Suzuki

	Suzuki RM62 - The many talents of Ernst Degner.
	Suzuki RM63
	Suzuki RM64
	Suzuki RK65
	Suzuki RK66
	Suzuki RK67
	Suzuki RP68
	Suzuki production racers
	Suzuki replicas
	Suzuki powered specials

Suzuki RM62 Being the second largest motorcycle factory in Japan, the Suzuki Factory spotted the growing overseas market for small capacity motorbikes and decided to exhibit their products in the famed Isle of Man races. Notice that the first Suzuki 50cc engines had a strong resemblence to the MZ race- engines of Walter Kaaden. Ofcourse this had everything to do with hiring in the immensely gifted technician/ rider Ernst Degner! Suzuki, Degners new employer, gave him access to unlimited man-power, materials and in- house testing facilities. Good results were not lacking as they won six 50cc world championships in seven years!
	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn4HdMdBWHw
Suzuki RM63 Changes for the 1963 season involved a revised engine, frame:
Suzuki RM64
The 64 version of Suzukis 50cc racer were recognisable by fairing having a longer bellypan and the double- sided front brake.
In 2014 I met Paul Rutten at Goodwood Festival of speed. The dutch collector of 50cc racebikes had brought his ex- Hugh Anderson RM64.
Suzuki RK65
Also in 1965 Suzuki wanted to promote sales in the US market, so they send a couple of last years bikes to compete in various races.Suzukis factory rider Haruo Koshino and engineer Yoshito Itoh presented the bikes of and on track.

	A bold move of the Suzuki factory - 65 model were meant to be able to compete with the already fast 2 cylinder Hondas and where all the previous one- cylinder Suzukis were aircooled the new twin employed watercooling in a thermo- siphon setup.
First version of Suzukis 50 twin can be recognized by common cylinder casting, thermo-siphon cooling system and 10speed transmission.
Suzuki RK66
There were 3 stages of cylinders and cylinderhead castings: siamesed, individuals and latest version - individuals for waterpump use.
Suzuki RK67

From Suzuki came a revised bike with aerodynamical features like a raised engine- mounting position by a whole 3 inches. That alloved a sleeker fairing covering the 41cm wide engine. Carburettors grew 2mm, and a mechanical waterpump increased the cooling effiency. These improvements resulted in a higher topspeed and this awesome machine won every single race in that year!
Enjoy the sight and sounds of the Suzuki twins: Copy & paste please! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5SIh9Q2new http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5zHL5uxEOU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF4f384SFyA
Although Suzuki officially withdrew from racing in 1968, Hans Georg Anscheidt went on competing on a RK67 in the 50cc championship. When Anscheidt heard of the rumours of Suzukis withdrawal, he asked Japan Suzuki to loan him a bike as he had every chance of doing good in the 68 season. He received one RK67, two spare engines, many spares, a Commer van and money to cover travel costs. The bike he received was quite unique, being the chassis from the RP68 triple which Anscheidt tested the week before the GP of Japan, but deemed unready for the race. It was then issued with the latest RK67 twin engine and raced by Hiroyuki Kawasaki in the 67 GP of Japan.
	Hans Georg Anscheidts Suzuki for 68 identifies by having a reduced frontal area for higher topspeed. This was achieved by raising engine in chassis some 3 inches which meant that tank had to be lifted to extract sparkplugs!
At last I was able to see the fabulous Anscheidt Suzuki! The tiny racer was on display at Classic Remise in Berlin when we visited in 2022.

Suzuki RP68 For the 1968 season the Suzuki engineers had prepared a 3- cylinder engine. It was developed from the abandoned RK66 triple which had three standing cylinders. Quotes from factory Suzuki riders who tested the RP68 triple: Hans Georg Anscheidt said in an interview 2018: "I tested the RP68 for eight days before the GP of Japan at Suzuka, and the transmission, with its 14speeds, were not enough for the ultra narrow powerband of the triple"

And then it was 1969 and the new rules for the 50cc class: Single cylinder engines only and max 6speeds in the transmission. Suzuki and Honda did not return to the class again - some of the earlier one- cylinder models appeared from time to time. Even Anscheidt had one prepared for the 69 season:

Suzuki production racers
"The Suzuki on which I finished third in the Isle of Man TT, behind the two "Works" Suzukis of Stuart Graham and Hans Georg Anscheidt was only an over the counter production racer (with I think only six speeds) and was many MPH slower than the factory bikes. Only my own knowledge of the TT circuit helped me gain a podium finish on this slower bike." Tommy Robb 2012.

Suzuki replica racers

Suzuki specials