Autoblog

We've run across plenty of custom motorcycles in our time, and the goal of many of them is to combine the best features of both sportbikes and cruisers into one machine. The Suzuki Hayabusa is arguably the king of the sportbike, and there is no arguing that Harley-Davidson is the owner of both the custom and cruising crowns. We can imagine combining the two to make a laid-back, yet super-fast custom, but the thought of torturing yourself with the feet-back, forward-lean position forced by a sportbike with clip-ons, combined with the shaky, grunty lump of American V-Twin underneath had eluded us... that is, until we saw the Barley. We kind of like the name "Harley-Busa" better, but nobody asked us for our opinion. If they had, we might have questioned the wisdom of taking this particular route in the ongoing effort of making motorcycle bliss, but now that it's done, it's really not half bad. The original plans for this unholy union called for a turbo, and we think that its inclusion could only improve this machine.

If you want to replicate this offbeat creation, you can get the frame from Maximum Motorcycles, and soon, the body-work in carbon fiber from Tricky Air & Billet. If this doesn't strike you as a marriage worth consummating, though, might we suggest the alternate possibility of owning both a Hayabusa and a Harley? Just a thought.

[Source: Cyril Huze Blog]

That Suzuki regularly achieves near-mythical levels of performance with its motorcycles is a well-established fact. The bikes are proven winners and champions on the international stage. When it comes to the company's automotive division here in the US, however, it's been a different story.

In recent years, the automaker's showrooms have been home to a rather odd and not-so-compelling mix of vehicles. Sure, there are bright spots, like the current Grand Vitara, a legitimately attractive small SUV. To a lesser extent, there's the Aerio, which I've heard is actually a fun and practical little car in its hatchback form.

The rest of the lineup, however, has had issues. The Forenza and Reno are rebadged Daewoo products that will ultimately be phased out now that Suzuki and GM have parted ways. The XL-7 was long-in-the-tooth and outclassed by many other vehicles in the segment. Nothing about those cars makes anyone think, "Oooh...fun!"

Suzuki is working to fix that, however, with the new-for-2007 XL7 (goodbye, hyphen) and the very appealing SX4. The XL7 uses GM's Theta platform and a lot of GM switchgear (a good thing), and blows away its Equinox and Torrent platform and production line-mates with a Suzuki-built V6 pumping out 250 horses. For its part, the SX4 looks good, has a peppy yet economical 4-cylinder underhood, features standard AWD, and will retail for between $15,000 and $18,000.

Those two cars are set to be Suzuki's launching pad for its US resurgence, and knowing they have two good things in the new rides, they are finally leveraging the motorcycle division in the marketing campaigns for the cars. The new SX4 print ad (above right) shows the Giugiaro-designed hatch casting a shadow shaped like one of Suzuki's sportbikes. The copy touts the company's fun reputation without mentioning any bikes specifically. The shadow says it all.

On the TV side, two new XL7 spots (sorry, we couldn't find them online) work the same angle. One pans from a motorcycle shadow over to the new XL7, which is the vehicle casting it. Another one shows a closeup of a foot emerging from the CUV, the door shutting, and a kickstand being flipped down as the driver walks away. Both spots ask, "Are our SUV's as much fun as our bikes?" and the Suzuki logo appears.

Only time will tell if customers think the answer to that question is "yes." We'll say this, though: both new products appear to have the goods to make a splash. Now, for the ultimate bike/car tie-in, Suzuki needs to hurry up and get their sportiest offering, the Swift, across the ocean as soon as possible. The SX4 and XL7 will put runners on base. The Swift is the car that'll drive them home.

UPDATE: Suzuki press release detailing the new campaign and images of the new print ads have been added after the jump.

[Source: Brandweek]