Production 1983 Successor GS750ES | Parent company Suzuki Predecessor none Class Sport bike | |
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The Suzuki XN85, released in early 1983, was a turbocharged motorcycle. It was designed as a sportbike. The name came from the fact that it reportedly produced 85 bhp. Actual bhp at the rear wheel proved to be in the low 70 range. It featured the first factory 16-inch front wheel (at least in the U.S.), which was previously seen only on race bikes. It also had low clip-on handlebars, rearset foot pegs, four-into-one exhaust, and a monoshock rear suspension, called the Suzuki Full Floater.
The engine was rather tame, with boost kicking in around the 5,000 rpm mark. The fuel-injected motor pulled strongly from that point but did not match the performance of larger sportbikes. The engine used an oil-jet forcible cooling system to spray oil on the bottom of the pistons to improve engine cooling. Later iterations of this cooling system became the Suzuki Advanced Cooling System. While the XN did not have the power of other sportbikes, due to frame and suspension geometry, it had notably better handling than similar powered machines. Total XN85 production was 1,153 units from 1983 through 1985. 300 of those were exported to the U.S, where the bike was sold only in its initial year - 1983.
The XN85 was replaced shortly after its release in the U.S. by the lighter and cheaper GS750ES.