Asphalt & Rubber is based out of California, so that means smoking is akin to a cardinal sin out here, and on the hierarchy of egregious crimes against humanity, it ranks just slightly under torturing babies with hot pincers (heaven forbid you cause a baby to start smoking). Smoking indoors in outright verboten virtually everywhere, while puffing some nicotine anywhere outside that is near a restaurant, bar, club, ATM, hospital, pre-school, or tobacco shop is liable to cause a citizen to go murder-death-kill on you John Spartan.
The issue is so pervasive here, that it has even extended beyond cigarettes and into the realm of motorcycling, with The Golden State leading the charge on the banning of two-stroke motorcycles. We are now purely a “suck, squeeze, bang, blow” society, and while that suits many motorists just fine, there are some who enjoy the smell of pre-mix in the morning — you know who you are. You enjoy the sound of angry bees following you from apex to off-camber. You think a displacement for “serious riders” starts at around 250cc. You like your engine compression low, and your powerbands narrow. You sir (or madam), are a two-stroke junky, and we have just the fix you need.
Just as MotoGP replaced 500GP, we know see Moto2 & Moto3 replacing the lower two-stroke classes that remained in Grand Prix racing. Leading the charge on this mechanical front are a slew of new companies, most notably the chassis manufacturers, of which Suter is perhaps the most well-regarded. Making the weapon of choice for Marc Marquez in Moto2 this year, the Swiss company already had a sterling reputation before it went racing at an international level, but the firm’s success in the 2010 Championship exposed it to a whole new world of tw0-wheel performance.
Having a bevy of intriguing two-wheeled projects within its walls, the Swiss bike that catches our eye today is the Suter 500 Factory V4: a two-stroke, 500cc, V4, track weapon that puts out over 200 hp and weighs 284 lbs ready to race — no, that is not a typo. We’ll let you take a moment before continuing past the jump for more.
With its GP pedigree at hand, and surely on those specs alone, you would expect the Suter 500 Factory V4 to command a price that only GP race teams could afford, but its modest cost of 156,00 CHF (about $166,845 USD at the time of this writing) is a bit more down to earth, though still decidedly pricey, even when compared to the Ducati Desmosedici RR. Of course, Suter is building the bike to your specifications, and the opportunity to ride a motorcycle with nearly a 2:1 power-to-weight ratio (hp:kg) is a rare one indeed (for reference, production sport bikes are lucky if they can best a 1:1 ratio).
Features include all the usual components you would expect: Marchesini wheels, Öhlins suspension, Brembo Brakes, Marelli electronics. The frame is a tried-and-true twin-spar aluminum design, while the motor has counter-rotating crankshafts, and a dry SRT slipper clutch. With four cans in a traditional GP arrangement, you will surely get to enjoy the titanium exhaust that Suter provides as well. The only downside? It takes six to eight months for Suter to build and deliver your machine. If you want one in time for Christmas, we suggest placing your order now.
Technical Specificaitons of the Suter 500 Factory V4:
| Chassis Specifications: | |
| Frame | CNC machined Aluminium twin spar with multi adjustable steering/wheelbase/riding position/height |
| Swingarm | Aluminium swingarm, CNC machined, adjustable |
| Suspension | Öhlins upside down front fork & rear shock; all adjustable for pre-load, high & low speed compression & rebound damping. Different rear links available |
| Wheel | Marchesini or OZ 17x 3,75 Front 17x 6,5 Rear |
| Tyres | 125/75 R 17 Front 205/75 R 17 Rear |
| Brakes | Brembo Two 320mm steel front disc with 4 piston calipers One 218 mm steel rear disc with 2 piston caliper |
| Fuel Tank | Carbon Fibre inbuilt fuel pump |
| Bodywork | Carbon Fibre |
| Dry Weight | 129kg (complete, ready to race) |
| Engine Specifications: | |
| Engine Type | 4 Cylinder V4 two stroke double counter rotating crankshaft, roller bearings |
| Displacement | 54 x 54,5 (56 x 58,5 optional version) |
| Power | min. 200hp |
| Aspiration | Electronic fuel injection four port throttle body four carbon reed valve |
| Exhaust Valve | Double flap electronic controlled |
| Exhaust | four single resonance steel chambers (optional Titanium) |
| Gearbox | SRT six speed cassette gearbox |
| Clutch | SuterClutch multi disc dry |
| Ignition | Marelli ECU |
Source: Suter via Racing Café
this.is.madness.
dear santa..
Bonertown.
Population: me
That is an insane piece of machinery which I hope will grace the pages (printed, YouTube, etc) of at least one Motorcycle publication in the near future. That way, we mortals can enjoy hearing about the kind of bleeding-edge motorcycle that ~$170,000 can buy.
Simply the most beautiful factory repo made. I hope they sell hundreds if not thousands of these, and make every other manufacturer sorry they didnt think of it first. 284lbs, v4 2stroke? Probably going to sound better than anything ever made :-)
Awesome… but your figures don’t add up. First of all if the bike did have a power- to-weight ratio of 2:1 then it would have 258 hp ( for 129 kg) not the 200 hp they state… I’m guessing they can’t get another 60 hp out of it? Not sure. Also, when you attempted at clarifying what the power to weight ratio means you wrote (kg:hp)… which is of course a weight to power ratio.
Good Lord Alex, enjoy it for what it is…200bhp for 129kg may not be quite 2:1 or indeed 1:2 or whatever it is you’re worrying about but why get caught up in semantics. What it is, is a whole lot of power in a lightweight package that will no doubt be highly strung and scare hairs onto your chest. Enough to make me want to take up smoking again. Possibly even both kinds as here in Ireland one is tolerated and the other is loved.
There should be a drinking game for this site. Every time the author:
-Talks about being from California, take a drink
-makes a grammatical or spelling error, take a drink
-talks about Bothan spies, take a drink
It’d make for a pretty happy afternoon. Oh yeah, awesome bike, by the way. :)
Where can I get a test ride. That would be worth the airline ticket. Heh.
The best part about that game Woody, the more you drink, the fewer typos you see!
At last…a bike article….(^_^)…and WHAT A BIKE ! Total FAP Material.
Please, don’t get the wrong idea…i love hanging out on A&R…but like on any bike blog it can get a bit old when all u read about is “Race & Racers”…I try to stay open minded about it since the current situation doesn’t help any of the OEMs pushing new model out the door.
Noted Mike. Having both David and Scott on board this year is probably skewing things a bit…just means I have to step it up another notch to bring other news from the industry. I do love me some motorcycle racing though…
I watch every race from moto2 motoGgp, wsbk wss, bsb bss etc so I gotta stay away from A&R on weekends :- )
AHHHHHH…
Speaking about MotoGP and such, Is it not about time Moto2 & Moto3 are added to the Laguna Seca round in July. I know everyone state side are paying for the full monty, but only getting MotoGP or Moto1…
Sorry, no Marquez, Espargaro, Luthi or Iannone for you… That Portugal race was fantastic…
MotoGP needs to bring the 2-strokes back. Rather than fuel restrictions to appease the manufacturers, what about emissions restrictions. Bring back the strokers… please…
Please vote Z for president.
Gosh, that’s beautiful.
I miss my Daytona Special. *sniff*
Westward, the only way you’re ever going to see Moto2 or Moto3 at Laguna-Seca is if either everyone on the hills around the track simultaneously move away, or if the AMA stops racing there. That track has a deal with the county that it can only have so many days per year with unmuffled racing activity, and it’s a SMALL number. The only way for both AMA and MotoGP to race at that track is for both to do it in the same weekend.
That’s the rub.
I really want to get a Kawasaki H1 just so I can ride it around town and piss off all the eco-hippies. Mmm, two-smoke! And also, that 2-stroke triple sounds AMAZING.
if i could have it my way the 2 stroke would still be racing today in GP..
Riiiiiiiing-a-ding-ding-ding-ding…..
“The first time you try the 500..aaaaah, faaaack!” – V. Rossi
Awesome,definately on the Santa list for me.Here in NZ its allowed to have 2strokes although all the enviromentalists hate it,this is SMOKIN HOT.I used to have a TZ250 years ago which is about half the size but it was lucky to make 60hp and it weighed about 90kg but this is another step beyond and over here you could still race it at clubdays as a clubman which is an open class.Wicked fun ,that would blow some minds.What fun!
Great ! Sold my TZ 125 a few years ago, still miss the technology.
If the FIM had a development Two Stroke Championship, we would be well on our way to riding smog legal injected 2 strokes. No Slipper Clutch Heaven!
What an awesome machine, makes me want to take up roadracing just to put it to use!
Mark, I commuted in and out of DC for a good bit over the last couple of years on my H1, great fun, particularly buzzing by the “occupy” idiots’ tents at 6:30am :)