Every time I come across a Suzuki XN 85 I imagine scenes from a science fiction movie:
It must be that original design, the details like the reverse TURBO writing on the front headlight fairing, the instrumentation cluster, or simply the fact that you know that there are some mysterious components hidden within the frame.
The XN was in production for 1 year only making the project a sure loss for Suzuki. Knowing that a lot of hours were spent in designing and making this motorbike work, at a price below 5000 EUR (current bis id 3500 EUR but reserve is not met) , this is already a good enough reason to acquire one.
We can realistically assume that nothing like this will be tried again. While turbo assisted combustion engines are the future in the car world, there’s no real need to fit one of these on a motorbike. The CO2 reduction regulations in Europe, the general cost of petrol anywhere in the world and the associated need to reduce vehicles’ consumption, asks for more efficient powertrains and lighter cars. Motorbikes are light by default and have already good fuel consumption that you can easily control with the rotating twist grip on the right handlebar. As cars are heavy, they need torque to move around at low rpm values (fuel consumption is linearly proportional to rpm). Motorbikes on the other hand are designed for high power at high rpm so that you can use a smaller engine and get a lot out of it. In cars, there is a trend that is now referred to as “downsizing”. The concept is simple, use a smaller capacity engine (fuel consumption is obviously also linearly proportional to cylinders’ volume and number) and maximize its efficiency = fit one or two turbos (in case of 2 one is for low rpm output and one for high rpm) to a 1.5 to 2 liter 3 to 4 cylinder engine. Look into the details of any modern BMW and you will see what I mean.
So why did the Japanese fit Turbos on their mid 80s motorbikes ? Well, from the simple physics’ point of view there was really no reason. I guess it was more a prestige thing. Coupling an internal combustion engine with what technically is a turbo gas machine (it compresses air using the exhaust gasses to run a compressor) was in the 80s a technological challenge. Showing this capability was a way to demonstrate to the world the engineering skills of a company. This would have been quite easy for Honda by leveraging on the highly innovative car department. (Honda is for the Japanese car industry what BMW, Alfa Romeo or Lancia were for the European car industry).
But for a relatively small firm like Suzuki, this was a big step. And there we go, in the mid 80s Suzuki produced fine examples of engineering such as the first GSX-R, the bold German designed Katana and the XN-85. I reckon these 3 models are among the most significant motorbikes produced by the Hamamatsu based company. So, if a piece of history at an effectively under cost purchase price is what you are looking for, this XN available in Belgium might be for you.
With just 17000 km the current bid of 3500 € is below the reserve. Looking at he pictures the bike seems in great shape. Produced in about 1000 samples theses are surely rare bikes.
Let’s hear it from the seller (translated with Google):
SUPERB SUZUKI XN85 TURBO – VERY RARE – + / – 1000 COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE – OUTSTANDING HANDLING – SUEPENSION AV ANTI DIVE – MONO SHOCK SUSPENSION AR TYPE VARIABLE FULL FLOATER FLEXIBILITY – FRONT WHEEL 16 INCH – 17 INCH REAR WHEEL – ENGINE 4 CYLINDER 673cc – ELECTRONIC INJECTION SUZUKI – COOLING SYSTEM RAM AIR – 17000 KM – MANY PARTS USED AND IMPLEMENTED THE MACHINE GRAND PRIX OF TIME.
NOTICE TO COLLECTORS AND PASSION
1985 Suzuki XN 85 Turbo on eBay
-Claudio