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Japanese motorcycles moving into forced induction

While turbocharging and supercharging may be nothing new in the automotive industry, motorcycle engines are almost always naturally aspirated. But even that's beginning to change. At the Tokyo Motor Show last week, two major Japanese companies showed off new forced-induction motorbike engines.
Kawasaki rolled in with a supercharged four-cylinder motorbike engine. It offered little in the way of details, disclosing only that the turbine blades were developed in-house to withstand the heat and vibration of spooling up at motorbike speeds.
Suzuki is taking a different approach, however. Its Recursion concept bike packs a turbocharged 588cc two-cylinder engine with a turbocharger and intercooler. The compact package churns out just under 100 horsepower and 74 pound-feet of torque, packaged into a motorbike that weighs just 384 pounds dry.

Incentives aid smooth Suzuki wind down

American Suzuki is continuing to offer buyers substantial incentives even as the company winds down operations. Those looking to nab a new Suzuki vehicle will find rebates of between $500 and $2,000 and zero-percent financing for up to 72 months as dealers look to liquidate inventory following the automaker's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. The strategy is working so far. Last month saw Suzuki sell a total of 2,224 vehicles, up 22 percent compared to the same time period in 2011. The Japanese manufacturer says it will continue the incentives through December.
Suzuki had around 5,000 units in dealer inventory in the US when it went into bankruptcy protection, with an additional 1,500-1,700 vehicles headed to dealers at that time. The company says it will continue to honor warranties moving forward using its current dealer network. Most of the dealerships will become Suzuki service and parts stores after American Suzuki shutters car sales in the US.

Suzuki shows weird, wonderful trio of concepts in Tokyo

Suzuki brought a whole mess of intriguing little runabouts to the Tokyo Motor Show this year. And though the Japanese automaker no longer participates (at least with its four-wheel automobiles) in the North American market, we didn't want to miss the opportunity to check out its latest oddities, and capture them for your Nipponophilic amusement. The one that caught our attention the most on the Suzuki stand this year is the Mighty Deck. The little yellow minicar features a canvas roof, an open rear cargo bed, and a genuinely delighted look on its face. Though it strikes us as about as useful as an umbrella in a snow storm, we really dig the stylistic combination of new materials and old, the rugged with the approachable, and of course the tiny size that could only come from the densely packed island nation. We're not exactly longing for the return of the Suzuki X90, but we'd love a new version to look like this Mighty Deck. Joining the Mighty Deck is the equally unusual Air Triser, a concept that aims to put the "mini" back in minivan. Though clearly designed for the crowded streets of Tokyo, the Air Triser manages to squeeze three rows of seats into its compact footprint. Maximizing ingress, egress, and interior volume, the engine (surely displacing about as much as a bottle of bubble tea) is pushed all the way into the front, with pillarless side portals consisting of opposing sliding doors. Its shoulders may be high, but the interior appears light and airy, with four individual buckets floating atop the flat wood floor ahead of a rear bench, all uninterrupted by consoles or excessive clutter. Though clearly much smaller than what we'd call a minivan on our side of the Pacific, designs like these make us wonder if we really need our family haulers as big as they are. Though there were plenty of other production JDM curiosities on the Suzuki stand, the last concept that caught out eye is the Ignis Trail. The ruggedized soft-road hatchback combines rounded styling with beefed-up wheel arches packed with (relatively) large rolling stock, rack rails on a black roof, and anodized red accents inside and out to offset the white and black color scheme. Scope out the trio in our gallery of live images from the Tokyo Motor Show.