Cat - isfaction!

Our Scoop rides the Suzuki TC120 ‘Trail Cat’ and comes away wondering why we Brits didn’t build something similar.

- STEVE COOPER

There’s a nagging feeling of déjà vu about today’s test ride and it’s coming from two different directions at once.

The first assault on the old grey matter is courtesy of the simple, yet elegantly crafted, piston ported, two-stroke motor and the guy who is waving the keys at me. Chris Brealey allowed CMM access to his Suzuki Bearcat a few years ago and the engine (if not the transmission) of today’s TC120 is a direct crib.

The second prod of the old grey matter is due in now small parts to the TC’s running gear which borrows extensively from Suzuki’s iconic Stinger. As I have one of those there’s a lot that’s familiar including the supposedly ‘GP race-derived frame’, wheels, suspension, brakes, switch-gear, oil tank and more besides. Even the seat is the same, other than the ever-so-slightly gauche diamond-patterned seat cover. Yes, there really is a lot Stinger/T125 about the TC120. Key difference is the 118cc motor, but even that hangs off the strangely shaped frame al-a T125. With the bike designed to be a dual-purpose ‘soft trail’ machine, Suzuki craftily engineered in a pair of front down tubes that bolt below and to the rear of headstock and drop down to embrace the front engine mounts. These, in turn, hold on to the front mounts of the engine bash plate which, in reality, only safeguards the engine, not the gearbox. The transmission is left to its own devices and the cursory protection afforded by the centre section of the footrest bar. And talking of the gearbox, check out the large chrome palter T-shaped handle on the left-hand engine cover. This apparently random addition is the high/low ratio selector which gives two significantly differently geared drive outputs.