It is such an incredible motorcycle with such a futuristic and advanced design, that if they put the Suzuki Nuda up for sale it would be a best seller, without a doubt.
One day all Suzukis will be like this, or at least that was what the Hamamatsu brand announced when it designed this incredible prototype.
Launched at the Tokyo motor show in November 1986, yes, 36 years ago, the Suzuki Nuda caused a tremendous stir among the public and the press. Here in Europe it could be seen at Earl’s Court in London in 1988, and it made a mess…
Not in vain did it look like a spaceship taken from a science fiction story, with a brutal aesthetic and a technology not seen then. It had some trait that related it to the Suzuki Katana, but it was a very subtle nuance.
Aesthetically it stood out for its slenderness and for its honeycomb carbon fiber monocoque chassis, which enclosed the engine, electronics and most of its components inside.
Speaking of this material, even the rims with sticks were made of carbon fiber, an advance at that time that had only been tested on some motorcycles in the speed world championship, although the solution was discarded due to lack of reliability. And to brake it had a front and a rear disc, with perimeter anchorage although its diameter was not large.
The Suzuki Nuda was a tremendously attractive prototype, so good that it is still in force
The Suzuki Nuda was very narrow, with a really concise front end, adorned by a pair of slanted headlights, with a single-seater seat and a taillight with an integrated rear light.
The keel of the fairing practically wrapped around the front wheel, and was a few centimeters from the asphalt, giving it a very aggressive look.
The rider was fitted in his forms, with a very sporty riding position, with the rider totally stretched out on the bike and not sheltered at all due to a low and narrow windshield. The mirrors were an anecdote anchored to the handlebars.
But if the aesthetics were tremendous, the technology it used was not far behind either. And it is that in the cycle part, in addition to the carbon monocoque, it sported a single arm front and rear, with the steering -servo-assisted- and front suspension in the style of the Bimota Tesi, bridging the gap.
As if this were not enough, these mono-arms also hid a viscous, hydraulic transmission system, so the engine transmitted power to both wheels! Yes, it was a 2×2 motorcycle.
It is curious because while in the patents that appeared the cardan transmission could be seen on both axes, Suzuki declares in its specifications transmission by viscous elements…
Its chassis was a carbon fiber monocoque with wheels of the same material.
Speaking of power, the engine was the only conventional one, a transverse in-line four-cylinder engine -4T, SACS (air-oil), 16V, DOHC- from a GSX-R 750 with 105 hp.
As for the electronic management of the engine, the Hamamatsu brand named it STECS, Suzuki Total Engine Control System.
And there was still one more surprise, and that is that the start was by coded card instead of conventional key, which was inserted in the digital instrumentation of three spheres with luminous led segments.
Curiously, this Suzuki Nuda was equipped with a gadget that today is of recent appearance: cornering lights. Yes, the headlights illuminated the interior of the curve automatically when the motorcycle entered the curve, by means of an electrical mechanical system, we suppose.
Among his gadgets were the boot by coded card or cornering lights!
Simply surprising, cornering lights in 1986, current technology on a motorcycle from 36 years ago…
Suzuki released a video -which you can see below- in which you could see the Suzuki Nuda in action but, of course, it probably did not have the two-wheel drive with a viscous element but would move with a conventional transmission.
And one last curiosity: despite not having reached production, the firm Cream sold a 1/12 scale model of this Nuda. Without a doubt, its design impacted…
The Suzuki Nuda, one of the most fantastic, attractive and realistic prototypes, never made it to production nor did it have any offspring in the form of any similar bikes, a real shame.
