May 16, 2005 11:41 PM
16277 Views
(Updated May 16, 2005 11:44 PM)
I had the chance to live with Suzuki Shaolin as well back in 1996, the first lot of production bikes test marketed by the hosur factory in Bangalore.
As I owned a shogun , my friend heard about this bike being manufactured in the Hosur plant, we decided to go and have a look, and then decided to buy one.
They said 5 gears in 138 cc is as good as the shogun, so we did buy one.
IT WAS CALLED THE SUZUKI GP not SHAOLIN. After a couple of months the Shaolin was officially born. First we were really surprised to see the RPM showing low readings, so we took the bike to the regional office as instructed by the dealer himself to get it examined by the chief engineer as the bike was showing some firing missing at steady low end rpms and at high end too. they could not get it fixed, so I suggested my friend to take her to Kerala to show her to my trusted mechanic in Kerala. We did take her by riding her together with our shogun and Rx 100 650 kms stretch non stop.
My mechanic did magic in 2 minutes, it was that confidence which made us ride 650 kms. the ride was full of fun, the shaolin is a class act when it comes to mid range as the power is unbelieveably swift, but has trouble when the RX hits 80 kmph and further to the fireblade shogun after 90 kmph, as the shoguns are well known for the high end.
I call the shaolin, a silent racer with her unusually mute character and the chirpy exhaust note. The only problem we faced with her was the unusually soft rear absorbers which gave hell of hard times at high speeds, as the RX and the Shogun are quiet capable and hard with firm handling. We trid to change it with the dealer but he said even the Shogun comes with that now. It was true at that time. My shogun had a Gabriel strut which my mechanic said is almost equivalent to the bullet springs, as you would hardly see it moving at solo. But with pillion it was as cool as it could be.
I rate the Shaolin a bike which came a bit late to the 2 stroke market, had it been a couple of years earlier, there would have been no looking back. But SHE WAS A QUEEN with THE BOSS
