The technological competition between manufacturers, resulting from the replica racing boom of the 1980s, produced high-performance motorcycles year after year. Development competition in the 250cc class was particularly intense and models equipped with 4-valve, 4-cylinder, water-cooled DOHC engines with 45 hp, starting with Yamaha’s FZ250 Fazer, underwent model changes every year, which led to the boom in replica racing bikes. The 4-valve, 4-cylinder, liquid-cooled DOHC engine was carried over into the naked motorcycle boom that followed the replica racing boom and several model variants were created.
In 1983, before the introduction of the Fazer, Suzuki had launched a model equipped with a liquid-cooled 4-cylinder DOHC engine, the GS250FW, but it was a 2-valve version with a maximum power of 36 HP. The next model, the GF250, introduced in 1985, inherited the 2-valve engine, but the maximum power was increased to 41 hp.
In 1987, the first GSX-R250 appeared with a 4-valve, 4-cylinder liquid-cooled OHC engine with 45 hp and, in 1989, the model was changed to the GSX-R250R with an aluminum frame.
Suzuki’s 250 cc naked models included the Cobra, a fairing-less street-fighter version of the GSX-R250R, and the GSX250S Katana, which reproduced the styling of the famous GSX1100S Katana of the 1980s in a 250 cc fairing. The line-up included the Bandit 250, a beautifully designed European model. The Bandit 250 was the only one of these three models to undergo a complete model change, and the Bandit 250V presented here was the second-generation model added to the range in 1995.
The second generation Bandit 250 further refined the beautiful European design of the first generation and its dry weight was reduced by 12 kg, from 156 kg to 144 kg.
The engine retained the same 40 hp version, but the aluminum swingarm and radial rims made it sportier. While the first thing people talk about the Bandit is its beautiful design, the most notable aspect of the Bandit 250V is its engine. The engine, which Suzuki calls a VC engine (VC = Variable Valve Control), is the only one in the 250cc class to feature a variable valve timing mechanism.
Variable valve control is well known on the Honda CBR400F (REV) and CB400SF (Hyper VTEC), but these Honda systems alternate between 2- and 4-valve operation.
In contrast, Suzuki’s VC engine had a single camshaft with cams for low and high speeds, and the valve lift and timing were altered by changing the cams. This VC engine had already been used in the Bandit 400, and the technology was well established. The VC engine had oscillators for the low-mid and high-speed cams, and the CPU controlled the timing of the low-mid and high-speed cams based on throttle opening, engine speed and gear position.
The 4-cylinder 250 cc DOHC engine, which has been pushed to very high revs, inevitably lacks torque at low revs. This VC engine compensated for this weakness and managed to achieve strength in the low and medium rev range and a feeling of power at high revs. However, by the early 2000s, the popularity of motorcycles had waned and the Bandit 250V was discontinued in 2000.
With the downsizing of the 250cc category, this 250cc VC engine disappeared, only to be installed in the Bandit 250V. However, there is no doubt that this engine was the most advanced of the 4-valve, 4-cylinder 250cc DOHC engines with which all manufacturers competed in terms of technology.