RE: 1978 Suzuki SP 370

Suzuki SP 370 discussion forum:


RE: 1978 Suzuki SP 370

RE: 1978 Suzuki SP 370 
John said 2004-06-13 19:37 
 
I owned an SP-370 for several years -- what a great machine! They are heavy, not hugely fast, and they fly like a brick, but they will climb just about anything and they make great trail-riding bikes. I took the dual-purpose tires off mine, put on a set of full knobbies so I could trail-ride with my pals. Transformed it completely!

Unfortunately, the hard starting is a fact of life with this bike. In later years, Suzuki added a compression release to their later 4-strokes so that they would be easier to kick over, but this one doesn´t have that luxury. I never had any problems kicking mine over, but I´m about the same size as your dad. One of my buddies was about your size, and he had the same kind of trouble kicking mine over.

One thing you may run into if you ride for extended periods is vapor-lock. Suzukis of this vintage seem to be prone to the problem and it takes an act of Congress to get them started if you kill it while it´s hot. I broke the kick-start lever off one time after I stalled it on the trail -- unhappy day becasue the thing is hell to push uphill. Best suggestion I can give is to wait about 15-20 minutes to start it if it shows the problem; once it cools off it will start right up again.
 
 
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