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
(Above) Sensible instruments, fork lock combined with ignition switch and locking gas cap.lRightl Clean styling in along standard Japanese -f our-cvllnder lines. (Below, left to right) A good-working single front disc, four-way adjustable shock damping w ith fingertips (and the bike's key) the on ly necessary tools, and air forks on a street machine. The gauge is included :vit h the GS1000's tool k it. damping rates . The damping is adj ustable by the simple ex pedient of twirl ing a little dial on top of the shock to th e desired p~sition . T h e standard rear su spe nsio n sett ing , as de live red , is with both spring and dam per in the mildest po sition . The third shock p rel oad notch and the #3 rebound d amping slot proved very satisfactory for high speed road ra ce course and back road scratching. St a nda rd settings , front and re a r . sh o u ld prove qu ite a he a d a cceptable for st raigh t motoring dow n the Interst at es. The feedba ck a t both en ds is p ositive , predictable. a nd confid ence-ins pi rin g . 18- Damping is co n tro lle d b y th r ee orifices in the damping rod . T he fou rt h posit ion is n o orifice . The rel a tive d a mping fo rce, if fou rt h pos ition is equ al to 100% . goes like t his : t h re e = 86 % . two = 72 %, one = 58% . Kaya ba builds the shocks to Suzu ki's des ign and an exclusive co nt ract is - rren tly being negotiated cu to keep the a djusto-d a m pers only on Suzukis. . The b alanced, tec hnically advanced suspe nsion of the Suzuki GSIOOO is the best ever experien ced on a stoc k stree t b ike. To achieve this ex celle nce on a 1000 cc m a chine is a su peri or achievem ent. Added to th e 500 lb . weight and relativel y narrow (for a fou r) engine, th e suspension makes u p another critical dimension in wh at is th e domain of the Suzuki GSlOOO: high spe ed handling. T h e innerm ost re aso n fo r th is supe rb roadab ility is a ve ry rigid double downtube full crad le fr ame . It weigh s 38 .2 8 lbs. co m p ared to ' th e 36 .74 lb . fr ame of th e GS750 . This sma ll weigh t ga in is rem arka b le when th e su b tle di fferences in thi s chassis are d iscover ed . It is th e same mil d stee l as the GS750 frame in a slig htly heavier wall th ickness. T he re are additiona l rein for cin g struts weld ed u p around the stee ri ng h ea d and backbone junction . The swingarm is 30m m (a litt le over an inc h) longer than the GS750 an also slightly hea vier due to the size and wall in cr eases. The sta nd ard wh eels were made up with slightly short er spo kes in a not her we ight ·saving move t h a t ha d the inherent benefit of putting less flexin g force on th em , hen ce , the y tend to stay tighter and truer. It is thi s kind of non obviou s d etail that under scor es th e level of engi neering that went int o th e GSIOOO . T he "E" version has th e rigid a lloy cas t wheels wh ich a re heavi er than spo ked versions. Th is moto rcycl e never flexes, wobbl es, or be haves in an unpredictable way - exce p t that most ride rs would never predi ct a 1000 cc j ap a nese -m ade m ach ine could handle as well as the Su zuk i. The opi n ion kept gr owing th at th e GS IOOO handl ed better than th e GS750. O n e test er wh o wa s a primary particip a n t in a 550cc comparison test felt th at the GS 1000 hand led much like the Suzuki GS550 wit h jus t a lot more power. That was a powerful endorsement. The Ja pa nese a r us t rc a nd philosophical pr efer en ce for elega nt sim p licity cam e very close to real izati on in the enginee ring of this mot orcycle . Replete w ith refinements and ratio na li zatio n s ' Th ere wa s , so m e years ago , d iscussion a t H a m a rn a tsu o n the co nce p t of th e GSIOOO . The main a lte rna tives deba ted were as follows: I ) Some sort of sha ft drive , a ll-pu rpose la rge di spl a cement b ike , 2) Cha in driven high performance bike, 3) An alterna tive des ign. You see which concep t won ou t. Then , as to th e engi ne design , Mr. Suzuki 's design W a ta nab e of d epartment m ent ion ed that a du a l over head ca m arrangement is th e best ' h igh perform a nce system "for rig h t 1 now ." T ha t left us wa iting for h im to co ntin ue as to wh at th ey co nside red bes t for la ter bu t he m erely smi led ) inscru tably. T he maj or engi ne design p roblem turned ou t to be how to keep IOO Occ of mot or cool enough and keep th e weight do wn. The size of th e ca m chain aperture in th e cylinder block was reduced to get m or e a ir arou nd ) the inside cylinders. Also, a larger oi l pu m p (14 mm orifice u p from 10m m'l on th e GS750 ) was fitt ed . A separa te Z oil cooler was not ser iously consideredf beca use it wou ld in cr eas e the weigh t Z of th e e n g in e pa ckage . Ex te rna l" cylinder finni ng is slightly increased P over the GS750 .