebar in hand, the visibility through no instrument, it was all about shooting – and depth psychology: Anyone who drives with it has to feel like a real guy.

Technical data and measured values

markus-jahn.com

Pressure, torque, drifts – the GSX four-cylinder drilled to almost 1400 cm³ makes the Mende-Suzuki a real men’s motorcycle and the tuner simply succeeded in splendid fashion.

Weight
185.1 kg
front / rear 54.6 / 45.4%

power
176.5 hp

Remodeling costs
approx. 30,000 euros

Further information:

Powered by Mende
Christian Mende
At the Jagerhutte 14
31020 Salzhemmendorf
www.powered-by-mende.de.

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