2008 Suzuki B King

[Eric]

Everyone who loves speed loves the 'Busa - Suzuki's 1340 cc monster motored 190 mph sport bike. But not everyone loves the Hayabusa's hunched-over ergos. Or, frankly, the 'Busa's bodywork - which is all about function (high-speed aerodynamics) and not much concerned with form.

The bike's a killer - but not much of a looker.

The just-launched B King fixes both problems - ergos and looks - while keeping just about everything else that makes the 'Busa such a bad-ass. It is basically a "naked" version of the Hayabusa with a more upright (and comfortable) seating posture. It also loses the 'Busa's clip-ons and the body cladding, but keeps the Heart of Darkness 1340 cc DOHC four - not detuned by as much as a single hoofprint from the 'Busa's sphincter-clinching 170 something rear wheel horsepower (the claimed crank output of the 'Busa's engine is 194 hp). Only now, you can see the thing in all its 12.5:1 compression dual overhead cam and fuel-injected glory - including the beautiful stainless steel header/exhaust that's completely hidden behind all that plastic on its fully-clothed cousin.

Also fully viewable is a hunky-looking three-piece cast aluminum swingarm unique to the B King - mounting point for the mono-shock rear suspension that's three-way adjustable (spring preload, compression and rebound damping). The front end (inverted KYB forks) is also fully adjustable - with B King-specific high capacity radial-mounted calipers riding 310 mm rotors (260 mm disc out back) to haul 'er down from the 150-plus mph speeds this rocketship is capable of.

The bike's frame is a cast aluminum, twin-spar design - also unique to the B King.

Special features include a rider adjustable "Suzuki Drive Mode Selector" (S-DMS) that's similar to the set up used on the 'Busa. It lets the rider dial up all the engine's available fury (for the experienced and the brave) or a milder setting that keeps a few horses coralled until you've worked up the nerve to saddle them up. The six-speed gearbox has a torque-limiting clutch to help keep the back tire from skittering around too much on downshifts as it tries to cope with the massive output this bike is capable of delivering.

Though the B King's top-end speed is not as high as the 'Busa's due to its less than svelte aerodynamics, sheer muscle punches a hole through the air like an F8 Crusader on afterburners and let's the B King achieve speeds as fast or faster than many fully-faired liter class sport bikes. And few bikes of any type - cladding or no cladding - can touch its 9 second quarter mile capability. Yet it is comfortable enough to ride for hours on end - even for six-footers - something that can't be said about the 'Busa.

The $12,899 B King comes in just two appropriately serious color palettes - gray/silver and all black.

Remember that '80s Patrick Swayze movie, "Next of Kin" about Hillbilly Revenge? The old mobster tells Swayze's character "it's too bad" about the death of his kid brother (whom he had killed). Swayze responds with deadly quiet: "No sir, you ain't seen see bad yet. But it's coming."

That's the B King...

Consider yourselves warned!

[Ken]

Everyone who loves speed loves the 'Busa - Suzuki's 1340 cc monster motored 190 mph sport bike. But not everyone loves the Hayabusa's hunched-over ergos. Or, frankly, the 'Busa's bodywork - which is all about function (high-speed aerodynamics) and not much concerned with form.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The $12,899 B King comes in just two appropriately serious color palettes - gray/silver and all black.

Remember that '80s Patrick Swayze movie, "Next of Kin" about Hillbilly Revenge? The old mobster tells Swayze's character "it's too bad" about the death of his kid brother (whom he had killed). Swayze responds with deadly quiet: "No sir, you ain't seen see bad yet. But it's coming."

And just to prove Swayze's point here's Alan Dowds, of Superbike magazine, with a few words to say about his long term B-King;

"Well, you can tell that we've got proper professionals working on our long term test Suzuki B-King. Because we've actually hit one of our targets for progression with the project. We picked the bike up from Big CC Racing near Wokingham last week, with stage one completed - that's a set of Yoshimura TRC end cans, a Dynojet Power Commander with hub, and 40bhp worth of nitrous oxide kit to round the tune off. Best of all though, Sean Mills and Lin at the shop had managed to transform the back end of the bike, from the frou-frou space-age ray-gun extravagance of the stock bike, to a shortened, neat, hard-as-nails tail unit. A smart little number plate from MAL tucks in above the twin cans, while a replacement LED tail light is built in to the tail unit itself. A set of mini-indicators finishes off the butt-job nicely.

But the big story is the engine. Now pumping out 175bhp at the wheel thanks to the pipes, PCIII and some judicious airbox mods, the stock motor is handling the extra beans nicely - and when you add in the 40bhp of nitrous power unleashed by the horn button, you get a nice round 214bhp at the tyre. And if we were the monkeys at MCN, we'd now compare that figure favourably with 'Casey Stoner's championship-winning Ducati Desmosedici MotoGP bike'.

A couple of days later, we actually got to ride the bike on the road. And, surprisingly, it's all pretty civilised. The Yoshi pipes have, of course, added greatly to the noise output, especially since Sean 'mislaid' the decibel killer baffles from the rear. And it is, of course, far too fast. We've de-restricted the bike with a BTC timing retard eliminator, so the stock 150mph speed limiter is gone. But a naked bike, on a busy M40 isn't going to venture above that too much anyway. Once off the motorway, the usual B-King characteristics of decent handling, and good agility appear - although the rear Dunlop Qualifier is already begging for mercy and on its way out after about 200 road miles and thousands of dyno runs.

The nitrous is merely the final gibbering freak in the mobile secure unit that is the B-King on full chat. Arming the gas is via a switch on the sidepanel, and then it's a case of thumbing the horn button, and on full throttle, the ECU fires the gas in, while at the same time, the Power Commander switches to a richer map, adding the fuel required to burn with the nitrous. In third gear, at full throttle, pressing the button is like operating a fast-forward switch on a video. The front wheel lifts like it's in first gear, and you're quickly braking to avoid running into the back of slower motorway traffic."

Dream on, dream on.

Ken.

[Eric]

The B King is a hairy beast; I like it a lot. Reminds me of the old V-Maxx when it first came out. Remember?

The thing fits me, too!

[Ken]

The B King is a hairy beast; I like it a lot. Reminds me of the old V-Maxx when it first came out. Remember?

The thing fits me, too!

Certainly Sir, we can deliver in about six weeks, and will that be with the Yoshi, Power Commander, nitrous and turbo or just the Yoshi, Power Commander and nitrous? ;D

Ken.