Tuesday, 14 February 2017

Suzuki GSX1100 (1981) Engine specification, Color, Weight

Posted By: ygshhd 20:36 Leave a Reply

Suzuki GSX1100

The GSX ’.v styling incorporated a rectangular headlight and unique instrument console. Reception of the hike's look was mixed but there was no doubting the brilliance of its all-round performance.

Suzuki’s first 16- valve four was held in a chassis of conventional layout and superior quality. Leading-axle front forks and damping-adjustable rear shocks coped well with the bike’s weight.

Suzuki's GSX1100 was far from the most stylish machine on the roads when it was launched in 1980. but it was arguably the fastest and the best. Few people realized it at the time, but the GSX. with its rather curious, unfaired sty ling, its twin rear shock absorbers and its aircooled. four-cylinder engine, marked the end of an era. With fairings, monoshock suspension systems and liquid-cooled engines on the way, the GSX would be the last of the old-style naked superbikes to rule the roads.

For Suzuki the GSX also marked the start of a new generation, because its engine was the first to use the 16-valve layout that would become the basis of the firm’s four-cylinder range. To the twin- cam format of the GS1000. the new engine added a 16-valve cylinder head that came with the acronym TSCC. That stood for Twin Swirl Combustion Chamber, after the way the combustion chamber shape, with its central spark plug and sharp divides between the valves, was designed to improve flame spread and hence efficiency.

The engine’s 1075cc capacity came from boring and stroking the GS1000 unit to give dimensions of 72 x 66mm. The GSX’s five-speed gearbox was similar to that of the GS, but was made with tougher alloy to cope with the added output. Maximum power output was officially 99.6bhp at 87()Orpm. and the big motor also produced generous amounts of torque throughout the range.

High quality chassis

At first glance the GSX was distinctive, due to its angular headlamp in a nacelle that held speedometer and rev-counter plus an innovative warning panel. Its twin-downtube steel frame and most other parts were of high quality, as was to be expected given the excellence of its GS predecessors. Forks and rear shocks were adjustable for preload and rebound damping. Although the big Suzuki couldn't match the agility of lighter Italian superbikes, it was stable, neutral, well braked, and cornered as well as could be expected of a bike weighing over 550lb (250kg) with fuel.

The GSX’s key feature was that big, powerful and gloriously tractable motor. It started instantly, idled impeccably, and carburetted cleanly from next to nothing. A twist of the wrist sent the Suzuki hurtling forward from below 3()00rpm, seamlessly switching to warp drive by 6000rpm, and storming to the redline as quickly as its rider could keep up using the five-speed gearbox.

The Suzuki's ability to cruise at 90mph (I45km/h) or more was limited mainly by its rider’s willingness to hold on. as the instrument nacelle with its centrally placed fuel gauge gave little wind protection, and the footrests were too far forward for high-speed riding. For those with the strength, the Suzuki was capable of over I35mph (2l7km/h), and was the world's hardest- accelerating superbike over the quarter-mile. too.

Bike magazine's tester summed-up the reaction of most who rode the Suzuki, concluding that ‘the GSXl 100 represents a quantum leap in motorcycle design when compared to the standard bike format that most of us cut our teeth on. It has a clean, quiet, economical motor of Herculean potential, a chassis of strength and rigidity with sophisticated tuneable suspension components, the entire mechanism served by low-maintenance auxiliaries. It goes like the clappers, stops like it was on a noose and looks as smart as a new pin.’

Even as those words were being written. Suzuki and other manufacturers were developing the fairings, fuel-injection systems, water jackets and monoshocks of a new generation of machines. But for now. the GSXl 100 was king: newest and best of the naked, air-cooled, twin-shock superbikes.