The Suzuki line-up includes two exceptional models that do not go unnoticed. These are the GSX-8T and GSX-8TT: built on the same platform as the GSX-8S, but given a retro look inspired directly by the street bikes of the ‘70s and ‘80s.
Project approach “Waku Waku”
As Kota Kezuka, Motorcycle Team Leader at Suzuki Italia Design Centre, explains: “We set out from the very best of starting points and we thought we might use it to create a two-wheeler that would appeal to a different audience”. It was through work on the design that another model was created, starting from tried and tested mechanicals. “We followed a Waku Waku approach”, Kezuka adds, using the Japanese term for enthusiasm, passion, and emotion. “Initially, we weighed up numerous alternatives and for a while we even thought about creating a supermoto”, he concludes.
A “T” coming from tradition
The GSX-8T (the T stands for Titan, the nickname given to the T500) is a design-oriented motorcycle, because “looking back at our past, our history, we realised that the Suzuki T500, produced in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was the right bike to pay tribute to. And that’s how the GSX-8T was born”, adds Arthur Vidal, the designer who headed up the project in Turin. “But the more we proceeded, the more we realised that reinterpreting brand tradition was the way to go. I even bought a T500 myself to better understand its nature and respect its unique character”.
Toned down aggressiveness
Overall, the design team focused much of its attention on the horizontal aspects of the profile. The GSX-8S has a high tail and a very forward-leaning front end. On the GSX-8T and GSX-8TT, this aggressiveness has been toned down by changing the shape of the fuel tank, redesigning the seat (now wider and more comfortable) and the rear section.
Details recall the past
Individual components have also been modified. The headlight, for example, is not perfectly round. It has the flat lower edge that was a distinctive feature of Suzuki bikes in the 1960s and 1970s. The new models feature full Led lights and all the latest technology, but the nod to the past is clear. The fuel tank has likewise been redesigned and hand-finished by Japanese engineers, with its lower section evoking the welded details of the historic T500.
The 8TT: not an option but a new model
And what about the GSX-8TT – the second T stands for Timeless? “Initially, it wasn’t planned. The windscreen, for example, was originally an option on the 8T. Then we realised that by working on the details, we could give the bike a completely new look, and it became a model in its own right, more inspired by the tradition of ‘80s sports bikes. That’s why it has different colour schemes, contrasting stitching on the seat, gold rims and decals”, says Vidal.
(Full article in A&D no. 277)
