Retrospective: 1973-1975 Suzuki GT250 Hustler
1975 Suzuki GT250M Hustler. Owner: Chris Wesney, Templeton, California.
Back in the early ’70s Suzuki was looking into the inevitable future and concentrating on getting into the four-stroke market, while still making good money from its two-strokes. And the predecessors of this GT250 Hustler had helped a lot.
Its parallel twin engine, perfectly square at 54 x 54mm bore and stroke, had first seen the light of the showroom floor in 1965 as the X-6 Hustler, a 250 tiger, which astounded the American motorcycling mind with a 90-plus-mph top speed and six-speed transmission. The engine was a simple piston-port design, with new-fangled automatic oiling, and cylinders were aluminum with iron liners.
Move forward eight years, and the rather similar GT250 Hustler appears?but with Suzuki’s Ram Air System (RAS) bolted to the top of the engine. The rubber-mounted hood was first seen on the company’s 1972 triples, the GT380 Sebring and GT550 Indy, which was the beginning of the Grand Touring series. The approach was simple enough, with this rather angular shroud aiding the cooling of the triple’s middle cylinder, sending more air through the cooling fins. On a parallel twin this was more problematic, but useful in keeping the noise down. Two-strokes from the ’60s were notoriously rackety, especially in warm-up mode, and prone to give out a ringing and pinging sound from the fins. Strips of heat-resistant rubber were used in the 250’s cylinder-head fin...
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