Suzuki DR600S
Suzuki DR600 | |
Manufacturer | |
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Also called | DR600R Dakar (reduced effect), DR 600 R Dakar (reduced effect), DR600S (reduced effect), DR 600 S (reduced effect), DR600R Dakar, DR 600 R Dakar, DR600S, DR 600 S, DR 600 |
Production | 1985 |
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[edit | edit source]
The engine was a Air cooled cooled Four stroke, single cylinder, SOHC, 4 valves. The engine featured a 8.5:1 compression ratio.
Chassis[edit | edit source]
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 DR600S 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[edit | edit source]
Overview[edit | edit source]
Suzuki DR 600S
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 mysterisly 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."
Ah so! The DR600 is really nothing more nor less than a trail bike, even
though that same old inscrutable brochure tries to call it a "Bi-Formance
Enduro". Whether trail bikes are road weapons with dirt pretensions, or vice
versa, or something else altogether, is a matter of continuing dispute. This
Suzuki, just to be difficult, turned out to be both or neither, but it did it
rather well.
Off Lizzy's tarmaced territories, the DR's bulk and daunting saddle altitude
had given me advance notice of coughing and crashing into Autumnal oblivion, but
it didn't happen. Footsure suspension, amazingly responsive steering for so big a bike, and truckloads
of slogging power kept me alive. If I hadn't been feeling so terminally ill, I'd
have enjoyed it. The only serious detraction from five-star dirt etiquette is
the tall gearing. Sure, this problem is, to a great extent, overwhelmed by ample
low-down grunt but fine control demands far too much clutchplay for my taste.
Enthusiastic and regular trail use would mean a bigger back sprocket as well as
a concerted attack on the weight problem with spanners and hacksaw...
On surfaced roads, the bike already belongs and threatens to beat the enemy
without modification. The motor's obvious power, smoothly revving out or
plodding along with the throttle shut and one or two bangs per telegraph pole,
makes it a delight. Suzuki claim 44bhp, about the same as and about as
meaningless as opposition porkies. Analysis without dynamometer comparison is a
subjective sticking out of neck but I would hazard a guess that the DR is
quicker than the other girls it certainly feels it and the high cog ratios
point that way...
Handling, within the limits of long-travel suspension, high gravity centre
and dual-purpose block treads, is useful to the point of questioning ground
clearance on the nearside it's possible to deck the folded side-stand without
progressing on to knee, elbow and ear contact with Mr Macadam's patentproduct.
Grippy, low-profile boots which belie their trail title help a bit, but a
reasonable wheelbase and rigid chassis count into the equation, too...
The bike is full of contradictions. Viewing it, just as with all the other
gross-out mono plonkers on offer, as a dual-purpose tool is wrong.
Multi-purpose would be a better description. I might not like the big tank,
but it allows other chaps the touring potential they may desire. They
might not like the longtravel legs and quick steering that allows me to get
muddy without getting bloody but that, after all, is the nature of compromise.
The Suzuki DR600 is a welcome addition to the best category of motorcycling
compromise ever invented. . .
Source Which Bike 1984
Make Model | Suzuki DR 600S |
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Year | 1985 |
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 |