Description
Suzuki 125 Stinger
Immaculate condition
Very rare motorcycle
UK registered
Ready to roll
Suzuki 125 Stinger Very rare very cool Suzuki 125 two stroke, presenting in beautiful condition.
Superb condition fully UK Licenced
Model Details
There is no-one on this planet, not even the so-called marque experts, who can tell you why the 1969 Suzuki T125 is so totally and utterly different from everything else on two wheels. The Suzuki T125 Stinger, from time to time referred to as the Wolf and sporadically as the Flying Leopard, is absolutely and emphatically unlike anything else within the company’s model range. Although it shares a few parts with other Suzukis of the year, much of it is simply unique to the model. The frame is actually only half a frame and effectively predates Ducati’s trellis by a couple of decades in leaving the engine exposed from most quarters other than the engine mounts. Doubtless it didn’t have the rock-solid stability of the Italian chassis, but it was utterly unlike anything the Japanese had produced to that point – well almost…
In fact Suzuki made large about the frame, even giving it its own name – Triform – and went on to stress both its rigidity and its lightness. At the same time that the Stinger was launched, Suzuki offered a trail bike called the TC120; a 120cc two-stroke single with a dual ratio output box. The fact that two effectively dissimilar machines used the same chassis can hardly be a happy coincidence.
Even now, there’s a cynical school of thought which suggests that someone at Suzuki central simply overestimated the number of trail bikes it was likely to sell globally. This left Suzuki with far too many frames sitting around and something had to be done to get rid of them ASAP.
In order to turn defeat into victory, the R&D boys were supposedly tasked with getting a twin into a single’s frame, while the styling team was told to come up with a look that would sell like hot cakes. The overall theme was then rather bizarrely touted as being Grand Prix inspired, yet if anything it was more street scrambler than anything else. For many, both then and now, it’s the high level, one piece exhaust system that makes the bike look so extraordinarily different from anything else. And strangely it doesn’t seem to matter if it’s the Mk. 1 with its chrome pipes or the Mk. 2 in satin black, both look equally appealing.
Many argue that the late 1960s and early 70s were the heyday for Suzuki’s stylists; few could reasonably counter that there was ever a better piece of classic Japanese eye candy.
