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1975 Suzuki GT380M Sebring - 8-Page Vintage Motorcycle Road Test Artlcle
Original, vintage motorcycle articlePage Size: Approx. 8\" x 11\" (21 cm x 28 cm) each pageCondition: Good
SUZUKI GT380M SEBRINGPlain Jane strikes again“Japanese motorcycles are all alike.”That used to be a popular saying amongbikers who thought the only real motorcy-cles came from the good old U.S., or atleast from across the Atlantic, not thePacific. And although all Japanese motor-cycles are not now and never have beenalike, they did and still do have somenotable similarities.The major areas in which they are noisimilar is their concept and planning, eventhough they display many likenesses intheir external construction and appear-ance. The philosophies and methodsmaintained by each company’s engi-neering group accounts for the state ofthe finished product. So even though alot of the bikes look alike and share whatappear to be the same technological ad-vances. they possess quite dissimilar per-sonalities.For example, some companies are ex-tremely horsepower-conscious. They seemto care more about horsepower figuresand quarter-mile limes than about han-dling and ease of riding. Others lend tobe very gadgel-oriented. being the first toincorporate every\' new little doo-dad orinvention to come along. And still othercompanies concern themselves with relia-bility. maintainability, and rideabilily.rather than a performance image andspace-age wizardry.Suzuki appears to fall into the lattercategory: conservatism. They haven’t builtan ultra-high-performance street bikesince the 250 X-6 Hustler of nearly adecade ago. However, they’ve had theirshare of “firsts” and innovations.Suzuki pioneered the large-displacementtwo-stroke twin with the T-500 in 1968but instead of building a super-fast rock-etship as they surely could have, they gaveit a wide powerband, lots of low-endtorque, and a conservative rpm redline.They introduced the first water-cooledtwo-stroke street bike in 1971. the GT750:even though it appeared right in the mid-dle of a superbike war, it too was a con-servative, low-revving torquer. And justa month or two ago Suzuki unveiled theRE-5, the world’s first mass-produced ro-tary-engined motorcycle. But even theRE-5, with tremendous horsepower andperformance potential, was built with thissame conservatism, at least mechanically.The RE-5 is a rather curious experimentin styling. But otherwise, conservative ap-pearance. cautious engine design, and aconcern for longevity instead of sheerperformance have ultimately taken overthe Suzuki street line, including our testbike, the GT38O Sebring. No. Suzuki wasnot the first with a two-stroke triple, andtheirs are not the fastest. But they weren’tengineered to be the fastest, just like theyweren\'t styled to be the flashiest andPHOTOGRAPHY BY ART FRIEDMANSuzuki\'s Ram Air System forcescooling air deep into the fin cavitiesfor increased heat dissipation.weren\'t designed soon enough to be thefirst.We tested the GT550 several monthsago and it impressed us considerably.Since it was built along these same mod-erate guidelines, we were eager to findout if the 380 was as good as its bigbrother. It would have to go some to bebetter.THE BIKE: The 1975 Suzuki GT380MSebring bears a close resemblance to lastyear\'s L model and looks very much likea smaller version of the GT550 we testedfor our November issue.Like the 550, the 380 uses a one-piecehead that has three separate combustionchambers. A cast aluminum shroud whichcomposes the Ram Air System sits atopthe head. The shroud forces additionalcooling air between the head fins, espe-cially those of the center cylinder, formore efficient top-end cooling.T h r e e s e p a r a l e cy I i n d e rs m o u n l b e n c a l hthe head, and each uses a standard three-port layout. A square (the bore diameterequal to the stroke length) 54mm bore andstroke yield a 37lec displacement. Mildport timing coupled with the mild 7.2 to1 compression ratio helps increase the380\'s engine dependability.A pair of helical-cut primary gearstransfers power from the crankshaft,through the twelve-plate wet clutch, andinto a six-speed gearbox. The gear ratiosare evenly spaced for the most part, withthe biggest gaps between the lower gears.The power exits the gearbox on the leftside of the engine, where a 15-loolh trans-mission sprocket sends it down a #530chain to the rear wheel.Three 24mm Mikuni slide/needle car-buretors handle the fueling chores. Eachis rubber-mounted to its respective cylin-der. but all are joined together by a longcommon lop and a permanently synchro-nized throttle linkage. Once the carbs aresynched, they stay that way since the link-age can\'t stretch or change because ofimproper cable routing. Two cables runfrom the twist grip to the linkage; onepulls the slides open, the other pulls themclosed.A rubber boot attaches to the rear ofeach carb and runs to the airbox underthe rear portion of the gas lank. Twowashable oiled foam elements fit insideand provide clean air to the system.The 380’s exhaust system is similar tothe 55O\'s except that there aren’t anyequalizer tubes between (he header pipes.The two outside cylinders have their ownseparate pipes with welded-on mufflers,but the center pipe forks beneath theengine and connects to two smallermufflers. One of these mufflers runs toeither side of the machine, giving the bikea balanced look.The GT380’s breaker point mechanism...15965
