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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 />

38

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