At any time due to the fact I imported two cars last yr, I’ve had the plan of bringing over a motorbike on my brain. I’ve been scanning Japanese motorbike marketplaces seeking for the one to buy. Amongst the bikes that are much too youthful and outdated bikes that are as well costly, I have observed myself captivated by the product-coloured Suzuki SW1. As it turns out, these aren’t just odd but incredibly rare.
What you’re wanting at below is not a scooter. In its place, it is a large amount like the Honda Laptop800, wherever it is a bike that borrows some qualities from scooters for an easy riding expertise. But in contrast to the Computer800, the SW1 is small displacement and styled to look like a classic motorbike.
Not much is identified about the Suzuki SW1 heritage, and some research has consequently significantly gotten me the machine’s brochure< /a> and not substantially else. As our pals at RideApart be aware, Naoki Sakai penned the SW1’s design at his H2o Design studio. Drinking water Style alone notes that the “S” in the motorcycle’s name stands for Suzuki while the “W” is for Drinking water, signifying the collaboration.
If you go onto Japan’s GooBike market correct now you’ll find 11 Suzuki SW1 for sale. A scant 200 of these bikes were being at any time made just for Japan and just in 1992.
That indicates at the very least five percent of the overall variety of SW1s designed is up for sale correct now. I’m a little bit impressed by this simply because it would be like looking at 5 Volkswagen Passat W8s with guide transmissions for sale at the similar time.
Beneath the steel is Suzuki’s long-functioning 249cc SOHC air-cooled solitary creating 20 HP. That’s paired to a 5-velocity that has a bit of an inverted shift pattern. On the SW1 you transfer the lever down for upshifts and up for downshifts.
Staying a 250-class tends to make it just capable to go on the freeway, but the bicycle was aimed squarely at city riders. The brochure talks about how the engine is lower upkeep and that it makes use of a belt drive for the exact motive. The SW1 also has what Suzuki says is a comfortable seat for a pillion rider.
You also get storage bins for stuff to carry with you. The engine is hidden absent, unable to get you coated in oil and fumes. And there is a major leg guard so that you can keep clear, even when the highway is not.
All of this is very similar to the Honda Personal computer800, but the two producers had distinct conclusion goals in intellect. The SW1 is a great metropolis bicycle though the Pc800 was specific at new riders who didn’t like the plan of sustaining a bike or coming house smelling like exhaust fumes.
Of course, revenue of the two could not have been any distinctive, possibly. As I said before, the SW1 stayed in Japan and was bought for just a solitary yr, wherever only 200 units have been marketed. Some of them have boarded boats and created their way to Europe and the States, but no matter where by they are these are particularly scarce bikes. I have been wanting to write this for a although with the hopes of displaying you just a single for sale in The usa. That working day never arrived.
I hope to uncover additional about this, if more facts exists. A bike like the SW1 is so out there that there has to be more to the tale. But till then, if you’re like me and have a hankering for a bizarre Japanese bicycle, this just one may be appropriate up your alley.