Look inside this piece of mechanical art

Photos and text: Scott Hoffman

After taking championships in both the 2010 Supercross and 450 Outdoor Championships, Suzuki has been sitting on cloud nine ever since. Even with Roger DeCoster leaving Suzuki for KTM, the team did not fret - they already had the guns to shoot their way into the 2011 season. With a solid platform to work from, the 2011 Factory Suzuki race bikes look very similar to last year's mount. With famed wrench Mike Gosselaar once again spinning the wrenches for Mr. Dungey, the mix of man, machine and mechanic was already a match. Like one would expect from a Factory bike, Dungey's 450 is a one big hunk of eye candy - just looking at the titanium, magnesium and array of Works Suzuki components and Works Showa suspension on the bike makes a moto fanatic start to drool. Check out these detail photos of his mount while I swab up the drool puddle under my keyboard.
No, money can't buy this bike - well I bet enough money could if you asked the right person. It is probably easier to count the stock production components over the works and aftermarket parts, there are very few of them. Yes there are parts on this bike that are available to the public. chain, sprocket, tires and bar, to name a few.

Rumor is Dungey prefers the sound of the bike with the single outlet exhaust compared to the newfangled Yosh RX4d that Brett Metcalfe has been seen running on his steed.

Lots of sick parts, titanium axles, billet hubs and little detail parts like the jam nut spacers on the axle adjusters. Suzuki uses castle nuts just to be safe - and yes they do run cotter pins when it goes to the line.

Nearly every factory bike sports a Hinson clutch cover and runs Hinson clutch components. This factory bikes run special Works engine covers, Ti pegs, Ti hardware and possibly a magnesium water pump cover.

Being the champ has its perks, including these sweet number 1 stickers.

Billet moto mounts add that extra bit of strength and the team probably spent a lot of testing time figuring out the best material, thickness and shape to improve or adjust chassis flex.

I bet all of you wish you had this adjuster on your mount. Big fingers make it easy to make clutch adjustments in mid air during the race.

These are the components that separate the men from the boys. Yoshimura has been a big part of the engine development and trick parts like the clutch cable holder and cam chain adjuster add to the lethal ability of this machine. Each week the engine is taken down, inspected and/or rebuilt.

Works clamps hold the Works Showa suspension. For added rigidity, Suzuki runs a pinch bolt to clamp the upper clamp to the steering stem. Stock production bikes do not have this feature.

The team goes that extra mile by welding the outlet tubes on the radiators for increased strength.

Although performance has nothing to do with this part, this is one of the most trick parts on the bike in my opinion. The transponder is one of the most important components on the motorcycle simply because it officially tells the AMA how well you qualified and what place you finished in the race so of course you must use titanium to make a mount to hold it.