Suzuki GSX-8S, Honda Hornet 750
Of course, the Universal Japanese Motorcycle of the late Seventies and Eighties was an air-cooled inline four cylinder machine of fairly conventional architecture: double overhead cams; camchain running in a central tunnel; alternator on the left-hand end of the crank; four carburettors; and a double downtube frame in steel tubing. Fairly unadventurous stuff.
But then, given that pretty much every motorcycle manufacturer that sells a machine of between 600 and 800cc right now is making a bike that conforms to the parameters of water-cooled four stroke, parallel twin, fuel injection and perimeter frame, it could be argued that that is pretty unadventurous also.
However, in parity with the bikes being built to the UJM idiom of 40 years ago, if a mid-capacity 270° parallel twin still gives affordable and exciting motorcycling, what’s not to like?
SUZUKI GSX-8S
I’d been waiting patiently to have a ride on the Hammamatsu company’s new parallel twin for far too long. And the glowing reports that I heard from everyone who rode one weren’t really helping. So, it was with great delight that I slung my leg over the GSX-8’s seat, fingers crossed with the thought that, after all that apprehension, I may be disappointed in the end result… I wasn’t.
In comparison to most of the other twins on the market (or, for that matter, just about any bike built in the last
