| |
SUZUKI CAFE RACER MOTORCYCLES
I saw this at TopSpeed.com. It's really good so here it is... "When former NASA engineer Casey Stevenson was in the market for a light, economical and enjoyable motorcycle to cruise the LA streets on, he came to find that there are no such bikes being currently made. So he considered turning a Suzuki S40 into a café racer and ended up creating the Ryca CS-1, a 650cc, air-cooled, single cylinder cafe racer prototype. Later, he thought at a way of turning his idea into money, so he founded Ryca Motors, the shop where they turn any Suzuki S40 or Savage model into veritable café racers. The production version of the Ryca CS-1 features the middleweight single-cylinder engine and a five-speed tranny and returns 60 mpg. Café racer goodies such as the custom low profile tank with integrated keyswitch / indicator panel, fiberglass seat and side covers as well as rearsets with custom mounting bracket and hardware and aluminum clip-ons give the bike its unique look. Because the original bike’s engine and chassis don’t require significant changes, Ryca Motors also offers a custom parts and accessories kit that owners can buy and install themselves. Click past the break to read about the four different possibilities of getting yourself on one of these and also what the kit includes."
1974 Suzuki GT750 (Kettle) Cafe racer
Kettle, Water Buffalo, GT750, Le Mans. Who knew the Suzuki cafe racer was such a popular mod? By any other name, it would still smell as sweet, as long as it's in tune and running Castrol R in the oil tank.
This big 2-stroker has gained a classic reputation over the years, much more so than it's GT550 stablemate, and nominally over the more popular GT380. Although there were about 100,000 GT380's produced, as compared to roughly 80,000 GT750s, the big boiler is now the more collectible.
This water-cooled 3-cyclinder two stroke might seem an odd choice for a cafe conversion, but that's not stopped a good many folks from going right ahead and making a sporty looking unit from the rather stodgy original.
Suzuki Water Buffalo
These words are from Jarmo Haapamäki of SUZUKICYCLES.ORG. It's a go-to site for details like this:"Suzuki's 750cc water-cooled triple was launched in 1971 as their answer to the super bikes of the day, bikes like Honda CB750 and Triumph Bonneville. The GT750 was more a sports tourer (the GT standing for Grand Tourismo) and was, basically, a T500 with an extra cylinder and liquid cooling crafted on. The GT750 was the first Japanese serial manufactured motorcycle with a liquid-cooled engine. It was a unique engine construction in its day and today considered one of the classic Suzukis, loved by its owners. Known as the Le Mans in America, it received soon a nickname ”Water Buffalo”, and other nicknames in other countries. It was generally known as ”Kettle” in Britain and ”Waterbottle” in Australia.
Omars DTR Suzuki Kettle Cafe
Although smooth, quiet and comfortable, the GT750 was big and heavy. This huge, wide engined bike, which weighed in at 550 lbs, was about 30 lbs heavier than a Kawasaki Z1. The 739cc engine was an inline water-cooled triple with 70 x 64mm bore and stroke. The cylinder block was alloy with cast iron liners.It had a five-speed gearbox and three into four exhaust. An unusual item in its day was the handlebar mounted choke lever. The GT750 has apparently been sold in many countries all over the world looking virtually the same. However, the exhaust noise and pollution regulations are the reason why there are some differences in the engine performance. Also, there are more differences between countries. For instance, some model years don’t have the grab rail behind the seat in some countries, when other countries may have it. And so on."
|
