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Difference between revisions of "Suzuki T500"
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When the '''[[Suzuki]] T500''' was unveiled in 1967, the experts hedged their bets. While it was along with the 650 Kawasaki W1 the most powerful Japanese production bike, it was also a [[two-stroke]]. Could it swallow all that power? What would be its consumption of gas, oil and spark plugs? Most importantly, would such a machine prove reliable? | When the '''[[Suzuki]] T500''' was unveiled in 1967, the experts hedged their bets. While it was along with the [[Kawasaki W1|650 Kawasaki W1]] the most powerful Japanese production bike, it was also a [[two-stroke]]. Could it swallow all that power? What would be its consumption of gas, oil and spark plugs? Most importantly, would such a machine prove reliable? | ||
==Saved by Careful Design== | ==Saved by Careful Design== | ||
Certainly, if the T500 wasn't the first large capacity two-stroke -there had been a 650 [[Scott]] previously -it was the first to flirt with such levels of performance. Attention was given to cooling, with the exhaust pipes splayed outwards to allow cool air to play directly on to the cylinders, and the importance accorded to lubrication (with a more highly developed pressure lubrication system than that of [[Yamaha]]) allowed the T500 to establish itself as a genuinely sporty bike beneath its excessively sober raiment. | Certainly, if the T500 wasn't the first large capacity two-stroke -there had been a 650 [[Scott]] previously -it was the first to flirt with such levels of performance. Attention was given to cooling, with the exhaust pipes splayed outwards to allow cool air to play directly on to the cylinders, and the importance accorded to lubrication (with a more highly developed pressure lubrication system than that of [[Yamaha]]) allowed the T500 to establish itself as a genuinely sporty bike beneath its excessively sober raiment. | ||