suzuki 185

[HemiChallenger71]

I just got a free suzuki 185 enduro, that used to be road legal for free. A little bit of work and 15 bucks later I'm riding it all day. The thing is a beast, and my arms are sore from man handling it, because that's what you HAVE to do. The power is very weird too, since its higher geared the top end is grat, but low speeds suck. Oh, and my power band, LOL 7500-8000 RPM, and anything below that is next to nothing. MY friend dumped it and now it's leaking tranny fluid, I have to look at it some more...

[J.D.]

That is a weird power band! Sounds like a good deal though!

[TimSr]

Sounds like it need a top end job, and has low compression. The TS185 powerband is typically mostly low end and and mid range, with nothing really exciting happening at the top end, unless theyve managed to adapt a TM or RM exhaust.

[HemiChallenger71]

Well if It needs it it's not getting it!! It looks to be the stock pipe, could it be from having any baffles and not the greatest seal at the head to the pipe? Oh and by the way, this thing is a big time rat bike.

[Yamaha_Rules69]

Sounds like the way my Suzuki ran before the piston went out last year. Its a 1973 Suzuki TS 100. I got this for almost a steal too. Paid $60 and ran pretty good for a couple years. It had no power in the lower gears, but when you got it going, it grabbed pretty good. I want to get that thing running again soon. It can be made street legal, and had turn signals, etc, but were taken off. Drive that thing around and get 100 miles to the gallon. LOL.

[TimSr]

Ive got a 1972 TS185, and mine had similar symptoms and it had to be push started. I found a broken ring, and a few small grooves in the cylinder, but didint want to put any money in it either, so I just bought rings, and used Copper Coat on the old head gasket and it solved that problem, and now it starts easily.

Ive never seen a replacement pipe for those, and the baffles should cause much of a change. Mine doesnt have anything in the pipe and it will have littel effect on the power band. An exhaust leak wont have any effect. Its mostly the shape size and location of the expansion chamber on teh pipe that effects power band.

[HemiChallenger71]

Sounds good, the cylinder looked a little scored up when I shined a flash light in through the exhaust port, but the thing has a lot of compression and starts first kick. Maybe it's jsut a top end bike. Will the exhaust not being the greatest burn a hole in the piston? My dad tells me it will, and I don't really know.