Motorbikes.pdf

Then you go back to the cable-controlled Suzuki… and rediscover
sensations that made us fall for the sportsbike the first time round.
Admittedly the 1000 has three ‘drive modes’, to restrict grunt if
needed, but if I’ve bought a litre bike I want litre-bike performance.
So stick in full-fat mode A and wind the gas hard. Smoothly and
predictably the front elevates as the needle whips round the tacho.
On the gas mid-corner and feel each degree of twistgrip feeding
another pound-foot of shunt to the rear tyre’s contact patch. Get
giddy and there’s no stuttering exhaust or the sense of someone
pulling back on the seat unit because the ECU thinks you’re being
heavy handed. Instead, there’s just a sense of having total control
over the crank. Plus you know how the forks will feel and react,
whether stuffed into a corner at huge lean or braking over ripples,
because there isn’t a black box tweaking the damping all the time.
Softness isn’t perhaps the right word, but you get the idea. It’s a
connection with analogue warmth, not digital coldness.
Tucked behind a generous screen, rich green smeared either side,
the Suzuki’s pointy end floats off rises and pings up over yumps,
the motor singing with a sharp, rousing pitch as it devours ratios.
These are the feelings of a mighty motor accelerating hard, of a fast
bike going fast – the sensations that have always made exploring a
sportsbike’s abilities so exciting. It’s this liveliness that highlights
the potential, gets blood pumping, makes you whoop in a way a
blinking traction idiot light never can. It’s got to be the closest you
can get to recreating on-board footage from the TT.
I reckon the GSX-R still looks good too, thanks to this MotoGP
version with classy paint, double-bubble screen plus
Yoshimura end-can, bar ends, engine sliders and
anodised whatnots. It draws nothing but positive
reaction wherever I stop, and I think photographer
Chippy’s actually aroused – in summer evening
light it’s breathtaking. It costs £11,034 or £11,434
with ABS; that’s just £300 more than a standard GSX-R
(which also gets a Yoshi can) but two grand less than a
Kawasaki ZX-10R and four thousand cheaper than an R1.
However, it’s the Suzuki’s ability to continue feeling
great when you’re not riding like a silly arse that really
cements its brilliance. The long seat lets you feel like a
WSB hero with cheeks thrust rearward, but cosy-up to the
tank and you’re sports-tourer upright. It’s a deep, wide,
sumptuous-yet-supportive saddle. Footpegs are adjustable.
The mirrors are large and pin, the functions of the dash are
intuitively accessed from the switchgear. There are bungee
points. And ooh, look, look – a pillion seat that a normal human
might realistically consider plonking their arse on for more than
nipping down the road to get milk.
S P E C I F I C A T I O N S
Contact
Price
Engine
Capacity
Fuel system
Transmission
F ra m e
Wheelbase
Rake/trail
Seat height
Tank size
Front suspension
Rear suspension
Brakes
(front/rear)
Wet weight
Economy
G S X - R 1000 ABS MOTOGP
suzuki-gb.co.uk
0845 850 8800
£11,434 otr
liquid-cooled, DOHC
16-valve inline four
999cc
injection
six-speed, chain
aluminium twin spar
1405mm
23.5°/98mm
810mm
17.5 litres
upside down fork, adjustable
preload, rebound, comp
monoshock, adjustable
preload, rebound, 2 x comp
2 x 320mm discs, 4-pot
calipers/245mm, 1-pot
205kg (claimed)
46mpg/177 miles
Bike verdict Today’s sharpest, most hi-tech big
capacity sportsbikes are more like racers on the road
than ever before. The Suzuki isn’t. Instead, it mixes
looks, brain-sizzling pace and more handling that
you need in a flexible, accessible, usable road bike.
And one that, crucially, still feels very much a GSX-R.
Bike rating
+++++
Wednesday
night, 9.30pm,
the middle of
summer, 2015.
Here’s to the
next 30 years
of the GSX-R...
Add in silky throttle, utter controllability and suspension the
opposite of harsh, and it gives the GSX-R usability and friendliness.
You don’t get that with a hard track-focused R1. BMW try to build
it into the S1000RR (their start point was the GSX-R1000 K5, after
all) yet the German is still too rowdy, imposing and expectant –
and, for me, too digital – to reward as an everyday road bike. You
enjoy the Suzuki day in, day out, sun, rain, back lane, motorway.
Hi-viz evening is giving way to dusk, so I park on hills above my
village to watch the glowing embers of a memorable summer day.
Next year sees a new GSX-R1000 (race teams have been told), and
buttons, modes and flashing bits are a given – it’s the only way
Suzuki will stand nose-to-nose with their rivals in the showroom.
I just hope they manage to keep a generous dollop of this bike’s
classic GSX-R greatness.
‘These are the feelings of a fast bike going fast – the
sensations that have always made exploring a
sportsbike’s abilities so exciting’
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