Suzuki/SJK Colleda ST-II
Colleda ST 1955—1961

Joe Broussard from USA was kind enough to tell me about pictures of this Colleda ST-II that he spotted on the Japanese Yahoo Auctions website. For a long time I didn't know anything else about the bike — until the person who bought the bike sent me a message.

Colleda ST-II photographed in May 2004. Click to enlarge. The Colleda ST, 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 two-strokers. The ST was the most successful of the models. It was a simple and affordable small motorcycle that was in sales of the model exceeded 100,000 units during the six years it was manufactured.

Updated: February 1, 2008 We can follow this bike's journey... Almost four years after I put the pictures on this page, a prior owner of the bike sent me an- e-mail. In January 2008 I received a message from Charlie in Iowa USA, telling that he bought the bike in the pictures. He wrote: “Interesting to me is the appearance of the Suzuki stylised knobs on the side covers. The bike is a 1956 and carries frame number SD1796. I sold it to a gentlemen in Kentucky, USA as I had too many projects and felt it should be with someone who may get it running.” Naturally I was interested in hearing more of the purchase and the history of the Colleda bike. In a folowing e-mail he told us a bit more: “It was purchased via a broker in Japan, probably 3 or 4 years ago, long before the ebay-yahoo.jp marriage. By purchasing it in country and then shipping it it was an "easy" thing to do. Having said that, I may be a bit more willing to take risk than a lot of folks. As for cheap/expensive, it's a judgment call, I thought it was OK or I wouldn't have done it. When I finally received the bike I was very pleased, I haven't spoken to the gentleman I sold it to, so I don't know his thoughts but I was certain it would not take a lot to get it running. It was going to take a lot to "restore" it, having just restored a Yamaha XS1 I've decided I would rather have unrestored riders. Since the ebay-yahoo.jp arrangement has come about the broker I work with has gone public, more information is available at: www.motosearch2000.jp/importservice.html While I handled all customs work myself early on, I've since learned, and subsequently used, a local customs clearing house. They handle getting bikes from the port of entry to where I live and roll up all the charges (customs, port, intra country freight) in a single bill and do it cheaper than I can do it for by far. I receive the bike, customs paper work, the whole bit and all I have to do is provide the shipping manifest from the broker in Japan and tell them where the port of entry is and where I want it to end up. I still have to handle title work as that is a state-by-state matter in the US.” Some more of Charlie's stuff, including a Mini-Free, can be seen at: cfinney3.netexpress.net/gallery2/v/vjmc/

Colleda ST-II. Click to enlarge. The ST was a simple and affordable small motorcycle that was in sales of the model exceeded 100,000 units during the six years it was manufactured. The ST-II was a new version of the Colleda ST with a modernized engine, now delivering 7 hp. The first version had 5,5 hp. The Colleda ST-II received a same sort of fuel tank than the COX, making to models look even more like each other.

Colleda ST-II frame and engine. Click to enlarge. The Porter Free and the ST were 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.

Colleda ST-II 1956 Engine: Air-cooled 123.18 cc single cylinder piston-valve 2-stroke. 7 hp. Bore and stroke: 52 x 58 mm Compression ratio: 7 :1 Apart for the differences listed above, the Colleda COX-2 and Colleda ST-2 looked a lot like each other. Click on the image for larger format.

Colleda COX-II 1956 Engine: 123 cc side-valve single cylinder four-stroke. Three speeds, telescopic front forks and plunger rear suspension. The kick starter was placed on the left side of the engine on the four-stroke CO and COX models. The exhaust pipe ending is also different, shaped like is fish tail. Also to engine design was quite different from the two-strokers. Click on the image for larger format.

DH-2 Porter Free 1956 Overall Length: 2 000 mm (78.7 in) Overall Width: 750 mm (29.5 in) Overall Height: 960 mm (37.8 in) Wheelbase: 1 240 mm (48.8 in) Dry Weight: 85 kg (187 lbs) Engine: Air-cooled 102 cc single cylinder piston-valve 2-stroke. 4,5 hp/ 4.500 rpm. Bore and stroke: 52.0 x 48.0 mm Maximum speed: 60 km/h Click on the image for larger format. Here's even larger picture.

More: SJK (Suzuki Jidosha Kogyo) and Colleda models
More: All Suzuki models

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