The Suzuki Madura was a

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

sold by

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

in 1985 and 1986. It was available with either 1200 cc or 700 cc

V4 engine A V4 engine is a four-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The V4 engine is less common compared to straight-four engines. However, V4 engines have been used in automobiles ...

s. It was created as a response to

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

's Magna V4 muscle cruiser and was a direct competitor with Yamaha's V-Max power cruiser, also released in 1985. Model designations: * GV1200GL * GV1200GLF * GV1200GLG * GV700GL

History

In response to the

Honda Magna The Honda Magna is a cruiser motorcycle made from 1982 to 1988 and 1994 to 2003 and was the second Honda to use their new V4 engine shared with the VF750S Sabre and a few years later a related engine was fitted to the VF750F 'Intercepter', the l ...

, Suzuki made the Madura model. Like the Magna, it was a V-four powered

. Like the Magna, the Madura was offered with two different engine sizes. Both bikes' smaller engines displaced 700 cc, but while the larger V65 Magna displaced 1100 cc (actual 1098 cc), the big Madura displaced 1200 cc (actual 1165 cc). Production of the Madura was halted after just two years. According to Peter Seifert of Vernon, B.C., Canada, 5099 Maduras were produced.

Features

The Madura had a V-four engine with hydraulic lifters. The lifters reduced maintenance, and avoided the kind of cam-wear problems that plagued all but the 500cc versions in the Magna line. Despite displacing 100cc more, the Madura didn't have more power or torque than the V65 Magna. The Madura 1200 was factory rated at 117 hp, while the V65 Magna was rated at 116 hp. Actual power in a road-tested bike was found to be about . For comparison, a same year V65 put down 93 hp, and the 1985-2007 Vmax (1198cc)rated at 145HP would usually dyno 110-116HP at the rear wheel with just a 5-speed transmission. In addition to the maintenance-free lifters, the Madura had a self-adjusting hydraulically actuated clutch, and a low-maintenance, shaft final drive. The rear suspension was a sophisticated monoshock arrangement that used a single rear swingarm tube to carry the driveshaft as well. Ergonomically, the Madura featured a low, scooped seat, swept-back handle-bars, and foot-controls that wouldn't be considered "forward" by later standards, but at the time were noted for being 14" ahead of the center of the seat.

Speed

According to ''Cycle'' magazine, the 1200 cc Madura completed the 1/4-mile in 11.753 seconds at 115.08 mph. For comparison, on the same day the V65 Magna ran 11.86 at 115.86 mph Cycle Guide recorded an 11.36 at 117.18{{frac, 1, 4 mile. while their Magna clocked 11.44 at 118.42 Motorcyclist clocked a corrected 11.47 at 117.6 with the GV1200 Madura. ''Cycle World'' magazine reported the 700 cc Madura doing the 1/4-mile in 12.89 seconds at 102.68 mph.

Madura Madura Island is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately (administratively 5,379.33 km2 including various smaller islands to the east, southeast and north that are administrati ...

Cruiser motorcycles Motorcycles introduced in 1985