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1974 Suzuki T500K Top Ten Best Buys - 5-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article
Original, vintage magazine advertisement / articlePage Size: Approx. 8\" x 11\" (21 cm x 28 cm)Condition: Good
Along with certain of the livelier pro-fanities, “cheap” is a word traditionallyavoided by the motorcycle press in itsproduct reports—probably because tomany people the word suggests shoddinessas well as a low price. But in Mr. Web-ster’s dictionary this adjective’s first defi-nition is given as, “purchaseable belowthe going price or real value” and thatdescription fits Suzuki’s familiar 500ccTitan roadster like a well-tailored Hart,Schaffner and Marx Suit.Make that a denim sun, for the twin-cylinder Suzuki has denim’s no-nonsensedurability, and it’s the only thou-sand-dollar 500cc road bike to be found.The Titan offers no frilly extras and littlein the way of performance. It’s as basicas a basic motorcycle should be, with nopretensions toward being a superbike,giant-killer or masculinity improver.Flogged hard and expertly, the Titanthuds through the standing-start quarter-mile with times well into the 14-secondbracket, strains to touch an honest 100mph, and has all the sex appeal of a 1959Chrysler Imperial.With all that, we still think the Titanhas a lot to offer. It’s the rock-steady rep-resentation of Suzuki’s conservative engi-neering and sales philosophy—a philoso-phy from which they occasionally departbut never entirely abandon. Suzuki neverintended that the Titan should set theworld on fire; only that it should createa warm spot in its owner’s heart, a respectfor its basic virtues. The bike still doesthose things today, more than five yearsafter its debut.The Titan was the first big-bore road-ster from Japan and as such generated alot of cautious curiosity within the in-dustry when introduced in June, 1968.The astonishingly fast Suzuki X-6 Hustlerwas fresh in everyone’s mind and manyassumed that the Titan, sharing the samebloodline, was intended to outclass theworld’s 500s in the same way an X-6would dust off all the 250s. But every-one’s assumptions proved to be wrong:whatever else it was, the Titan was nota hot performance bike, and almost cer-tainly never was meant to be. Suzuki leftthat slice of the American market to Ka-wasaki’s 500cc triple, which was underdevelopment at the same time, and wasintroduced here only months later. It rancircles around the Titan then and remainscapable of doing so to this day.Sheer speed isn’t the Titan’s forte. Il’snot a sprinter but instead is the typicallong-distance runner: not much for mus-cle but plenty of heart and stamina, withan almost supernatural willingness tokeep going without a wheeze or staggerno matter how hard it’s pushed. We did• Too often in this world we don’t getwhat we pay for. Some of the time wedo, but this is to be expected—value equalto price. On rare occasions a product isworth more than its cost. It may not becheap, but for what it is, the price is abargain. We are getting more than ourmoney’s worth. The ten motorcycles cho-sen herein are in this latter category. Eachone delivers an entirely serviceable, andsometimes outstanding, product at a pricewhich cannot be met by other bikes inits class.Since price is the major factor in choos-ing a bike as one of the top ten buys, andprice fluctuates all over the place, youmust analyze our selections based on theprices supplied to us by the distributors.All are 1974 Suggested Retail Prices asquoted late in 1973. Realize that by thetime this appears some country or anothermay have revalued or devalued its cur-rency, lifted or raised tariffs, arbitrarilyraised or lowered prices, or altered ship-ments so the natural law of supply anddemand reshapes the prices printed here.Then, of course, some of the top ten selec-tions would have to be reconsidered.Also realize that many bikes not in-cluded in the top ten would be if the pricesthat can be negotiated in some areas re-flected a national situation. For instanceSuggested Retail on a ’74 Honda 750 Fouris $1822, but Honda dealers advertisingin the Los Angeles Times will sell one for$ 1479, most certainly a bargain. In an areawhere dealers or supplies are scarce, how-ever, a fellow will have to pay full list,which is what the bike is worth, no more.You may notice that some of the newprices seem high. You’re right. The over-indulgences of world economics have un-burdened themselves on the consumer’s24wallet. Motorcycles with no changes for1974 other than a new paint job cost alot more compared to last year. A 1973850 Norton sold for $1795. Virtually thesame bike costs $2055 with 1974 in frontof its name. That’s a $260 increase withoutany major technical improvements in themachine.Norton isn’t alone in adjusting pricesstrictly out of economic necessity. Suzuki\'sGT-185K street twin went up an evenhundred bucks, from $695 to $795. TheMontesa Cota 125 trials bike at $950 costs$130 more than in 1973. So don’t harkback to some of last year’s prices andwonder why your favorite bikes aren’t onthe list. They might have been priced rightout of contention.No bike was chosen for the top ten un-less the Cycle staff felt it was satisfactoryor superior by these criteria: performance,parts availability, serviceability, reliabilityand resale. There are cheaper bikes avail-able in some of the same classes repre-sented in the ten best buys, but they arelacking enough by one or more of thesecriteria to be eliminated.A top ten best of anything without anoverall winner is a cop-out. Cycle haspicked the Suzuki T-500K Titan as thebest buy in motorcycling. It wasn’t a hardchoice. The Titan has been a bargain forfive years. For the first time its price hassneaked past the $1000 level even thoughit’s basically the same bike as before. Sug-gested Retail for 1974 is $1045, but sincethe Titan is a steady (not runaway) seller,its cost can usually be negotiated.Justifying the Suzuki’s selection is sim-ple: 75-mph cruising, decent handling,adequate braking and a fairly smooth andquiet ride give the Suzuki strong creden-tials. Its performance was a threat to theearly Superbikes, but while its powerplantremained unchanged, the others becamebigger, more exotic and therefore faster.But the Titan will still handle two-uptouring with saddlebags and a windshield.Top speed is an honest 100 mph. Gasmileage averages 36 mpg.Parts and service are available at anyof 900 Suzuki dealers. Since the bike hasexisted almost without change for so long,dealers are totally familiar with its partsand service needs. No waiting, and nomysteries.Dependability and reliability are theSuzuki’s hallmarks. It survives neglect,abuse and age much like a good car. Youcan climb on a Suzuki and brashly headfor the tip of Baja without any tools. ASuzuki dealer near the Cycle shop showedus a set of Titan cylinders after 47,000miles with no maintenance. The ownerhad brought them in for a bore job “justbecause I assumed they needed it bynow.” They didn’t.Think about what you’re getting for$1045: 100 mph, 36 mpg, enough powerto go anywhere at any speed, reliability,durability and pleasant styling. None ofthe other bikes in its class come close tomeeting its price, and some don’t evenmatch its features. Its competition is: the$1489 Yamaha TX 500 twin, too new tohave proven its reliability yet; theTriumph Daytona at $1475; Suzuki’s 550at $1445; Honda\'s 450 twin ($1325) and550 Four ($1600); and Kawasaki’s 500 tri-ple, which not only costs $1349, but alsowobbles and gets poor gas mileage. TheTitan is in a class by itself—the best ofthe ten best.Following a complete road test on thewinning Suzuki T-500K are profiles of thenine runners-up.17362
