Sunday 11 October 2009

E-View: Suzuki RC 100, Sprinter and Bravo - Part 1



Suzuki RC 100 was first released by Suzuki Indonesia in 1987 to replace its pioneer, Suzuki RC 80. This motorcycle was the first underbone motorcycle in Indonesia that had 100cc engine. It had similar design to Suzuki RC80. The frame, the body and the engine were still the same.

What makes it different compare to Suzuki RC80? As we can see from its name, RC100 means 100cc or 20cc bigger engine capacity than the 80cc one. The other improvement on this bike was 4-speed transmission which makes this motorcycle the first underbone in Indonesia that has 4 speed transmissions.

The other important features on Suzuki RC100 are:
• Suzuki JetCooled
• Suzuki PECS
• Suzuki CCI (Suzuki's 2T autolube system)
• Rectangular swing arm.

Suzuki had released many colors for this motorcycle. We could see red, black, and yellow as a common color for this bike.

Soon, the released of Suzuki RC100 then followed by the competitors that also manufactured 100cc motorbikes. Honda released Astrea Prima (4-stroke), Yamaha released Yamaha Alfa.

In its history, Suzuki RC100 has three different names, which are: Suzuki RC100, Suzuki Sprinter and Suzuki Bravo (we will discuss it on part 2). Suzuki realized that this motorcycle has the best power in its class, therefore Suzuki participated on many racing event in Indonesia. This bike was considered better than Yamaha Alfa on road race events.

Suzuki stopped the production of this motorcycle on 2002, but this motorcycle proved to Indonesian market that this bike was the most reliable two-stroke underbone motorcycle ever and of course the longest on market ever.

What made this motorcycle really famous back in the time?

• The engine's transmission has 4-Speed gearing and works very smooth, Suzuki applied PECS (Power Engagement Clutch System) that working very well.
• Has better power output compared to Yamaha Alfa, which was the only twostroke underbone motorcycle competitor at that time.
• Suzuki JetCooled had been applied to this motorcycle, which makes this motorcycle does not have overheating problems.The durability and reliability is among the best of twostroke motorcycle.
• Average stability compared to other underbone motorcycle at that time. Better than 4-stroke Honda, but not as good as Yamaha Alfa.

The negative sides:
• We could see that this bike 'drink' too much gas and 2T oil compare to the competitor.
• The braking system was also considered not good.
• Suzuki Genuine Parts (SGP) was considered expensive compare to the competitors at that time. (Not anymore for today, we could use IndoParts).



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