Top 10 Suzuki Motorcycle Concepts

Dec 24, 2023

Innovation unfortunately doesn’t always lead to production, which was the case for these innovative concepts from Suzuki

On the surface, Suzuki is the least innovative of all the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, but that doesn’t mean that its engineers and stylists haven’t taken off on flights of fancy from time to time. Some concepts that have emerged have been teasers for models that are close to production, while others have been pure fantasy, designed to put the manufacturer in the spotlight, if only for a brief moment, perhaps in time for a particularly important motorcycle expo or show. A close look at those concepts shows that while Suzuki might err on the side of conservatism for its production models, there is no lack of willingness to innovate behind the scenes.

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Many manufacturers have looked at ways of involving young motorcycle enthusiasts way before they are ready to get their license and ride on the road and Suzuki is no different. The Extrigger was an electric-powered toy - let’s not claim it is anything else - that was designed to be fun, simple and cheap: a monkey-bike style machine that had no purpose other than to entertain Junior. Even the limitations of an electric bike, namely range, would not be an issue here, unless some desperate adult wanted to use it for the short commute to work and back. It looked funky and even had disc brakes front and rear. Nothing was ever seen of it again after the 2013 Tokyo Show.

Rarely has a manufacturer been so unafraid to call a model exactly what it is. The Suzuki XF425 really is an ugly runt of a motorcycle, with a bulbous, blobby appearance and gaudy paint - pink and yellow, anyone? - and graphics. However, look closer and there’s a lot going on here. Yes, that’s swing arm suspension at the front, in effect a huge leading-link system, but there is also two-wheel drive by triple chains and a steering column shaft to the front wheel and a chain to the rear wheel. The engine was a single cylinder two-stroke, and it weighed in at 265 pounds. Utterly bonkers, it’s perhaps just as well it didn’t go into production.

There have been many two wheel drive concepts that never made it to production and the Suzuki XF5 is one of them. In 1991, Suzuki showed a trio of concept designs - a standard road bike, a scooter and an enduro bike. Powered by a 200cc two-stroke, single cylinder engine, drive was taken to the front wheel via a telescopic drive shaft running vertically in front of the left-hand fork leg. Power was taken from the engine by a series of chains and a transfer box mounted near the headstock. The system will have probably taxed the power output of the engine and there must have been significant drag from the system, although Suzuki managed to keep the weight increase down to only 17 pounds over a standard off-road bike.

Pure science fiction from Suzuki, circa 1985. There’s no frame: both the front and rear swing arms attach to the engine, which is a four-stroke, 16-valve, 500cc square four design, which makes sense as, at the time, Suzuki was coming to the end of its square-four Grand Grand Prix bike success, albeit in two-stroke form. Hydraulic final drive, hydraulic hub-center steering, electric active suspension and electro-magnetic brakes completed the futuristic specification. Not unsurprisingly, it never ran, let alone go into production.

Suzuki seems to make a habit of designing concept bikes that are as functional and ready-to-ride as they are beautiful and chock-full of innovation. The Nuda pictured here might look as if it emerged from the design studio only a couple of years ago, but it is, in fact, from 1986! Underneath that gorgeous carbon fiber bodywork and chassis is an ordinary GSX-R750 engine, but it drives both wheels via shaft drive and single-sided swing arms front and rear and electronically adjustable suspension. Despite the futuristic looks and not-so-obvious practical elements, such as exhaust and cooling systems, Suzuki insisted it was a working model and was ready for production. So why didn’t they?

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If this looks slightly familiar, it could be because it is the double of the 2014 Honda Vultus. Suzuki’s G-Strider, however, appeared in 2003. It was powered by a 916cc parallel twin engine, driving through a gearbox that could be either fully automatic or fully manual to shaft final drive. Monoshock swing arm and hub-center steering at the front and a foot-forward riding position, clothed in futuristic bodywork that would really have made a splash if it made it to production. It’s a bit like a futuristic maxi-scooter and the motorcycling world is all the poorer for it never getting further than the prototype phase.

If you thought the G-Strider was radical, then it was nothing compared to the Biplane. As a cruiser concept, it is incredible and right at the far end of what the public might accept. Suzuki said the design was inspired by the Wright Brothers’ biplane, although I have to admit I’m struggling to see any similarities. This is pure flight of fancy (if you’ll pardon the pun) and there is no indication of how the front forks work and the rim-mounted brake discs are obvious fakes, or even if the V4 engine actually runs. Suzuki should probably have taken a long look into their crystal ball, because it wouldn’t be too many years before the likes of Confederate were building bikes as distinctive as the Biplane, if not more so, and selling them for a king’s ransom to attention-grabbing celebrities.

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2007 was a busy year for the boffins at Suzuki, as the Crosscage appeared alongside the Biplane, but was a completely different proposition altogether. Suzuki was so far ahead of the curve here that even today it wouldn’t be viable, because it used a hydrogen fuel cell for power, which would be all right if there was a hydrogen filling station in every town and city but when there are only a handful of hydrogen filling stations around the globe, it becomes a bit of a non-starter. If Suzuki had gone the full electric route, it could have given them a head-start in a field that has assumed ever-increasing importance in the following 16 years. The rest of the bike was radical, also, with single-blade front suspension and futuristic styling that wasn’t altogether unsuccessful.

One of those concepts that was not so out there that there were strong hopes that it could have gone into production. It wasn’t s much the styling that was revolutionary, although it was definitely a looker and looked virtually production-ready, but the fact that the 588cc parallel twin engine was turbocharged to give 100 horsepower at 8,000rpm and 74 foot pounds of torque from as low as 4,500rpm. For comparison, the contemporary GSX-R600 sports bike had 103 horsepower and ‘only’ 46 foot pounds of torque. Of course, a turbo installation on a motorcycle was nothing new in 2013, so there were hopes that the Recursion would make it to production, but nothing has been heard of it since.

If the Recursion was all about practicality, then the 2005 Stratosphere was aptly named because it took motorcycle design right up to there. No small-displacement engine here, but a stonking 1,100cc, six-cylinder engine pushing out 180 horsepower and 100 foot pounds of torque. This led to speculation that this would be the engine that would power the next generation of the Hayabusa but, as we now know, that didn’t happen and for that we have to thank the late 2000s financial crisis which sent all the manufacturers into hiding and unprepared to throw money at a concept that might be too radical for the buying public.

Harry has been writing and talking about motorcycles for 15 years, although he's been riding them for 45 years! After a long career in music, he turned his hand to writing and television work, concentrating on his passion for all things petrol-powered. Harry has written for all major publications in South Africa, both print and digital and produced and presented his own TV show called, imaginatively, The Bike Show, for seven years. He held the position of editor of South Africa's largest circulation motorcycling magazine before devoting his time to freelance writing on motoring and motorcycling. Born and raised in England, he has lived in South Africa with his family since 2002. Harry has owned examples of Triumph, Norton, BSA, MV Agusta, Honda, BMW, Ducati, Harley Davidson, Kawasaki and Moto Morini motorcycles. He regrets selling all of them.