Out with the new and back with the old!

suzukimatic

Hi Everyone,

So glad I found this forum. I frequent BARF (Bay Area Riders Forum) as well, but they aren't geared towards the vintage machinery. I live in Santa Rosa, CA (North of San Francisco) and have been riding motorcycles since I was nine. We had an old Honda 50 for years that I learned to ride on and then moved up to our early 70's Suzuki TS185 once my legs were long enough. I started riding on the street when I was 21 or so, and started with a well kept '81 Honda CM400E. It was a fantastic bike, even with drum brakes on both wheels, but was a little small for my height. I was bikeless for a while and then picked up a basket case of a CB750 that I never did get running correctly. I had it on the street two or three times and then it sat, and sat, and sat. Poor old girl. I sold it and I hope it lives on.

A close friend rides Triumphs and guided me towards buying a new 2004 Triumph 955i Daytona a few years back. It was an amazing bike, but was too focused on speed (duh!) and I didn't ride it enough to warrant what it was costing me every month. After two and half years, I sold it to that same friend just two days ago.

Last Friday I purchased a '82 Suzuki GS450A Suzukimatic (automatic!) - partially as a hold-me-over until I can find a great dual-sport, but also because I wanted to introduce another vintage bike to my fleet. I couldn't have asked for anything nicer and I got the bike for a very reasonable price. I never thought I'd enjoy riding an automatic motorcycle, but you know, I've been very pleasantly surprised to find that the lack of a clutch, etc, doesn't take away from the riding experience at all.

Here are the pics I took when I first picked it up. I've since done A LOT of cleaning, checking, tweaking, and it looks even better. I'm leaving the bike bone stock and wouldn't think of screwing with this in anyway other than just regular upkeep.

I'd love to know if there are any other Suzukimatic riders here.

Cheers,

ManOwar · Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 7:57 am Post subject:

Congratulations on getting back to vintage bikes! I haven't seen one of those around in a long, long time! Looks to be in great shape too!

suzukimatic · Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 11:07 am Post subject:

Thanks for the welcome. Yeah, it's in fantastic shape. Just went out to the garage with a little Never Dull and Mothers Polish and most of the chrome shines up great. Will take and post more pictures tonight or tomorrow.

Cheers,

crazycanuck · Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 4:44 pm Post subject:

Looks like alot of fun,
And easier to ride if your making frequent stops in traffic.
What does the left hand lever do?

suzukimatic · Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 6:05 pm Post subject:

650BILL · Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 6:18 pm Post subject:

WELCOME MAN, there's not much that NEVRDULL & Mothers can't solve....NICE MACHINE!!!! A friend of mine in town has a match, except for manual trans & mag wheels

Johnny5 · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 8:28 am Post subject:

Welcome and nice looking bike.

suzukimatic · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 8:30 am Post subject:

Thanks for the welcome!

Johnny5 · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 8:47 am Post subject:

I've only test driven an automatic before. It was a 70's CB750. Very strange experience not feeling a clutch lever as I kept grabbing for it.

This too had a low and high. I think I was driving the thing right. You shift into low and rev up to about 35 mph, then shift into high, right? Or can you just put it in high and start out? I would think that it would take a while to get up to speed that way.

suzukimatic · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 8:52 am Post subject:

I'm not sure how the CB750 Hondamatic's gearbox worked, but with the Suzuki you're really not supposed to shift from Low to Drive at speeds higher than 15 mph. You can drive up to 55'ish in Low, but you're supposed to think about what speeds you'll need before taking off from a stop. So yeah, unless I'm driving in town, I normally just leave it in Drive (high) and leave it there.

It's a kick! I've never been an automatic guy, but there's something pretty cool about this. Smooth and quiet. Smile

Johnny5 · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:00 am Post subject:

Interesting. Yeah, they are definitely different animals. I wish I had the money to buy that Hondamatic. The bike was in great shape.