They are still around. Old Suzuki strokers in decent shape. Not in great
numbers but a bit of intense reading of the classifieds reveal all kinds
of hot numbers. The one I bought was a 1976 example, the Ram-air cowling
still intact - a rarity! I took that as a good sign. Many of the stroker
twins were run into the ground by urgent learners. Enough survived to make
them an interesting alternative to 90's machinery. All appeared in good
order. A brief blast revealed plenty of performance. To me, at least, £600
seemed quite reasonable.
The next day I had rather a shock. The little bugger refused to scream
into life. A little investigation revealed a dead battery. I pulled it out,
found the plates obscured by white crud. I put it on the charger, anyway,
after half an hour's gurgling there was enough power to get the motor running
again. This allowed me to ride the five miles to the breakers where a replacement
was found for a fiver.
At that point I was worried about charging problems but, no, it ran fine
for the next few weeks. I was surprised at how the power went dead at 85mph,
expecting the bike to flow up to the ton. It just didn't want to do more
even when screamed frantically through the gears. Rather than churn out
power, high revs produced a frenzy of buzzing. The engine rattled and ringed
a bit, ran very hot - great clouds of steam when it rained adding to the
mild dose of pollutants out of the original silencers.
I was mildly worried about all this but the bike pulled fine up to 85mph,
would run along at 70mph for an hour or so without much vibration. The handling
was a bit on the wild side, with a back wheel weave and forks that shook
over the bumps. The latter was worn bushes and the former fast wearing swinging
arm bearing. I was amazed to find that they were some kind of plastic. Phosphor-bronze
replacements from the local bodger went in with a bit of serious hammer
work.
That simple bit of effort tightened up the back end very nicely, the
320lb machine only break-dancing at the front when the bumps went serious.
With the shot swinging arm bearings I had the feeling that the whole frame
was about to turn plastic, some resonance between weaving rear and shaking
front end likely to reverberate right through the machine. This was an era
when the Japanese only had a passing understanding of handling, although
it was often just a case of upgrading the suspension and fitting flat bars.
As the GT was lacking in top end go, it was soon consigned to the commuter
chores. The Central London hustle only turned up the front disc as a period
piece that squeaked rather than worked properly, needing some quick action
on the bars to avoid hitting cars or ped's. However, I could live with it
because most of the cages were stalled dead, therefore no kind of threat,
and the ped's were a lot softer than the Suzuki's front end.
Fuel was around 40mpg, the oil needed topping up every third day and
a weekly chain adjustment was required. Maintenance was a monthly chore,
but only involved doing the points and carbs. This era of strokers was lacking
such things as powervalves, so were simple in the extreme. Acid rain and
road crud added up to a fast decaying finish, taking only three months to
have rust sprouting from under the frame and tank paint. I tried to clean
it up but the corrosion was deeply ingrained, kept coming back.
After six months, about 5000 miles, the bike was in quite a sad state.
Smoking like an ancient CZ, rattling like a Vincent twin, and performing
like a dying learner 125! It was also a magnet for the cops who reckoned
the frame was about to break in half. They were horrified to find both a
recent MOT and a tax certificate. They went away muttering something about
getting me next time.
As winter was about to begin I decided that wifey's car would be an ideal
refuge whilst the GT was taken down and given a new life. The engine needed
new pistons and barrels but the crankshaft was still in good nick; the gearbox
like new! I think I caught the chassis just in time - any longer, the corrosion
would've eaten right through the metal. As it was, a bit of effort was needed
by a mate with some welding gear. I had great fun with the grinder, filler
and spray gun but the end result was as good as new. Working on the bike
was straightforward, didn't even suffer from seized in bolts or spindles.
Took about a month to sort out, helped along by picking up the new engine
bits cheaply before I'd started on the motor. I also put new bushes and
seals in the forks, replaced the stock shocks with secondhand Koni's.
I did a quick 250 miles worth of running it. The engine felt really sweet.
Top speed was still only 85mph, there simply wasn't enough power to go any
faster. I didn't want to tune the motor because stock it was easy running
and relatively reliable, mine wearing out from old age rather than any chronic
faults. Tuned examples tend to be great fun but short-lived.
After putting in all the effort to get the bike up to spec, I kept cleaning
the machine every couple of days, a bit tiresome but you can't expect perfection
from cheap, old bikes, can you? At least fuel had miraculously improved
to 55-60mpg!
Riding around on the GT turned up a chap on a T350 who chased after me
for ten minutes. I thought there was something seriously wrong with my bike,
or something, the way he was waving furiously at me. Turned out he just
wanted a chat about the stroker twins. He was obviously a bit disappointed
to find I wasn't a fellow fanatic but invited me out for a drink that night
with some other stroker enthusiasts.
All kind of GT's and T's turned up, rattling, screaming and polluting
the pub's car park. Some of these guys could quote part numbers for the
most obscure bit on the most rare of models. My brain began to hurt after
an hour, I had this urge to scream it's only a bloody motorcycle at the
top of my voice. Still, I got some useful contacts for spare parts. I felt
relieved I'd painted the GT in its original colours, though!
The coming summer I was encouraged by the wife to take her camping. The
GT's limits were reached when a pile of camping gear was attached to the
rack and the slightly porcine other half strapped on to the pillion. Her
high-heels and mini-skirt had some louts falling out of the scaffolding
on a nearby building site. The Suzuki slouched along on what was left on
its suspension travel, threatening to waltz off the road as 50mph was approached.
200 miles in a day was more than enough. At least the other half had wet
knickers and an inclination to scream the campsite down in the depths of
the night.
As a cheap and cheerful hack, the GT250 twin has a lot going for it.
As a modern classic I'm not convinced - performance and handling are both
too mediocre to pass muster. Still, I enjoy riding mine, have a lot of faith
in its ability to get me around - it hasn't really let me down yet.
Norman Smith