Sunday 9 October 2011

Suzuki GP100


1983 Suzuki GP100D, tatty and grimy, ripped seat, pure rust seat base, rider perched uncomfortably on the main frame rails above some interesting electrics. 21000 miles. £200 with a years tax and MOT. Performance in the first four gears was impressive, 60mph in fourth, but the power fell off in fifth even on the flat. I took it to a dealer who told me I wouldn't recognise it after he'd worked on it. He was right, you could accelerate from 30 through 70mph and beyond.

Just as well, soon came the first long trip, 300 miles to Reading. I ended up weaving between large army trucks for 40 miles, part of a large convoy. The extra power was most useful. Ended up riding with two army Nortons, the speedo flicking up to 76mph where the bike shook like a fairground ride. 70mph was far less tortuous.

At Reading I had to tighten the chain, it was so loose that you could almost get the top to meet the bottom. The bike managed over 400 miles on a full tank of two stroke oil, petrol consumption was around 70mpg and the tank seemed to hold almost two gallons if you include the reserve.

I desperately needed a new seat. The base, seat and tail come only as one unit. £120 from a Suzuki dealer, £70 from one breaker and a mere six notes from another. It pays to shop around! The front mudguard had also disintegrated due to rust, instead of giving Suzuki £30 for another shortlived item I fitted a universal one.

Having a 6 volt electrical system at night is roughly like having someone strapped to the front holding out a candle, hence the cause of my first crash. It was a cold December evening out in the sticks, the crash occurred on a corner that came out of nowhere with no warning other than a defunct reflecting post. I managed to get the speed right down, and I might have made it if I had a couple of more inches of tarmac instead of hitting the grass verge. I went head over heels on to soft grass.

The bike had twisted forks, broken headlamp bracket, dislocated headlamp and permanently switched on high handlebar switch. The bike started first go and we weaved our way home cautiously. £40 fixed the faults thanks to the breakers save for the Hi-Lo switch which was bodged by an electrical friend as Suzuki were asking the usual surreal prices and no breakers had any left as they play up even when not impacted on the tarmac.

The bike does handle really well. I've only ridden a few other bikes - GS125, NS125, YB100 and some obscure mopeds - but the GP's acceleration leaves them standing. On really steep hills it could pull 45mph and on lesser climbs 60mph. A change of tyres, meant the new ones let it slide it the wet, but it was all very controllable. The engine on the GP has a rough spot between 4500 and 6000rpm and a powerband between 6000 and 9000rpm. As the engine deteriorated the lower the revs became the motor could pull.

Unfortunately, the bike was stolen and recovered five days later but cost a small fortune to get back up to scratch. By all rights, it should have been written off but I was too emotionally attached to it to do that. It has never run the same since, the compression had fallen a little and the difference is noticeable. The mileage is now 27000 and the bike is undergoing its first rebore.

The stock mirrors are quite useful if you like to study your face whilst riding, but they vibrate off - one hit me in the visor when I was doing 65mph. Funny, I thought these visors were supposed to be anti-scratch. Fortunately, I had removed the jagged metal stalk that remained some days before I crashed.

The drum brakes have saved me from the clutches of many a lunatic car driver, they are very controllable and need hardly any maintenance when compared to hyrdaulic, seize a month, disc systems. The brake shoes still have plenty of life left. All the bad points have been a bit minor. After all, the engine's brilliant and there are no handling problems (the suspension only ever bottomed out over a humpback bridge at 40mph).

To me, the GP100 is probably the best learner bike around, its styling is nothing very outstanding and it's not exactly the most comfortable bike around, but it's fast and handles well on the corners, even the two up riding position is not impaired which is more than can be said for the YB's. If you're riding on a budget then the GP is certainly cheap to maintain as there is an abundance of parts in the breakers. The first GPs appeared around 1980 and the ones made now, nine years later, have very few differences. This seems to show a proven track record, especially as some of the original ones are still whizzing about.

R.Meeuwisse