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Suzuki Ventures Into Trials
By Kent Taylor
“A rock guitarist,” so the saying goes, “plays five chords for 10 thousand people, while a jazz guitarist plays 10 thousand chords for five people.” While both disciplines produce music and both often take place in smoke-filled auditoriums (though that haze may emanate from different plant varieties), it truly takes a purist to appreciate the fingering and the progressions involved with the latter, while the former can be enjoyed by anyone who can tune an air guitar.
The intricacies involved with motorcycle trials riding might be likened to the skills displayed by the trained jazz musician, who has mastered the plucking of the many notes needed to produce musical art. In the motorcycling world, there is likely nothing more difficult to master than trials. Yet, though it has enjoyed brief spurts of popularity, this difficult form of competition has grown accustomed to taking a back seat to motorcycle racing, i.e., motocross, road racing and flat track.
It was during one of those very spurts that the Big Four manufacturers decided to join the band. They (Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki) were already dominating the motocross and road racing scenes, so the world of observed trials was the only land left to conquer. In 1974, Suzuki released its RL 250 Exacta, a trials bike designed to take on the European trials scene in the same way that its motocross bikes had taken over Grand Prix motocross racing.
Cycle News got its hands on one of the new machines and tested it for the July 9, 1974, issue. In a curious move, the prototype version had already been spotted in SoCal trials competition. The test bike was one of the first to come off the production line, and the CN crew was eager to see if the new offering from Suzuki had the right stuff for the feet-up gang.
The Suzuki Exacta might still be one of the prettiest motorcycles ever made. Trials bikes are featherweight fighters, and so the skinny, brushed aluminum tank sports just the tiniest amount of bright orange paint, sending a message that this machine is all business. It featured some nifty and slightly innovative features, like a solid-state ignition and an automatic chain oiler. No space was wasted on this motorcycle, as even the empty swinging arm tubing did double duty as an oil reservoir.
Apparently, the powers that were wanted to take a slightly more budget-conscious approach to their first entry in the trials scene, so the RL 250 shared a few components with its motocross and enduro brothers in Suzuki’s lineup.
“The lower end of the engine is developed from the same castings as the MX and enduro 250s, which is a mixed blessing,” the staff wrote. “Suzuki also appears to have adapted the full-width hubs from one of the smaller bikes, rather than develop special trials hubs and brakes.”
But all is well, provided that ends justify means, and the 199-pound Exacta looked and felt like a real trials machine. The solid-state ignition “works very well. There is absolutely no lumpiness to the idle, no tendency for the ignition to hunt for its firing point at low cranking speeds…it pulls cleanly and strongly…”
The staff’s only complaint about the powerplant dealt with the flywheel. “While it allows you to pick the front end up any time, any place…it also becomes possible to generate great gobs of wheelspin at times and at places you least want it. The power comes on too quickly for the tire to hold on to loose, scrabbly surfaces.”
In the 1970s, serious motorcyclists demanded frames made of 4130 chromoly steel, the alternative choice being the wimpish variety known as “mild steel.” Chromoly steel was to mild steel what Led Zeppelin was to Barry Manilow, a Chevy SS versus a Vega, or Ginger up against Mary Ann. The RL 250 used chromoly steel for its frame, and strong men grunted approvingly, though the CN team was less jaded. “Chrome moly doesn’t bend, it’s brittle, and it breaks. And it’s expensive. Word to the wise an’ all that.”
In the ’70s (as well as in many other decades), the trials world was ruled by the country of Spain, and Bultaco’s Sherpa T was the king. Was the Suzuki Exacta a worthy competitor? In a word, no, although the staff was quick to point out the $200 cost savings if one purchased the $1125 Japanese bike instead of its Spanish counterpart. The RL 250 was Suzuki’s entry into the trials community, and it was probably the better choice for novice riders who were doing the same. Jazz trials for the beginner! CN
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