The Suzuki B-King Streetfighter Bike First Appeared As A Supercharged Motorcycle Concept

The Suzuki B-King Streetfighter Bike First Appeared As A Supercharged Motorcycle Concept
Streetfighter motorcycles hold a special place in the hearts of many performance-minded riders. Resembling nothing so much as a superbike with all the plastic sheared off, streetfighter bikes are the motorcycle world’s answer to the muscle car: nothing showy or extraneous, just pure performance, and plenty of grunt.
While streetfighter bikes, also called “naked” or “muscle” bikes, had their genesis in Europe — aggressive riders who crashed their bikes found they got better performance if they just tore all the lovely bodywork off and patched with dirt-cheap dirt bike parts. Among comparable streetfighter bikes, Japanese models have consistently been among the best. Kawasaki’s Z-series, Yamaha’s MTs, and Suzuki’s SV were all major contributions to the style (via RideApart).
One of the classic streetfighters, the Suzuki B-King, had an origin very different from its peers, however. Seven years before its official debut, it made an appearance in a setting wholly at odds with its eventual steel-and-asphalt rebirth.