DH-1 Porter Free. Click to enlarge.
This early Porter Free was spotted around 1995 on a Japanese swap
meet. It went unsold although the only missing part of the bike
was the tail light lens and the bike very rare.
The Porter Free, introduced in 1955, was one of the very first
real motorcycles Suzuki ever made. The very first real motorcycles
Suzuki made were four-strokers, the CO and COX, but it was soon
Michio Suzuki knew that the two-strokers were morer powerful and
more reliable than the four-stroke engines of the day.
In 1955 SJK (Suzuki Jidosha Kogyo)
released the 102cc Porter Free and 123cc ST, both both two-strokers
with steel frame, telescopic front forks and plunger rear suspension.
All of the Colleda two-stroke engines used the conventional piston
valve construction. The rotary (reed) valve engines came much
later, as did the CCI oil injection system. |
| DH-1 Porter Free. Click to enlarge.
It seems like the early models could have different type of rear
carriers and fuel tank graphics. I have heard that the early bikes
were hand made and the appearance could vary from day to day.
Can anyone confirm or at least comment this? Both photos were
taken by a friend of Joe Broussard, USA, who mailed the pictures
to me. |
