Combining two things that, at first sight, do not have much in common. A Suzuki flat-tracker and a famous American racing legend. Well, that is exactly what the Valencia-based Bolt Motor Company decided to do with project #43, bringing two legends from the motorcycle world together, the Suzuki DR 750 S Big and the great Kevin Schwantz.
The Legendary Suzuki DR 750 S Big Provides The Platform
It was one of the motorcycles that left a permanent mark on the late eighties and remained in production well into the nineties. The DR 750 S, nicknamed Big, was launched back in 1988 as a single-cylinder motorcycle with the highest displacement in series production. That’s right, it had a 727 cc four-stroke single cylinder engine. It was producing around 50 horsepower at 6800 rpm and made 40.6 foot-pounds of torque at 5600 rpm. A decent amount of torque across the rev range combined with a large 7.7-gallon fuel tank and a dry weight of 389 lbs made the DR Big one of Suzuki’s bestsellers at the time.
Turning The DR 750 S Big Into The Bolt #43
Starting from the front, the first thing that you notice is the front mask which is essentially just a 3D number plate with the number 43 on it and an LED headlight below. Behind it are flat-track style handlebars with new grips, levers, and LED turn signals. The bike also has a small speedometer from Motogadget. It has GSX-R upside-down forks which resulted in lowering the height of the whole motorcycle. The wheels are dressed in Dunlop tires and have Brembo brakes are in charge of stopping the bike.
Moving onto the fuel tank, nothing too special about it, you might think, except for the fact that it comes from an early 70s Honda CB 750. Talk about a mash-up. The fascinating part is under the fuel tank though. The engine is from a DR 750 S, but has been completely rebuilt. It has two new 42mm Keihin PWK carburetors for improved throttle response and more grunt at high revs, a two-stage foam air filter from Uni, and a hand-made exhaust with Supertrapp’s four-inch aluminum racing slip-on muffler. After all, any bike that is inspired by Kevin Schwantz better perform well.
The rear part is where things got tough for the guys at Bolt. The idea was to install another part from the GSX-R, this time the swing-arm. This required some extensive work, including shortening the wheelbase, because the swing-arm didn’t fit the frame properly. In the end, they made it work.
The Bolt #43 As A Final Product
It does look good. The paint job with bolt details around it and the well-known livery that fans would love, combined with number 43 (Kevin Schwantz’s number was 34) gives it a nostalgic feel. The whole thing works, even though it maybe shouldn’t. Not bad for a company that started as a hobby, but has since released over 60 motorcycles.