Design patents of what looks like a cafe racer from
Suzuki Motor Corporation have been leaked online. As is apparent from the
patent-filings, the company seems to have taken a modern outlook for the
neo-retro Suzuki café racer.
The Suzuki café racer features a trellis frame that
holds the engine and a separate bolt-on sub-frame. The motorcycle uses
upside-down forks and a near vertically-stacked linkage-type mono-shock, while
the swing-arm design is unique as well.
It is quite evident that the final design of the
Suzuki Café Racer will go through a lot of refinement. However, the patent
filings offer us a view of what can be expected of the café racer. The
motorcycle features high-mounted rear-set footpegs, long tear-drop fuel tank
with knee recess and a raised tail section with a short seat.
While the handlebar is not seen in the image, the
overall geometry indicates towards a leaned-forward modern classic café racer.
The design patents show the side profile of the engine, which makes it
difficult to determine its layout. That said, the information mentioned in the
filings signals towards it to be a single-cylinder motor.
Weirdly, the exhaust pipe circles at the bottom of
the engine before ending into the canister. This design approach could be taken
to comply with future emission norms. While it is quite difficult to ascertain,
the motor seems to be a reasonably modern powertrain with liquid cooling and
fuel injection. That said, this is just a wild guess from our end.
Suzuki is working on an India-specific Gixxer 250
that will reportedly be launched in the coming months. The Suzuki Café Racer,
however, could be developed for the mature global markets. Modern classics are
the flavour of today’s day and age. The Suzuki Café Racer could be aimed at the
Husqvarna Vitpilen 401 and the upcoming Honda 300 TT Café Racer.
