Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126296
Suzuki's GS1000, shown here in non-tricked-out form, is also available in the E·model configuration with mag·style wheels and dual front disc brakes. Both versions excel in power and handling characteristics. By John Huerter There was a belief, years ago" that prevailed in the.American motorcycle industry that the Japanese would not build motorcycles of over 750cc displacement. Some felt that there was an unspoken agreement that the giants in two-wheeled production bikes would not intrude on Harley• • • Davidson s share of the marke t 16 that en ded up be ing th e 1000 -1200cc range . A more reali sti c reason is th at bikes in excess of 750cc d ispl acem en t a re sim p ly illegal for sale injapan . Whe th er the j apanese m anu fa c "tu rers reall y deferred to " -D in the H past is now a m oot question. T he Big Four - Honda, Kawasak i, Ya maha a nd Suzu ki - h a ve m ade th e decision tha t there is a m arke t for ma chines im bedded in a philosop hy that bigger is ' better , and tha t th e m a rket is of a size to be interesting, ent irely excl uding the sales of bikes in the hom e la n d . All Of t he major japanese exporters now have produced motorcycles in the I 000 ·1200cc ra nge with one big market in mind - th e United Sta tes. First came th e Z· J from Kawasaki, now ente ri ng its fifth year of production wit h engine size upped to 1015cc. T his year , within a few months of each other , Yamaha introd uced theirllOJcc XSll and Suzuki, their GSI OOO . Honda will soon have the J047cc Six for sale in this co untry . The Big Four a re sa ying "T h is is for you: ~merica. We hope you Teally gOhfor lttlh T hi 0 sa y t a t ese mac m es a re Superbikes is to begga r theterm , T hey are, all of th em , ou trageously q uick , w ell -en g in e er ed , s ur prisi ng ly a ffor d able in in fla ted doll a rs and probably unjustifi ab le by any rat iona l means. Tha t last d oes no t mean th ey a re not excit ing , pu lse -qui ck enin g m a chines that ca n convey speed sens a tions pre viously ac hievable only o n fu ll -boogie bu ck s-up r a cing equipment or , just possibl y, Ita lian exotica at rough ly twice the price. There is a p a rt icularly j apanese co ncept that comes across into English translated as H armon y. It is the "wa " of thi ngs that must be mainta ined in life , in the funct ion of th ings and people . The ideal is a balance tha t combines co rrect performance with tranquility. Again , in Western terms , get the job do ne well with no m uss or fuss , Yet this concept has been strangly lacking in most of their mo torcycle offerings - at lea st that h as been true in the past. They ha ve been reliable but somewhat dull . Powerful engi nes have ove rt a xed med ioc re t o poor su spensio ns and flex in g chassis designs. Styling has been in many cases a Ginza -flash version of wh at the japanese imagine Americans want. The outrageous appeal of the Kaw asaki , Yamaha , and Honda can be su m med up in oneconcept and on e en gineering exe rcise: motor. Lo ts of motor. The no-substitute -for-cubic inches approach to road m a chinery taken just a ha ir past the logical limi t of a 55 mph society. The Suzuki is d ifferent from th e others . The GS I 000 gi ves awa y next to nothing in ra w engi ne but achieves something very rare and notable . The GSIOOO is a su per b ly bal a n ced moto rcycle . It re lies on no one com pone nt or sa les feature to compete wi th the ot he r brands. . Power , suspensio n , ha ndling and the usual civi lize d execu tio n we've come to expec t fr om th e jap a nese come together in a way that set it a pa rt. It is a n ex per t's bike not because it is a "handful" or req uires expert skill s to ride it. But it will take somethi ng of a n expert - a know ledgea ble rid er - to fu lly a pp reciate how well Suzu ki has pu lled off th e delicat e b alancing of sometimes co nflic ting forces in here nt in a high speed , street legal , spo rting m ach ine . The GS I OOO offers sp eed plus h a ndli ng a lo ng with ci vilized ope ra tion on a day to d ay basi s that does not intrude on the first two. It is a harmonio us ac h ievement. It ha s "wa . " To u nderscor e the point , testing on th e sem i-secret Ryuyo ra ce course a t Suzuk i's invita tion a nd throu gh th e twisti ng canyons of California cafe racer-land a t Suzuki' s trepidatio n indica tes that t he GS I 000 offers a superb b asi s for AMA Superbike Produc t ion racing . That same capability for th e non -racing rider is all gravy on top of good , solid meat and potatoes. The veloci ty numbers work out to 11.7 second quarter-mile times and 135 mph top speed. Building up from basics After discu ssions with highest level Suzuki m anagem ent and enginee ring staff , it became clear that the fantastic success of the GS750 helped to spur along the introd uction of the GS1000 . Suzuki had a 960 engin e project cooking along for years. The lessons of big engine design and reality were not wasted , but the 997c c Suzuki was not a d irect result of that project. It is a new design 1000cc class engine that is a logic al ex tra pola tion fr om the 750 whi le sharing virtu a lly none of the mechanical com po ne nts. '~ > The design conce p t for th e GS1000 is, however , so basic it almost seems n ew ag a in : keep it ligh t ; keep it simple. The gu id ing maxim in GSIOOO realiz at ion was to kee p th e weight dow n . T he ben efits are multip le. Less weight means quicker acc eleration . It also means better ga s mileage, Less weight means a lesser requirement for braking which m eans you ca n elim inate a hea vy d isc assem bly or two . Bu t th e m ost sa tisfying aspect of a ligh ter 1000cc mach ine to th e rid er is t he big margin automatica lly built in to th e h andli ng. The result is that th~ GSIOOO is only five pounds heavier