Editors' Notes

EDITORS' NOTES

WHEN I LOOK AT SUZUKI’S LATEST SILver-and-black blockbuster I see Jazz, the Pontiac autobot in the Hollywood hit Transformers. When viewed from above, it’s all there: mufflers as legs, narrow waistline, torso-shaped fuel tank with its side pods serving as arms and shoulders. If only they rotated outward like one of my son’s action figures. And if the shape of the headlamp

assembly doesn’t cap the deal, you might look into having your imagination serviced.

The Transformer theme doesn’t end with the B-King’s styling, either. This bike is a Transformer at its core, a force of nature in disguise. What you have here is a prim-andproper gentleman’s standard when that’s what you need it to be, and a potent weapon of acceleration should duty call.

Perhaps some creative customizer should pick up what Suzuki started, paint one yellow and name it BumbleBee.

-Don Canet, Road Test Editor

I RECALL ONCE SAYING THAT I DIDN’T care what a motorcycle might look like so long as it went fast, handled well and was reasonably comfortable.

I lied.

Not intentionally, mind you, but that was before the B-King. Yeah, I know, this ’Busa-powered Suzuki accelerates like a laser beam, handles like a sportbike and is decently comfortable

(except for the footpegs, which are too high and rearward, repli-racer-style), but I just can’t get past its cartoonish looks. Any time I’m riding it, I feel like I’ve been sketched into a scene from Who Framed Roger Rabbit and am bombing around Toontown on a fictional motorcycle.

Admittedly, I could have a good time on a B-King; how could anyone not on a bike as outrageously fast and competent as this one. But after the rides, when parking it in my garage, I’d have to put it under a cover just so I wouldn’t

-Paul Dean, Senior Editor

have to look at it.

I HAVE TO ADMIT I LAUGHED AT THE 1999 Hayabusa press introduction when a Suzuki rep said the bike invented a new category called “Ultimate Sport.” But I hadn’t ridden the bike yet. After I did, I was 100 percent on board with the whole invented-category thing. It wasn’t just PR blather; the bike really was a huge step forward.

The B-King does the same thing for

standards that the ’Busa did for sporty bikes.

The King is a complete leap ahead-incredibly refined, wickedly fast-and every revolution of its muscular motor oozes with power and quality. I admit I am not thrilled with the dual cubist trombone exhausts or the aircraft-carrierwide fuel tank with cutouts that aren’t big enough to accept my knees. And I am annoyed by the throttle cables obscuring the gear-position indicator.

But I guess I don’t need to know what gear the bike is in because the power means gear selection doesn’t matter much. As for the knee-cutouts, I am going to see about shorter femurs. Because this is the Ultimate Standard.

Mark Hoyer, Executive Editor