Suzuki DR600R / S

Suzuki DR600R / S
Manufacturer	Suzuki
Production	1988 - 89
Class	Dual-purpose
Engine	Four stroke, single cylinder, SOHC, 4 valves
Compression ratio	8.5:1
Top Speed	163.9 km/h / 101.8 mph
Ignition	CDI
Transmission	5 Speed
Frame	Semi-double cradle
Suspension	Front: 39 mm Kayaba forks, air adjustable Rear: Single Kayaba shock, adjustable spring preload
Brakes	Front: Single 240mm disc Rear: 130mm Drum
Front Tire	100/80-21
Rear Tire	130/80-17
Wheelbase	1465 mm / 57.7 in
Seat Height	925 mm / 36.4 in
Weight	141 kg / 310 lbs (dry), 150 kg / 330 lbs (wet)
Recommended Oil	Suzuki ECSTAR 10w40
Fuel Capacity	21 Liters / 5.5 US gal / 4.6 Imp gal
Manuals	Service Manual

It could reach a top speed of 163.9 km/h / 101.8 mph.

Engine

The engine was a Air cooled cooled Four stroke, single cylinder, SOHC, 4 valves. The engine featured a 8.5:1 compression ratio.

Chassis

It came with a 100/80-21 front tire and a 130/80-17 rear tire. Stopping was achieved via Single 240mm disc in the front and a 130mm Drum in the rear. The front suspension was a 39 mm Kayaba forks, air adjustable while the rear was equipped with a Single Kayaba shock, adjustable spring preload. The DR600R / S was fitted with a 21 Liters / 5.5 US gal / 4.6 Imp gal fuel tank. The bike weighed just 141 kg / 310 lbs. The wheelbase was 1465 mm / 57.7 in long.

Photos

Overview

Suzuki DR 600R Dakar

Essaying the alleged merits of motorcycles for monetary reward may well seem like a glorious step back into the Garden Of Eden for many. But sometimes, I can honestly assure you, it isn't. First sight of the Suzuki DR600 was one of those times. The cloying chill of Autumn mist cloaked the Sussex Downs with seasonal drabness and misery. The drizzle did what it was best at — drizzling — whilst that phenomenon known to the medical profession as a 'productive cough' repeatedly wracked the degenerating remains of my pulmonary equipment. Staggering aboard such an obviously brutish and unforgiving banger isn't on the therapy list for chronic bronchitis away. Being forced to aim the thing ever onward across exposed chalk, baked concrete-hard by the summer sun before being lightly glazed with gripless liquid mud thanks to weeks of rain, suggested only one possible consequence — I was an accident statistic looking for somewhere to happen. Personal survival actually surprised me as much as the big Suzook. It must have taken considerable courage for Suzuki's Hamamatsu factory to re-join thumper warfare. The gladiatorial arena was already packed from Yamaha. Honda and Kawasaki. Worse still, unhappy memories of previous forays into the large capacity, four-stroke trail market lingered on in both critical public consciousness and red ink entries amongst factory profit/loss calculations. The dreadful SP370, followed by an equally overweight and underpowered DR400, failed to either take anybody's biscuit or carve anything but a comic corner in trail history. The last of that particular two-valve line, the DR500, wasn't even imported to Britain

although to be fair, an example did mysteriously come 3rd in the 1983 Paris-Dakar Rally The DR600. fortunately, isn't an update of past disasters, Its a new bike including as much of Suzuki's proven technology as the designers could cram in, and the reward for this commercial risk and developmental effort is a qualified success.

Following Yamaha and | Honda thumper convention at least part of the way, a SOHC,  four-valve motor lurks down-stairs in the stomp department. Detailed differences, however,  are legion. The hole in the a middle boasts 94 x 85mm over-square dimensions delectably contoured into Suzuki's twin swirl combustion chambers at

the top. Explosive efficiency, in terms of swirl, squish and sexiness thanks to these two domes, is further improved by the installation of twin spark plugs. Dubious carburetor sophistication along the lines of twin-choke or twin unit stuff has, taking a hint from the Kawasaki KL's success, been safely bypassed. A single 38mm flat-slide Mikuni with an accelerator pump for lightnin' throttle response does the job as well and probably better. . . There's no doubt that an impressively massive amount of controlled violence occurs in the top end. Some of it necessarily gets lost, though, in the labyrinthine crankcases because a pair of balance shafts make the lump a particular smoothie. The cases themselves are large, which also means heavy, because Suzuki chose a wet-sump garden path to follow — hence the oil cooler hanging onto the barrel's nearside . For the record, dirt thumper wisdom states that dry-sump logic wins, because it leads to a shorter motor — promising lower C of G — and using a remote oil tank or the frame means easier cooling of the lube. Nevermind. Nobody's perfect... This engine is hung inside a chassis that, initially, appears to be a mixed bag of do's and don'ts. The frame is a semi double-cradle red meat eater with a box-section front down tube. It is undoubtedly very strong and rigid but is not a little old-fashioned in conception, as it totally ignores any structural properties the motor might have and therefore contains far too much steelwork. At least the rear sub-frame extension and pillion footrest mounts are bolt-on jobs which can be safely bolted-off by judicious weight watchers. . . The back end is graced by Suzuki's 'Full Floater', rising-rate suspension system which is, without payment of bribes, the finest of the current crop of progressive, single-shock-plus-linkage devices. Unfortunately, the box-section DR swing arm only masquerardes as alloy behind the usual lyin' and cheatin' coat of silver paint. Considering weight problems displayed elsewhere, this is indeed a shame. At the front, leggy leading-axle stanchions with 39mm sliders do the heave-ho act with reasonable good manners. Air caps give choice of pogo rate.. . Cycle side salads and garnishing are, once again, a mixture of sensible practice and stylistic silliness. Brakes, comprising lightweight slotted disc at the sharp end and rear drum are excellent and sensitive both on and off tarmac. Cleated, folding pegs and foot controls suggest robust dirt biz but plastic pinky protectors do little to divert attention from an exposed, bar-mounted master cylinder and the pair of throttle cables sticking up their hands and asking to be excused by first contact with grasping shrubbery. The pretty blue MX-style safety seat is both bottie-friendly and roomy in forward body-English demands for dirt use. Trouble is, when the frontal crawl-up facility gets used to its limit, world population control is forcefully underlined as the rider's shrivelled seed-sac encounters an upwardly-projecting and awkWardly formed 21-litre fuel tank. This last item contrives to give the bike an exaggerated sense of top-heaviness that isn't real. The offside plastic does little to conceal an admittedly quiet but nevertheless vast silver-toshed silencer. Besides being ugly, it would probably tip the scales on a sack of coal. . . Ugh! Even more weight. .. And that's not mentioning the butch steel stair rod holding the back brake plate when it could be holding up the Forth Bridge. As with the rest of its genre, Suzuki's DR wears cosmetic idiocies designed to kid on prospective punters that it's capable of honouring the most fatuous claim made in the factory's brochure, which is: "This new machine meets the requirements for winning Paris-Dakar Rally."

Source Which Bike 1984

Make Model	Suzuki DR 600S / R
Year	1988 - 89
Engine Type	Four stroke, single cylinder, SOHC, 4 valves
Displacement	589 cc / 35.9 cu in
Bore X Stroke	94 x 85 mm
Cooling System	Air cooled
Lubrication System	Wet sump
Compression	8.5:1
Induction	38mm Mikuni flatside carburetor
Ignition	CDI
Starting	Kick
Max Power	32 kW / 44 hp @ 6500 rpm
Max Torque	49.5 Nm / 5.04 kg-m / 36.5 lb-ft @ 5000 rpm
Transmission	5 Speed
Final Drive	Chain
Frame	Semi-double cradle
Front Suspension	39 mm Kayaba forks, air adjustable
Front Wheel Travel	226 mm / 8.9 in.
Rear Suspension	Single Kayaba shock, adjustable spring preload
Rear Wheel Travel	236 mm / 9.3 in
Front Brakes	Single 240mm disc
Rear Brakes	130mm Drum
Front Tire	100/80-21
Rear Tire	130/80-17
Dimensions	Length 2215 mm / 87.2 in Width 875 mm / 34.4 in Height 1235 mm / 48.6 in
Wheelbase	1465 mm / 57.7 in
Seat Height	925 mm / 36.4 in
Dry Weight	141 kg / 310 lbs
Wet Weight	150 kg / 330 lbs
Fuel Capacity	21 Liters / 5.5 US gal / 4.6 Imp gal
Consumption Average	4.8 L/100 km / 20.8 km/l / 49 US mpg / 58.8 Imp mpg
Standing ¼ Mile	14.6 sec / 143 km/h / 88.9 mph
Top Speed	163.9 km/h / 101.8 mph