SUZUKI SCOOTERS
Suzuki’s first North American foray into the world of scooters and mopeds was in 1979, when they brought the Rascal moped (FZ50) to North America. Next year, Suzuki added the FA50 Shuttle moped which it would sell from 1980 right through to 1991. Perhaps more importantly, in 1980 Suzuki also released the FZ50/Rascal based half moped / half scooter, the FS50.
The FS50 lived a short life and was discontinued after 1981. Suzuki stayed away from scooters and stuck to mopeds for a while after this unsuccessful venture. It wasn’t until about 1990 that Suzuki returned the Canadian market with a scooter, the Hyper aka AE50. Unfortunately Suzuki did not release this model in the USA market. Stylistically very similar to Yamaha’s Jog and Honda’s Dio / Elite 50, the AE50 attempted to capitalize on that market segment and was sold until roughly 1999.
After the demise of the AE50, Suzuki again stayed away from the scooter market for many years until they returned in 2003 with their new maxi-scooter, the Bergman. The Bergman was available in 400cc (AN400) and 650cc (AN650) displacements. As a competitor to Honda’s new for 2002 Silverwing, the Bergman seems to be doing quite well and is perhaps the most popular maxi-scooter in North America.
