Over the years, Suzuki have always offered some of the best high performance bikes at a significantly lower price than the competition. Costs have to be kept down in some areas, but more often than not, they make it work.
It has become something of a trademark for them, but in recent times they have tended to rely rather heavily on the successes of yesteryear to keep those costs down. It has been quite some time since we have seen them innovate like they did back in the 90s and the early part of the 21st century. At their height, it seemed like nobody could touch them both on or off-road, but today, most of their bikes feature either dated designs, dated technology or in some cases, both. These are the 10 coolest bikes from their heyday.
10 Katana
It was for the better part of the 80s the bike to beat, quite simply down to raw power. Sadly, it was incredibly heavy thanks to that 1100cc engine.
As a result of that and its rudimentary chassis it had pretty much no ability in the corners, it was still arguably one of the best looking machines to come out of the 80s. Little wonder, they recently reintroduced the design in a throwback model.
9 RM250
One of the best dirt bikes to come out of the 90s is still a great, affordable option if you want to go to a motocross track or trails.
Although the two-stroke is very nearly a thing of the past and Suzuki stopped making the RM years ago, it will still keep up with larger displacement dirt bikes and make short work of any modern 250 class bikes.
8 RGV 250 SP
We can say with some conviction that this is a modern classic, while two-stroke technology was still being used in racing back in the late 90s, this was the lightweight machine to have.
Able to make as much as 70 horsepower in this special edition trim, it was truly a ready-made track bike that was actually almost only incidentally road legal.
7 DR-Z400
This is one you can still buy new, the thumper has survived for two decades now as a 400 and its roots go back way further.
It is an indestructible machine, able to go anywhere you need it to and have a whole lot of fun on the way.
6 GSX-S750
In many ways, the current GSX-S is an example of the best way Suzuki could ever save money and still put together an exceptional machine.
It gets a reasonable chassis, mediocre suspension and brakes, and the engine from the previous generation GSX-R. If you didn’t mind the emissions, this bike will outstrip the current GSX-R with the simple addition of an aftermarket exhaust system and a suitable map to go with it.
5 SV 650
Although it is a relatively small V-twin, it makes good power and delivers that power in a smooth, grunty way that has won over many fans.
It might not be all that much to look at, but it is truly one of the coolest, most accessible bikes the company has ever made. Not only that, but for beginners, short, tall, and experienced riders alike, the SV is bags of fun to ride and remains underrated.
4 GSF1200 Bandit
Although it is easy to get stuck on the more powerful Hayabusa, that could have easily made it onto this list if it were even a little rideable, this particular freight train of a motorcycle came long before that one.
It is also arguably more friendly to use on a daily basis thanks to a comfortable riding position and seat, twist the throttle and the bike will do the ¼ mile in 11 seconds. Stock.
3 GSX-R600
In the late 90s and early 00s the middleweight sportbike arms race was well and truly on and the 600 class bikes that came out of that era were almost peerless.
One of those was the Gixxer 600, not often mentioned and easily forgotten thanks to the quality of the opposition, it quite frankly shouldn’t be, at one point it was truly one of the best.
2 GSX-R750
Although the latest version of the machine has lost some of its appeal thanks to all the much newer feature-rich bikes getting launched in this segment, the original was a track bike for the street.
It was launched back in the 80s and was, for a time, peerless, terrifying to ride and untouchable on track.
1 GSX-R1000
In the mid 00s, Suzuki reached the peak of its powers, no bike defines that better than the GSX-R made back in a time before emissions started to strangle modern liter bikes.
The K5 Gixxer has a fanbase all of its own, it was for many the greatest sportbike ever made, and it is pretty hard to find a reason why it shouldn’t be considered just that.