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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’ 41
DUCATI M900 MONSTER Damn-near perfect straight out of the box, the Monster saved Ducati’s financial bacon and became their best-selling bike ever WORDS PHIL WEST PHOTOGRAPHY STUART COLLINS EW MACHINES changed F motorcycling as much as the M900 – or ‘Monster’ as it became known. The bike not only saved Ducati from collapse before going on to rejuvenate the Italian firm, its success catalysed a whole new motorcycling category – performance roadsters. Without the Monster it’s possible that the ‘super naked’, as we know and love them today, wouldn’t even exist. Yet while it’s fair to say that the Monster effectively made Ducati what it is now, it very nearly didn’t make it into existence at all. In fact, production was actually postponed at one point as cash-strapped Ducati, assuming that they’d sell fewer new roadsters than 900SSs, prioritised payment for supersport components at the expense of Monster tanks and brake calipers. How wrong they were. Today, not only is the Monster the best-selling Ducati of all time, with over 275,000 sold of all types, it’s also the best selling Italian bike ever. Overall it’s impossible to overstate how important the Monster was to Ducati in the early 1990s. The 916 may have grabbed the headlines, but it was the Monster that rang the cash tills. Over 50 per cent of the company’s sales in the ’90s were Monsters, helping Ducati grow from 10,000 machines a year in the early ’90s to 25,000 in 1995 and over 40,000 by 2001. Why was it such a hit? Three reasons. First, it was an ‘accessible’ Ducati. The simple, easily-manageable roadster style may have been quite unlike anything produced in Bologna before but it was still unquestionably a Ducati. The trellis frame, big V-twin and performance cycle parts such as USD forks and Brembo brakes couldn’t have been from any other manufacturer. Second, it was affordable. Before the Monster, Ducatis like the 888 were considered exotic, fickle, and above all, expensive. The M900, while not exactly cheap at £7500, was more affordable to a wider variety of riders. And third, it was a blast to ride. As a V-twin roadster it was at home around town, but with a Ducati performance edge it was also able to satisfy sport riders on the open road. All of that’s just as true today, which is why the now-third generation, liquid-cooled Monster lives on as a cornerstone of Ducati’s range. But it’s the 900 original that’s the daddy. Find a good one and you’ve a classic that’s exotic yet versatile enough to use every day. Better still, they’re not yet that expensive and almost certain to appreciate. 60
Page 1 and 2: SUZUKI GSX-R1000 ABS STILL GOT IT W
Page 3 and 4: SUZUKI GSX-R1000 ABS THERE IS NOWHE
Page 5: SUZUKI GSX-R1000 ABS Showa big-pist
Page 9 and 10: Mission accomplished FOR A machine
Page 11 and 12: What to look out for Finish Crucial
Page 13 and 14: “The Monster is upright, natural
Page 15 and 16: Still a great ride after 22 years o
Page 17 and 18: You don’t need a track bike for a
Page 19: 7 Sort the suspension Make sure you

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