Does Suzuki’s Stratosphere concept displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show (and pictured above) make you think about one of the earliest in-line six-cylinder motorcycles, the Honda CBX?
Although Kawasaki built a Z1300 in-line six, it was the CBX that eventually became a cult bike, of sorts.
Something about the smooth power delivery from an in-line six, and other aspects of the CBX, made it a real collector’s item. Those who own one frequently will not part with thier CBX for any sum of money.
Sometimes a motorcycle doesn’t have to make perfect sense as an engineering exercise, or from an evaluation of its performance. An in-line six would be about emotion and feel. Would Suzuki really build a bike like the Stratosphere? It could be a corporate image builder, and a big draw of dealer showroom traffic. My guess is that they wouldn’t . . . just too impractical. It wouldn’t sell enough, and the other factors wouldn’t influence Suzuki to discount the financial reality of producing such a niche model. If I am right, too bad.
