Suzuki's B-King is truly powerful, but it's one that's also magic to ride, says Tom Robert
HERE IS a message for Flash Gordon. The motorcycle you've been waiting for is ready, Mr Flash sir, and we're sorry it's taken so long. You see, it was 2001 when Suzuki unveiled the B-King as a concept at the Tokyo motor show that autumn, to gasps all round at not only the radical styling but the plans for a phenomenally powerful supercharged engine.
When it appeared again at the London bike show, reaction was just as positive, but sadly, the chaps at Suzuki went home and dithered for ages, then decided to drop the supercharger idea because the bike was going to be powerful enough without it.
When it finally emerged from the factory, the engine was based on the Hayabusa's 2008 1,340cc motor, giving the B-King a whopping 181bhp and making it the most powerful naked street bike in the known universe, including Planet Zog.
And if that scares the leather pants off you, as it should, the neat chrome console on the top of the tank comes with the increasingly common Suzuki option of an A and B mode button, where A stands for Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! and B reduces power by 30 per cent to reduce your forward progress from warp speed to simply supersonic.
However, this is a bike that's impressive even standing still, as you walk up to it and take in the stunning looks which prove the point that Suzuki is now designing some of the best looking bikes on the planet, from the sinuously neogothic Hayabusa to the exquisite monster of the B-King, with its perfectly minimalist instrument and headlight fairing, counterpointed by a fuel tank the width of Texas.
The only slight problem with this, of course, is that any rider of more than average height, and I'm speaking personally here, is going to find it impossible to fit their knees in the spaces provided, resulting in a splayed and inelegant riding position a bit at odds with the bike.
Anyway, time to start the thing, only to have the distinct impression that after all that time, Suzuki has accidentally gone and designed a Honda.
For the noise that greets your ears, rather than the hammers of Thor that you have been expecting, is more akin to the contented purr of a lion after devouring a particularly satisfying wildebeest, followed by a large bowl of warm milk. Even pushed hard out on the road, it never becomes more than an urgent hum.
Is this a good thing? When you've spent the previous week being assailed by the angry snarl of a Yamaha R1 at full tilt, the answer is probably yes, but it is still the strangest of sensations hurtling towards the horizon feeling that you're riding the world's fastest electric milk float.
But hurtling you certainly are: above 6,000rpm, and in A mode, this thing flies in a manner which will keep Flash grinning from ear to ear when he picks his up from the dealers.
The good news is that even in A mode, the throttle is so beautifully precise that this is never a bike you feel out of control on, even pushing it hard.
As for the handling, the steering damper, which both looks and performs just like the one on the Fireblade, makes it the most civilised beast in corners, no matter how hard and low you fancy taking them. Little wonder that Kieran Kelly, the Dublin dealer at Priory Motorcycles, found himself rapidly out of stock of B-Kings when, rather than selling one to every four Hyabusas he expected, he found himself shifting three instead.
Faults? Only that inability for taller bikers to get their knees tight into the tank, and a gearbox which occasionally but resolutely refused to shift down from second. But all in all, yet another impressive performance from Suzuki in producing something that looks astonishing, is fast enough to get you away from Ming the Merciless, and yet is manageable enough to be an entirely comfortable everyday bike.
Factfile
Engine:1,340cc, liquid-cooled four-cylinder four-stroke with 16 valves; 181bhp at 9,500rpm, 108lb ft of torque at 7,200rpm
Transmission:six-speed gearbox, chain final drive
Performance:top speed 165mph
Dry weight:235kg
Seat height:805mm
Fuel capacity:16.5 litres
Colours:black or silver
Price:€14,950
Price in the UK:£8,999
(Test bike supplied by GS Motorcycles, Lisburn Road, Hillsborough, 028-9268 9777)