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SUZUKI GSX-R1000 ABS<br />
THERE IS NOWHERE FINER on an evening like this. With<br />
the sun tinting the horizon as it slides down a spotless sky<br />
and the air developing a fabulous crispness, it’s as though<br />
the countryside has flicked into HD. Shadows grow depth<br />
and hard edges. Verdant verges buzz with visor-smothering<br />
life and the overhanging canopy sparkles. Work traffic has<br />
long since buggered off and the warm tarmac is invitingly open.<br />
Even that whiff from Daisy and her mates seems to add to the<br />
whole. Britain’s glorious when summer’s in bloom.<br />
And as this is Britain there can really only be one sportsbike that<br />
fits this scene. A sparkling blue Suzuki GSX-R.<br />
Has to be. If your biking history contains sports machinery (and<br />
chances are it does) your internal hard drive will be littered with<br />
Suzuki-flavoured files; the everlasting blue and white, loud cans<br />
and ill-fitting paddock jackets, the family-planning sticker kits and<br />
some preposterously small numberplates. And there’s that GSX-R<br />
reputation – from the standard-setting original and overwhelming<br />
1100s, to the bulletproof oil-cooled motors and FireBlade-beating<br />
humpy SRAD, the Suzuki has never been shy about its intentions.<br />
Ah, yes, all right – I know what you’re thinking. Suzuki’s race<br />
replica isn’t exactly on the leading edge anymore. This GSX-R1000<br />
has new ABS brakes this year, but in a class brimming with traction<br />
control, engine braking control, anti-wheelie and even electronic<br />
suspension this not-very-exciting addition is like hoping a couple<br />
of brisk walks is adequate preparation for running a marathon. As<br />
far as gadgets go the thousand is very much out of shape.<br />
Frankly, I really couldn’t care less.<br />
Flashing through dappled light and bursting into invigorating<br />
evening air, the GSX-R has all the ingredients to feel absolutely<br />
staggering. First up it’s grinning-idiot fast. There’s a most real<br />
165bhp bulging behind the fairing, the inline-four engine having<br />
the potential to exceed 100mph in first gear and making what<br />
traffic there is look like it’s stuck on pause. Part throttle, shortshift,<br />
and you’re still a blurred blue streak. The airbox resonates<br />
with a hollow roar and a grinding, gravelly edge that’s familiar to<br />
anyone who’s owned any GSX-R from the last 20 years. Fuelling is<br />
super-smooth, precise, and the gearbox taps slickly between ratios.<br />
Favourite turns pop into view. After scorching across open<br />
pasture the A-road now bucks steeply up the valley side, turning<br />
tightly back and forth as it cuts through trees over a bumpy,<br />
broken surface. The GSX-R soaks it all up like 186mph kitchen roll.<br />
Showa big-piston forks are supple and absorbent, yet with the<br />
control to keep the Suzuki poised and accurate. With the shock<br />
exhibiting an equal mix of pliancy and governance it’s fantastic<br />
road-friendly suspension. Handling is light and accurate, yet<br />
comfortingly sure-footed. Those Brembo one-piece calipers give<br />
touch-and-stop braking as well, and ABS is only detected when<br />
I do some deliberate emergency stops, just to see what happens.<br />
However, what really lets the GSX-R get under your bark is the<br />
way it connects. We prattle on about how the newest ride-by-wire<br />
bikes have ‘rider aids’ that you can’t feel working; traction control<br />
you don’t know is intervening, smooth anti-wheelie, that sort of<br />
thing. And it’s all true – ride Yamaha’s R1 or Ducati’s 1299 Panigale<br />
and the electronics just beetle away unseen in the background.<br />
‘The road bucks over a broken,<br />
bumpy surface... the GSX-R soaks<br />
it up like 186mph kitchen roll’<br />
Sportsbikes: way too<br />
powerful, far too fast.<br />
But on an evening like<br />
this there’s nothing<br />
that can get close<br />
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