Suzuki GSX1300 B-King Bike

Suzuki GSX1300 B-King Bike Overview

We’ve all seen amazing concept machines at big bike shows – most of which never come to fruition. But Suzuki’s B-King is an exception to this rule: first shown by Suzuki at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2001, it made it as a production model several years later, launched in 2007.

The concept bike was insane – a naked roadster based on the firm’s hypersports Hayabusa model, with a supercharger bolted on to add even more power to the 180bhp Busa motor. It had radical styling all round, with cutting-edge technology and looked like something from a Transformers movie.

The production B-King missed out on the supercharger, sadly, leaving Kawasaki to have the first production supercharged road bike with its H2. But Suzuki kept much of the insane styling, with a muscular fuel tank and a gigantic ‘rocket-launcher’ underseat exhaust system.

Under that wild styling, the B-King was basically a naked Hayabusa, using the same engine, frame and chassis package. That meant a 180bhp 1,340cc inline-four engine with 16 valves, DOHC and dual-valve fuel injection, in a twin-spar aluminium frame.

USD front forks and rear monoshock are fully adjustable, while a super-braced rear swingarm complements the brutal styling.

Like the Hayabusa, the B-King is a little on the chunky side, weighing in at 235kg dry, and it’s a bit of a handful around town. Get out on the open road though, and the engine is hilarious, giving gigantic waves of torque all the way through the rev range.

The B-King looked incredible and went like hell – but the extreme styling was maybe a step too far for the biking public. The timing was also bad, with the global financial crisis striking in 2008 just as the B-King hit showrooms.

Suzuki kept it on sale until 2012, but sales were disappointing, and it’s now a rare bike. If you can pick one up, make sure you get all the original parts, especially the exhausts, and keep it standard – this is a dead-cert to be a future classic machine.