August, 2011 - Level Five Graphics

2011 Suzuki GSX-R600/750
By Neale Bayly,
photos by Brian J Nelson
With the weather forecast making
a dry day as likely as Charlie
Sheen straightening up and
heading out to do volunteer work, I said
a silent prayer to the motorcycling gods
and made my way to Barber racetrack in
Birmingham, Alabama. We arrived to find
a lineup of brand-new 2011 GSX-R600s
and 750s and a sky the color of dark ink,
so we all did our best to make cheerful
conversation while waiting for the track to
go green.
Allowed a few
minutes to
study the newest
middleweights
from Suzuki,
I recalled the
last 10 years or
more and all the
incarnations of
the GSX-R line
I’ve ridden and
tested. It’s always
been easy to spot a Gixxer, and for 2011
Suzuki has stayed on theme while making
substantial changes, including Herculean
efforts to reduce the weight by more than
20 pounds.
Thankfully, I’ve attended the Schwantz
School in damp conditions at Barber, so
the first couple of sessions were stressfree
and gave me a chance to focus on the
GSX-R600 at a slower pace. The riding
position is not cramped, with plenty of
room to move around on the bike. From
the start, the low, 31.8-inch seat height
With no new models
from Suzuki last year,
it’s great to see the
brand back, and back
with a bang.
makes pit
maneuvers a
breeze, and the
clip-ons are
angled out an
extra degree
for more room.
Add a lower gas
tank top and
slightly taller
windshield
for even more
room to get tucked in. I’m nearly six foot
and felt really good on the bike. While we
made no changes, the footpegs are also
three-way adjustable for additional finetuning
of your ride position. You can even
alter the length of the gearshift lever to suit
your foot size. How’s that for attention to
detail?
On track for the first time, I made the
mistake of starting with the S-DMS
(Suzuki-Drive Mode Selector) in the
lower-power B mode. Where on
previous models there were three
settings, now there are only
two. I quickly switched to
full power, as even in the
damp it was way too muted on the lower
setting. On the previous systems, yanking
the throttle wide open restored the bike to
full power, but the new mode keeps power
reduced across the board.
In the Gixxer’s office, it’s business as
usual. A large analog tachometer lets you
know what the engine is doing. For those
wanting to look at it, a digital speedometer
fires rapidly changing numbers at you.
Warning lights sit atop the plastic housing
and switchgear is typical Suzuki. A couple
of nice touches are the easy-to-read gearposition
indicator, which I find a big help,
and a nice, obvious shift light. The big
story with the new GSX-R600 is obviously
the 20-pound
weight
reduction,
and,
while
there
isn’t
a
supersport bike out there that doesn’t feel
light as a feather, Suzuki has raised (or
should that be lowered?) the bar again. The
bike hasn’t lost an ounce of stability for the
weight reduction, and there were no areas
on the technical Barber racetrack where it
felt twitchy or unbalanced.
This weight has been lost by careful
attention to myriad small details. Three of
these pounds came from the new twinspar
aluminum-alloy frame, changed to
reduce the Gixxer’s wheelbase by 15mm.
Swingarm length is the same, but it is now
formed from three instead of five pieces as
part of Suzuki’s diet plan. A single, multiadjustable
Showa shock is used, and by
using new aluminum seats instead of steel,
90 grams is saved. A further 1.3 pounds
is lost by using smaller wheel hubs and
axles. These changes affect handling a lot
less than if the weight were taken from the
rims, but it reduces the rotational inertia by
5-10% and Suzuki is going after the sum of
the parts here. Suzuki claims 412 pounds
fully gassed up—compare that to 417
for the Yamaha YZF-R6, 421 pounds for
the Kawasaki ZX-6R, or 410 for Honda’s
CBR600RR.
Up front, the 41-mm Showa Big Piston
Fork drops another couple of pounds and
helps improve handling and frontend
stability. It’s immediately
obvious that the new radialmount
four-piston
Brembo calipers
are very strong,
as well as
being
lighter. There’s no drama though, as there is
a nice easy comfort zone at the lever before
the jaws of life clamp down on the discs.
These are full-floating 310-mm items, and
the combination allows you to fully exploit
the new fork.
Barber requires hard braking into several
corners. For those who have ridden here, I
think you’ll agree that Turn 5 demands the
most. Approached at triple-digit speeds,
you are also heading downhill, and the
GSX-R600 exuded heaps of confidence
entering hard on the brakes. Now I’m
not going in there like Danny Eslick, but
I would be on a race bike, and the new
Showa fork worked just fine for my limited
talent without needing adjustment.
Over the years power outputs and rev
ceilings have climbed in this class,
so it’s interesting to learn Suzuki has
concentrated most on boosting the
low- to mid-range, despite a claimed 123
crankshaft horsepower—certainly a gain
from the 2009 model. The engineers have
taken a fine-toothed comb to the new mill,
reducing
friction, lightening parts and changing
the crankcase ventilation holes to help the
engine rev more easily. The Gixxer still
displaces the same 599cc and uses titanium
valves, but shorter-skirt pistons are 12
percent lighter this year and, over-all, the
power plant is 4.4 pounds lighter. Suzuki’s
designers have even cut the ECU weight by
330 grams. Yes, they are that serious.
Engine changes, while not huge, are exactly
what I need. Riding a 600cc supersport
bike on track is as good as it gets for
me. They are not intimidating, and it’s
always a wonderful mental game to make
everything just right to get the fastest lap
time. Drop to around 8000 rpm exiting
a corner and your drive is gone, though.
This is never more noticeable than at a test
where everyone is on the same bike and
tires. With Suzuki’s attention to improving
power output down low, while lightening
the overall package, this year’s bike is more
forgiving if you don’t get the exit just right.
It still screams once it hits 12,500 rpm
heading for redline, but you can run a taller
gear more often, making for less stress
and better lap times for me. Some of this
is due to a taller first gear, and closer ratios
between 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. There is no
harsh shut-down if you need to hold a gear
up against the rev limiter either.
Another chunk of metal was
thrown out with the new
exhaust system, as Suzuki
managed to eliminate
3.75 pounds via thinner
wall headers and a smaller
pre-chamber that connects
into the titanium
muffler. Also, it’s
supposed to improve
fuel efficiency, which
made me smile
as I wonder if
there has been
a 600cc
sportbike
rider in history who ever measured his
mileage figures (you haven’t met John Joss!
—ed.).
There are no radical changes to the Gixxer’s
signature styling but there is a 7.5-pound
weight loss in the plastic parts, by using
32 pieces instead of 40. Turn signals up
front are integrated into the mirrors, and
the vertically-stacked headlight is a further
1.2 pounds lighter. The air intakes next to
the headlight are angular and menacing,
contributing to the Gixxer’s intoxicating
intake snarl when you crack the throttle.
Only the Yamaha R6 has a more feral
sound on acceleration in this class.
For our test, the bikes were fitted with
multi-compound Bridgestone Battlax
BT-016 tires. These OEM-spec tires
were fantastic. Giving immediate grip
and confidence in damp conditions, they
were just as good when the temperatures
warmed and we started hitting our fastest
laps later in the day. They also looked
extremely fresh at the end of the day,
though the shared bikes turned many laps.
Priced at $11,599, the new 2011 GSXR600
is slicker, sharper and lighter. With no new
models from Suzuki last year, it’s great to
see the brand back, and back with a bang.
Whether or not it’s a better bike than the
other supersports machines is a question
that can only be answered by a multi-bike
comparison. It is without a doubt a highly
competent tool on track, and with over
350,000 Gixxers sold to date, the brand
enjoys a huge fan club for. New owners
won’t be disappointed.
August 2011 | 18 | CityBike.com
August 2011 | 19 | CityBike.com