Suzuki XF4 Lander, XF425 Ugly Duck
and XF5 concept bikes
shown at Tokyo Motor Show 1991

Suzuki has provided a glimpse into what the future of motorcycles might hold, showing not only one but three exciting new concept models at the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show. The Suzuki XF-4 Lander, XF-425 Ugly Duck and XF-5 concept motorcycles were unveiled at the 29th Tokyo Motor Show, one of the key industry events showcasing the latest technology on two and four wheels.

In 1991, at the Tokyo Motor Show, Suzuki introduced three of their quirky concept motorcycles, all of them with 2-wheel drive. Here's the X425 Ugly Duck, the X4 Lander and the X5, photographed on the parking lot.

Suzuki XF4 Lander First of the three compect bikes, the XF4 ”Lander” is is said to be ”a leisure robot” aimed at growing numbers of Japanese who have the time and money to use it to explore out-of-doors, preferably armed with a fishing rod or two. The paint job of the bike depicts a leaping fish. There's two carbon transport tubes mounted on the right side of the seat för the rods. On the left side, a metal-mesh creel is hung to carry to fish in. And if you catch a much bigger fish, ypu can take a trailer with you – there's a hitch on the rear. The XF4 Lander got fat wheels allowing it to ride loose sand and mud and the wheels were discs – spoked wheels could get jammed with sticks or branches. The concept bike is powered with an air-cooled 125cc two-stroke engine and it has chain-operated four-wheel drive both front and rea through an automatic transmission. The twin-suspended rear wheel is driven by chain, that leaps on the right side of the bike. The front wheel uses an Earles fork arrangement, its drive is taken from the left side of the engine and is directed a system of shafts ans chains that transfers power across the chassis to the upper right of the engine, forward to the front fork, then again across the chassis to the left side and down along the left side of the fork to the front wheel. All three of the concept bikes shown by Suzuki came with 2-wheel drive. The XF4 and the XF425 used similar methods to drive the front wheel, but the XF5 used a different way to to transport the power to the front wheel.

Suzuki X425 Ugly Duck The second of the three concept bikes, the XF425 ”Ugly Duck” looked like it was ridden straight out of Toon Town (it it had been presented in 2018 I would have said Bublebee movie)... That wild looking had styling that lived up to its name, but if you disregard the bizarre styling, the concept was – and still is – quite interesting. The XF425 Ugly Duck uses the same two-wheel drive system as the XF4 Lander, that includes a special transmission that senses the speed of of each wheel and transmits optimal amounts of power to each. Front/rear distribution to the bike's low-pressure, light footprint tires is about 40/60 precent. The transmission is fully automatic, making the Ugly Duck as easy as possible to ride, and an large dual seat emphasizes its leisure role. The seat height was low and the bike had scooter-like boards intead of foot pegs. The Ugly Duck was more a machine for having fun in the dunes, playing with its two gripping wheels. Again, the engine is an air-cooled 125 two-stroke. The front suspension is reminiscent, like the Lander, of the old Earls fork of the old BMWs, while the front transmission is entrusted to a chain. The tires are wide low pressure type for running on sandy beaches. The Japanese factories believed strongly that the extra rideability conferred by two-wheel drive will attract new customers who are not necessarily motorcycle buffs, particularly Americans who love leisure vehicles which can be used by the whole family. A motorbike like the Ugly Duck could replace the off-road trikes which had been banned for safety reasons, yet which constituted a market of 500,000 units a year in the mid-1980s. SPECIFICATIONS Engine: 125cc water-cooled single-cylinder 2-stroke Fuel system: carburetor Transmission: automatic; front-wheel drive by triple chains and shaft in the steering column, then gear-train to hub with electronic speed control; chain drive to rear wheel Suspension: swing arm with twin spring/dampers (front and rear) Brakes: disc (front and rear) Wheels: wide off-road tires (front & rear) Weight: 116 kg (265 lbs)

Suzuki X5 The third of the cncept bikes Suzuki displayed at the '91 Tokyo Motor Show, the XF5, was the motorcycle many thought would end up in production. Its appearance was fairly conventional and therefore ran less risk of frightening off potential customers with too bizarre styling. The XF5 looks like a conventional enduro machine, thanks to its telescopic front forks – but only the right leg of the fork acts as a suspension unit. The left leg is linked to the frame by a swinging arm and houses a transmission shaft driven by a complicated train of three chains from the output shaft of the engine, which transports the motion to the front hub. As on most 2x2 bikes, a one-way clutch biases the drive towards the rear wheel. This more serious enduro-style machine was also two-wheel-drive, but with more sophisticated system – using a shaft running down the fork leg rather than hub-centre steering and a second chain, like the other two. On the Ugly Duck and the XF4 Lander, the two-wheel drive was permanent. On the XF5, an automatic clutch cuts off power delivery to the front wheel when the front wheel begin to slide in, for instance, in turn. The XF5 is announced for 129 kg dry while the weight of the front transmission system, placed close to the steering column, is 7.8 kg. Obviously the drive system carried a considerable amount of unsprung weight, but the test results were encouraging. Suzuki apparently seriously considered this small two-stroke for production and put a lot of testing miles on the fully-operational prototype before ditching the idea. SPECIFICATIONS Engine: liquid-cooled 200cc single-cylinder two-stroke, reed valve Fuel system: carburetor Transmission: 6 speeds, chain and shaft (front); chain drive (rear) Suspension: telescopic fork (front); swinging arm (rear) Brakes: disc (front and rear) Tyres: 110/100-18 (front) and 120/90·18 (rear) Dry weight: 129 kg (284 lbs)

The Suzuki XF5 didn't look as wild as the other two concept bikes of Suzuki. It had a sophisticated 2-wheel drive system with a shaft running down the fork leg rather than hub-centre steering and a second chain, like the Ugly Duck and the Lander.

More: Suzuki concept bikes

More: All Suzuki models

Sources: cycleworld.com, bikenews.jp, enoanderson.com,
moto-collection.org, wisordown.com etc.

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