Suzuki 650 twin from early 80's

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Purplezinger

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Does anyone remember the Suzuki Tempter? It was a parallel 650 twin like our XS, sold in 82 and 83. I had completely forgotten about it until yesterday when a friend said he had owned one back then. I remembered the name but I've never seen one. Anyone have any first hand info?
 
There is a guy in Norwich NY that has one. Red with turn signals held with black tape and a wire hanging out the side to work the enrichener.
Not a bad looking bike.
Leo
 
Wish I'd seen one. From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_GR650_Tempter

"The GR650 was a standard motorcycle built by Suzuki. In the United States it was the GR650 Tempter, and worldwide as simply GR650. The GR650, saddled with the "Tempter" name, was only available in the United States for 2 years, as 1983 and 1984 models. The GR650 was produced from 1983 to 1989, The GR650 featured an air-cooled DOHC parallel twin engine with chain drive and was designed for nimble handling. It featured a two-stage flywheel which used a centrifugal clutch to lower flywheel mass above 3,000 RPM.[1] This was intended to provide easier take-off at low RPM and better reponsiveness at higher RPMs. It also featured a progressive mono-shock rear suspension.

To induce better swirling of the air-fuel mixture in the GR650 engine, Suzuki used a "sub-intake port," which ran a tube from the carburetor throat to the intake port just above the valve head. Suzuki claimed that this allows the GR650 to run with a leaner mixture than usual, which improves economy.[2]"

Specifications

From July 1983 Cycle World

List Price $2399
Engine DOHC Twin
Bore x Stroke 77 x 70 mm
Diplacement 652 cc
Compression Ratio 9:1
Carburetion 2 x Mikuni CV BS36SS
Lubrication Wet Sump
Brakes F/R: 10.8in Disc/6.3in Drum
Oil Capacity 2.5 Qt
Fuel Capacity 3.4 Gallons
Wheelbase 56.3"
GVWR 825 Lbs
Load Capacity 393 Lbs
Handlebar Width 29in.
Seat Height 30.5in
Fuel Consumption 57mpg
0-60 mph Time 5.7sec
 
hamamatsu said:
My neighbor had one, it sounded like an early honda 450 twin. It didn't have the exhaust note of an XS650 that we all know and love. I never rode it, but I don't believe it ran as strong as the XS650.

I find the mid 60s Kawasaki 650 Vertical twin and interesting bike. The engine was copied from the BSA A-10 series 650 .

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=1965...nw=205&start=0&ndsp=6&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:75
Click to expand...

Yeah dude! I nearly fell outta my seat when I discovered these.. Then thought soon after who'd I have to assassin to acquire one...

Check out this video, It's a nice XS650 Start - Up, but he rides away with a buddy, the buddy of his is on one.

 
Kawasaki had the W1:
kawasaki_w1_1965-12419.jpg


and then the W650.

kawasakiw650-1.jpg


The W650 had a bevel drive camshaft.

cb_kawasaki_w650_cutaway_engine.jpg
 
suzi claims over 60 hp for the Tempter. If that's anywhere close to a real number this bike would be quite a bit quicker than a stock XS.

I wonder how that trick fly-wheel held up over the years.
 
Purplezinger said:
Does anyone remember the Suzuki Tempter? It was a parallel 650 twin like our XS, sold in 82 and 83. I had completely forgotten about it until yesterday when a friend said he had owned one back then. I remembered the name but I've never seen one. Anyone have any first hand info?
Click to expand...

The main teason the Suzuki didn't sell many 650 tempters is they forgot to put a kick starter on it . Look at the Kawasaki W650, got a kickstart, that's what makes them cool .
 
Maybe, but I doubt it. For a bike to become sucessful you actually have to promote it, advertise it, take it to rally's, offer demo rides, ect. Of course it may have been overpriced for the time.
 
I don't think it was a matter of promotion.The motocycle market was very much performance driven "back in the day" and these twins were simply not on the right side of that curve.

Even small performance differences (e.g. 550 Seca vs 550 GPZ) translated into market dominance and these twins could not compete with the modern 4 cylinder machines that claimed the American market.

"Retro" wasn't marketable yet.
 
burns said:
I don't think it was a matter of promotion.The motocycle market was very much performance driven "back in the day" and these twins were simply not on the right side of that curve.

Even small performance differences (e.g. 550 Seca vs 550 GPZ) translated into market dominance and these twins could not compete with the modern 4 cylinder machines that claimed the American market.

"Retro" wasn't marketable yet.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much true. Even Honda was responsible for the death of many of their own greatest motorcycles simply because they couldn't turn the 1/4 mile as fast as the CB750. For example, the CB450 and CB350 twins were both faster than the 750 on crooked roads and on top end the CB550 Four could leave the 750 way behind but the quarter mile was the measuring stick that drove and pretty much still drives the performance market. And until the big KZs came along the CB750 dominated much of that market.
 

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