The history of Suzuki Motorcycle started in Japan in the early 1950's. Michio Suzuki was an entrepreneurial young man who became a carpenter in his small village about 125 miles outside Tokyo. He invented a pedal-driven wooden loom, which slowly started to get attention.
The business eventually made more sophisticated machines for both cotton and silk. By 1920, the loom maker went public and began to sell stock. It was his son, Shunzo Suzuki, who first had the idea of putting a motor on his bicycle. One day while riding home from a day of fishing, young Shunzo began to imagine a power-driven bicycle. As soon as he got home, he started to design his a cyclemotor on his drawing board. In November of 1951 engineers at the loom company began creating an engine small enough to be attached to a bicycle.
However, the idea to motorize bikes was not new in Japan. In fact, the Honda Technical Research Institute had been working on the invention for years using old military parts. Still, the high quality and ingenuity of Suzuki's cyclemotor got the attention of the Japanese people and government. A 30cc prototype was made but not mass produced. Instead, the company chose to release a 36 x 36 mm piston-ported two-stroke engine.
The "Power Free" let riders pedal with or without the engine assisting, or disconnect the pedals and run with engine power alone. As the Japanese government amended laws to allow non-licensed drivers to own more powerful cyclometers, the former loom company kept pace with demand and released the 60cc "Diamond Free." Many consider the "Colleda" the company's first "true" motorcycle with a 90cc light weight single-cylinder four-stroke.
Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.
Motorcycles are one of the most affordable forms of motorised transport in many parts of the world and, for most of the world's population, they are also the most common type of motor vehicle. There are around 200 million motorcycles (including mopeds, motor scooters and other powered two and three-wheelers) in use worldwide, or about 33 motorcycles per 1000 people.
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