2008 Suzuki V-strom 650 on 2040-motos

Suzuki V-Strom 650 tech info

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Moto blog

Kevin Schwantz Visits Suzuki Headquarters Ahead of Suzuka 8-Hours

Former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz recently visited Japan to take part in the official test for the 2014 Coca-Cola Zero Suzuka 8-Hours. Schwantz, who last year finished third at Suzuka riding for Team Kagayama, is part of the Yoshimura Suzuki Shell Advance Legend Racing Team and will ride alongside his 1986 Suzuka 8-Hour partner Satoshi Tsujimoto and Suzuki Moto GP test rider Nobuatsu Aoki. The Texan also visited Suzuki headquarters in Hamamatsu prior to the test and was met by Representative Director and Executive Vice President, Mr.

Schwantz and Mackenzie on the Nurburgring box

A 500GP bike never fails to stop me in my tracks and that’s exactly what happened when I spotted this Schwantz example from the early nineties, proudly displayed on the Arai stand at the recent Motorcyclelive show.  On loan from Crescent Suzuki and accompanied by a rostrum publicity shot from the 1990 German GP at the Nurburgring, I felt the urge to write a few words on that special weekend. I started the year running my own 250 GP team with fairly standard TZ Yamahas but was drafted in as Kevin Schwantz’s team mate after Kevin Magee suffered a serious head injury at the second Grand Prix in Laguna Seca.  With no testing and some major Spanish food poisoning I finished 8th at the next round in Jerez then followed that up with a 5th place in Misano. Next up was the Nurburgring and after qualifying on the second row of the grid, my crew chief Geoff Crust informed me he had a premonition of a race day rostrum finish. He also told me I better make it come true as he was already looking forward to a few post race celebratory refreshments. While I hoped Crusty was the new mystic meg, the truth was I would have been more than happy to buy the beers if I made it to the flag inside the top five. I had an outside chance of catching one major scalp as Wayne Rainey was riding with a nasty hand injury but I suspected adrenalin would see him through the day. I also followed Mick Doohan a fair bit in practice but he was beginning to find his feet on the Rothmans Honda so was going to be another problem.  When the lights went out Schwantz and Rainey went straight to the front I while I hung in behind Doohan and Pier Francesco Chilli, and then it happened. Coming out of the bottom right hand hairpin, Doohan and Chilli simultaneously high sided in one of the most spectacular crashes of the season. I never liked seeing any fellow riders crash but I made the most of this early race gift and rode my 160bhp/115kg RGV hard to the flag, claiming my first podium of the season.  We partied hard (win or lose we always did) that night and I went on to have my best ever season finishing fourth overall in the championship. After the last round in Australia, I finished second to Kevin at Sugo in Japan then won in Malaysia at another international race that KS didn’t attend. I also tested at Eastern Creek for the following season but then was flicked from the team for reasons that still remain a mystery. Hey Ho!       

Suzuki Forms Joint Venture for Developing Fuel Cell Technology

Suzuki announced it is partnering with U.K.-based Intelligent Energy Holdings to form a joint venture for developing fuel cell systems. The new joint venture, SMILE FC System Corporation, will work on developing fuel cell systems for both motorcycles and automobiles. Intelligent Energy, with its fuel cell expertise and Suzuki, with its mass production capabilities, will each have 50% share of SMILE FC.