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Insiders tell us this is a prototype for Suzuki’s return to MotoGP in 2014. The project was, we are told, “hot for a while” and then cooled off. Now, with these photos from a test earlier this month at Sugo Circuit in Japan, it clearly has momentum again.
What have we here? We see from the exhaust pipes that this is a transverse inline-Four, just like all GSX-Rs. That is a departure from Suzuki’s V-Four GSV-R MotoGP architecture. While the usual pipe arrangement for a flat-crank inline-Four is 4-into-2-into-1, this bike has two long-taper megaphones, each connecting to a pair of cylinders. That suggests this engine does not have a flat crank but instead is fitted with a 90-degree “crossplane” crank shown by Yamaha’s engineer Masao Furusawa to improve grip.
A Japanese informant said, “New Suzuki MotoGP racer is certainly inline-Four. It is not, however, normal inline. When guess from exhaust sound, kind same as YZR-M1.” All the other trappings of MotoGP are present: top-level Brembo calipers and carbon discs, Öhlins suspension, plus carbon-fiber bodywork.
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