Suzuki GS 250FW 

Every once in a while, some motorcycle company decides to find the smallest engine displacement that can be divided into four cylinders. Honda did it in 1973 with the CB350F, Benelli responded a few years later with its 250 Quattro, and now there is the Suzuki GSX250FW.

Suzuki's little Four is a technical marvel of sorts. The four-stroke, double-cam, liquid-cooled, 249cc mini-motor has 44mm pistons traveling through a 41mm stroke. Just how big is a 44mm piston? Three of them could fit into a Honda XL600 cylinder without touching each other or the cylinder wall. But even engineers hell-bent for miniaturization couldn't bring themselves to put four itsy-bitsy valves in a space well under two inches in diameter, so the GSX makes do with two valves per cylinder.

The rest of the motorcycle is more normally sized, scaled-down to about 90 percent of a typical 550. Shorter people fit it best, but even a six-footer isn't cramped. The styling, which is reminiscent of an '83 Suzuki GS750E, is only medium-sporty rather than effecting the pure racing look that is typical of the hot-rod 250s sold in Japan.

That's okay, for this 250 doesn't pretend to be a pure sportbike. It can't. First, it weighs 398 pounds with a half-tank of gas; that's 30 pounds more than Suzuki's own 400cc GSX-R, and 70 pounds more than the two-stroke 250s. Second, the tiny, high-tech Four simply doesn't put out much power. Suzuki claims 36 horsepower at 11,000 rpm, which is substantially below the 45 bhp the two-stroke street racers all make. The non-impressive power-to-weight ratio of the GSX leads to non-impressive performance, as indicated by its mid-16-second quarter-mile. The GSX feels particularly gutless when pushed hard, requiring high revs without accelerating very briskly in return.

On the other hand, the GSX250 is a sophisticated, scaled-down sport-tourer for the rider not in a great hurry. It will eventually reach speeds of 90 mph or more on the open road, so it's adequately fast there. When not asked to accelerate hard, the Suzuki loses its gutless feel, and the engine is as about as velvety smooth as anything with reciprocating parts can be. The chassis, which is far ahead of the engine no matter how the bike is ridden, delivers quick steering with big-bike stability. The seat is well-shaped and padded, and the bars and footpegs placed for long-range comfort. All in all, the GSX is the luxury 250 that offers four-cylinder looks and feel in the smallest Japanese multi yet.