Suzuki GT 250

The Suzuki GT250 was an evolution of the T250 Hustler. In Japan there was initially a GT250 model which was fundamentaly unchanged from the T250. When the GT250 was released to the world it had been modernized with a disc brake at the front and with a new Ram Air cylinder head. Other changes were harder to detect on the surface, other than one of the prettiest fuel tanks on a Suzuki being replaced by a "bread box." Why the changes to a successful machine, especially since performance was not enhanced......purely marketing.....Suzuki was keen to recoup it's investment into the ungainly GT triple series and the GT250 was rebadged and modified to have a family resemblance to the ram air triples. Couldn't have a superseded technoilogy ie air cooled twins performing better than the new kids on the block could we?

When the GT250 model was released (1971 in Japan, 1973 in Europe), it was still, a reliable if uncompetetive machine. It was as large as many 400cc machines and could not match the Yamaha RD250 for performance and handling. Despit this in many countries, among them the Great Britain, it was a best selling motorcycle until the mid seventies, possibly because it was a sweet predictable handler and still retained Suzuki's famous capacity for reliability and durability. The follow-up 250 to the GT250 was the X-& which was a different kettle of fish altogether.....quite skittish and fragile in comparison.

The T250 had a slightly more powerful engine than the GT250. Pollution and noise regulations of the tiome required Suzuki to redesign the exhausts which reduced performance a tad.

The 70s was all about the Japanese outdoing each other at every opportunity. Usually we think of the superbikes as the battleground for this war, but things was just as hot further down the capacity song sheet. At 17 you could ride a 250, and the competition to create the fastest quarter-litre machine was no less than that to have the fastest Superbike.

It worked very much like your first bank account and once you had your chosen mount they decision to change brands was not taken lightly. From the first moped to the next stage, manufacturers fought hard to get your vote and Suzuki were among the best at that campaign, in the process bringing us some of the finest small capacity machinery of the period.

Suzuki and Yamaha went down the two-stroke twins route, and were neck and neck all of the way, with both claiming they had the 100mph barrier well and truly licked, seemingly with every incarnation of their respected models. The GT and RD models were evenly matched for the best part of 7 years, despite using different technology to achieve this, Suzuki sticking with the old style piston port engine, while Yamaha used power sapping reed valves. Despite the latter’s claims of boosting low down power because of the reed valves, in actual fact the GT250 has equally amounts of torque, and across similar rev range too, bringing into question the effectiveness of the Yamaha design in all but environmental issues.

GT250AThese days, the Yamaha RD250 and 400 have become the desirable 70s stroker machinery to own and restore, but the GT is still a great bike and easily the equal of the brigade from the tuning fork brand. Arguable, the GT series is the most handsome of the quarter litre bunch, the Suzuki still exudes cleaner lines and looks more lithe too, and it could be argued that the T20 design was a large part of the inspiration behind the Yamaha twins in the first place. Internally the engines are very similar, so much so that to the untrained eye they look the same, and yet the Suzuki design pre dates the Yamaha one by a good few years. Finding parts to restore a GT could prove challenging, but not impossible as the model was sold all over the globe and many parts, like chrome mudguards etc, were used on other models, so its a case of doing a little home work and scouring the web and breakers.

In use, the GT feels much lighter on its feet than the equivalent RD and far more agile than any KH250 Kawasaki or CB Honda. The bike is compact and relatively easy to move around although it does have a 10mm longer wheelbase than the RD from the same period, braking isn’t as sharp either but is still efficient enough, although rumours abound of notoriously patchy braking in the wet; this was deemed to be so bad that early GT’s even came with a sticker attached to the fork leg proclaiming so.

Get really moving and the Suzook doesn’t hold a line as firmly as the equivalent RD, the Yamaha chassis shares much of its design with the early TZ race bikes and this pedigree is a hard act to beat. In contrast, the GT tubework owes a lot to its 60s heritage and never really moved into the next decade, the front and rear end definitely have minds of their own, especially when trying to change direction at speed. In normal use however the Suzuki is well behaved and compliant to its riders wants, the wide bars fitted as standard allow a good deal of control over the front end.

Suzuki GT250AWith a decade of development behind it, the twin cylinder power plant is a well-sorted design, there is little usable power to be had below 4000rpm, while every thing worth having is squeezed in above this figure, but the step up into this area isn’t aggressive as one might imagine. The transition is relatively smooth and calm, the negin just hops up onto the pipe and away you go, leaving a big cloud of blue behind you, the do-gooders of today would have a fit at the thought of the damage it was doing to the ozone.

The revisions made to the gear ratios in the fist few gears help the engine out a good deal in this respect and those often used, mid-box ratios keep the engine singing away without the need to dip the clutch and get it spinning up again when the revs drop down. Maximum power is to be had at 7500rpm and this peak is felt quite clearly through the seat of the pants, the engine will rev on, as most strokers will, but there is little to be achieved by doing so. Torque levels are high for such a dated design, the GT A spec engine produces a creditable 23ft-lb within a stones throw of the peak horsepower, once again vindicating Suzuki’s decision to let the pistons control the inlet timing. Overall, the GT250 A is a superb machine, often underrated and almost forgotten in 70’s history, the larger Suzuki triples, and the X7, stealing most of the limelight from the period.

Source: Classic Motorbikes