Hacking: Suzuki A100

In 1984 I acquired a T reg A100 for £190. It was a very nice cherry red and had 10,000 odd miles on the clock The previous owner was a young lady who had recently passed her driving test. It was a good starter and runner, though a little tatty on close inspection - leaky tank, rusty rear mudguard and spokes.

It suffered a flat spot at 40mph, overtaking required a pair of those incontinent pants so frequently advertised in Radio Times - on a good day it'd splutter and then break through to an indicated 55mph, otherwise the engine died and cut in again at 40mph. Consequently, it was ridden mildly most of the time, resulting in 70mpg. it had a hideous rattle on the overrun, but subsequent inspection showed no real wear. so I ignored it. Brake shoes, tyres, chains, etc., required no replacement during my ownership, and maintenance was merely a question of adding oil to the tank.

It was a friendly machine and always started easily despite the English weather (notice I made no distinction between seasons). It bounced along on un-damped fashion in a happy manner and the drum brakes were just adequate for the pathetic performance available.

I once tried to fit pattern points but the slots on the plate bore no resemblance to the holding screw positions. Adjustment of points was impossible due to inscrutable design - points behind rotor, rotor off to get at points, but cam one piece with rotor, no cam to adjust points with.

After passing my test on this reliable mount I sold it for £100 with 17000 miles on the clock.

Steve Plastow