The Suzuki T500 was introduced in the fall of 1967 and the articles appeared soon after. The first US ad featured a good side view which showed a short tight motorcycle, much resembling the T250/T350s. It's hard to tell if the bike on the cover of Cycle World was the short wheelbase but very early in production, the swingarm was lengthened and the bike got noticeably stretched, which carried on till the end of production in 1977. I wonder how many of the short wheelbase bikes were built, and how many- or if any are left, info on the web is sketchy and varied.
Thanks for the surprising news about the Suzuki stretch. I put a good few miles on a pal's early T500 and really dug it, although -- like every Suzuki I've ridden -- it got flustered in corners; more so than my '69 Kaw H1 even.
ReplyDeleteThat pal bought the 500 in Texas when they let him out of the army, and rode it home to Michigan in a leisurely and circuitous way. The Titan's tank had a big, shallow dent from where it had spat him off (in a corner) and he'd landed on it, testicles first. I am not given to inspecting people's balls but I couldn't turn down the invitation to view the damage. The color and dimensions both suggested: Eggplant.
No need to thank me for leaving you with that image, I'm happy to help.
That's a real "ouch story:". Back in the early eighties we motorcyclists all hung around together, one of the girls borrowed a guys GS750. She drove into the side of a car, producing similar dents in the tank. Ever after we looked at the dents and then looked at her.... well... and cringed.
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