Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Bu t the m ost telling figures co ncern th e engine. Horsepo wer: 104.5 bh p@ 10,500 rpm. T orque: 52 lb .-ft . @ 9000 rpm. Bore a nd stroke : 70 x .48.7m m for 749cc. R ed line: 11,000 rp m. Most ra dical o f a ll, a n int erestin g dual -o ilin g sys tem, o ne pumpi ng o il to lubricate m o ving pa rts, th e o ther spray ing o il underneath the pi stons a nd th rough th e cy linde r head to ca rry a way h ea t a nd lower engine temperatures fa r bel ow th ose found in ai r-coo led engines, withou t the extra bulk a nd wei ght o f wat er- cooling. A hug e a lu m in u m o il cooler fi ts o n th e frame d owntubes. loo kin g m o re lik e a ra d iator than o i I coo ler s we 've seen befo re. T hi s is a n important mo to rcycl e for Suzu ki , a sta tem ent, a d emonstratio n o f tec h nology, a nd the dema nd fro m th e co m pa ny 's o ver seas d istr ibu to rs has been wa y beyo nd expectations ever si nce th e bi ke's deb ut a t the Co lo gn e, West G erm any m o to rcycl e show last fall. By th e ti m e th e world 's journalists had ga the red for th e in tro d uct ion a t H a m arn atsu, the assem bly lines were already running wide open. In a factory to u r th e da y before th e first r i d i ng sess io n, t h e w riters wa tch ed G SX R after GS X R pop o ff the assem bly l ine, pass final inspection on a ro ll i ng road test-st a nd. and be sent dow n a co nv eyor to be packed fo r Fra n ce a nd Germanv due to a 100 horsepower (PS) lim it imposed a fte r the introduct ion o f th e G SII OO in 1980 a nd th e GPzll OO in 198 1. The sta nd a rd version of th e GS X R750 m ak es 106 horsepower (PS). or 104.5 bh p . T he Fren ch a n d G erman ver sions are fitted wi th inta ke and exhaust res tr ictors to m eet the low er horsepower limit. There's also th e cha nce th at the la test S uzuk i wi ll becom e a 698cc o r 699cc GSX R700 for th e V .S. ma rk et . to co me in u nd erneath th e 700cc-andup tariff. Suzuki's marketin g m en listen to th e argu men t, presented by a n Ame r ica n editor, th at the bi ke sho u ld enter th e V .S. as a fu ll 750cc mach ine, that peop le wi ll be wi lli ng to pa y a hi gh er re tai l p rice for a n exc iting , hi gh-p erfo rm ance 750. Bu t a lt hough th e men from S uzu k i l isten , th ere's no indication of w ha t the compan y wi ll ac tua ll y d o . • • • T he bikes a re lined u p for test rides, ei g h t o r nine m a chines p er 40minu te sess io n , wit h journalists as sig ned to nu m ber ed motorcycles. I'm in th e seco n d session , a n d p ace a n d wa tc h as th e first grou p lea ves the pi ts a n d a fo u r-ri de r race in stant ly devel ops. Th e pil ot s are flagged to a h alt , then sent o u t agai n o ne-a t-atime. wi th 15-second inter va ls sepa rating them. An Ital ian crashes o n " ... the GSXR750 was already three seconds a lap faster than any previous Suzuki streetbike ridden by a jou rn alist at Ryuyo." " Their goal is the fastest 750cc motorcycle in the world, and their idea of the best way to measure speed is by lap time, on a road course ." Fre n ch rider is wav in g h is han ds, spea ki ng furi ousl y. shaki ng h is hea d a nd gest ur ing. All th e riders co mplai n a bo u t the slip pe ry tra ck a nd look a t th e ti res a nd talk a bo ut ge ll ing side ways in slo w co rners a t both en ds of th e co u rse . • in sh ipping cra tes. There's no doubting th e importance o f th e h u ge Amer ican marke t to Suzuki , a nd that's wh y severa l Americans were a mong th e visi ting journalists, eve n though Suzu ki won ' t bri ng th e GS X R 750 into th e V .S. prior to n ext fa ll. The extra tim e is necessa ry to a llow the engi n eers to m ak e th e bik e m ee t E P A a nd Cal iforni a em issions sta ndards, a nd th e co m pany won 't m ak e a bik e th at ' s lega l in 49 sta tes and no t Californ ia . Ca lifornia is th e bi g g est single sports bi ke ma rk et , a nd the GS XR m us t be ready for a ll 50 states befo re it is sent to Ame rica , th e Suzu ki me n say . G etting past th e U.S . sta nd a rds wi ll surel y req uire CV carburetors a nd wi ll redu ce p erforma n ce, a lt hough th e engineers a re n 't sure how m uc h power will be lost. T he co mpany a lrea dy ha s to de-tune bikes th e seco nd lap, slid ing a nd h igh sid in g a n d breaking his wr ist. T he ma in R yu yo straigh taway is th e longest I' ve been o n, a n d the pi ts a re ma ybe 2f3 -of-the-way down the straight , in th e infield. The sound of one GS XR 750 after a nother screa ming past , 40 feet a way , a t fu ll th ro tt le in top gear is im p ressive. T hese bik es don' t so u nd like th e close-to-silen t prod uc tion -class m a ch in es a t lo ca l road races in th e U .S. In stead o f a w hoosh , th e no ise they m ak e as th ey go by is closer to th e sou n d o f ai r bein g r ipped a part a nd p us hed aside violent ly a nd th e ex ha ust no te has a n a u thori ty no t often heard ; I think it's because th e bi kes are unusual lv close a nd ar e trav ell ing ver y qui ckl y. The sess ion o ver, th e r id ers co m e in. One Am eri ca n im med ia tely tells an ' en g ineer that the bi ke n eeds m ore rake and less tripl e-cla m p offset. A • • T h is GSX R I S a Englis h m od el , w i th rect an g ul a r , re la ti ve ly- flatback ed mirrors a nd a two-tone blu e , w ith white paint scheme. It feel s tiny, the foot pegs hi gh , th e clip-on bars lo w , th e gas tan k sh ort. There isn 't much cl ea rance between the fro m o f m v helm et a n d th e trailin g edge o f tl;e' windscr een wh en I tu ck in , th e bik e sti ll o n th e sidesta nd . It 's been refueled a nd visua lly c!H'ck'ed ·o\'('r. b u t o therwise untouch ed in the fiv e minutes since t he first group ca n u- in . It sta rt s ins ran t ly and id les wi th ou t the tach needle mov in g - th e ta ch starts fro m 4000 rpm , just lik e o n a racebi ke, a nd th e tach a nd speedometer a re set into a ha rd -r ub ber-fo a m rarr ir-r. agai n like o n a ra cebikc . , It sh ifts easi ly. a nd the cl u tc h action is smoo th without a ny g ra h. Th e eng in e pu ll s smoothl y. and although it acrelerur es reasonabl y well through th e middle rpm ra nge, it ma kes it s best po wer between 8000 r pm a nd th e 11,000 rpm red li ne , sta rt ing [() pull strongly fro m 7000 a nd never rea ll y co mi ng in hard ; in stead , th e tach needl e simply climbs past th e numbers faster a n d faster a nd faster a nd faster as rpm ri ses. BUI what 's most apparent befo re eve n tha t first half-la p is over is that this is a twitch y, Iast-rea rring motorcy cle. You want respo nsive ness ? You 've gOI it - the slightest muscle flex or pavement change or gust of wind wi ll ma ke the bike cha nged irertio n or twi tch the bars o r start a wobble or a ll three a t once. Eveu wit h j ust two fingers o n th e lever, grabbi ng th e fron t bra ke li fts th e rea r wh eel a nd th e bik e sna kes ' into a co r ner, rea r tire skim min g the pa vem ent a nd locking with the slighl est pressure o n th e rear brak e pedal. th e back end of th e bike swa ying ba ck-and-forth from th e steering head. C rossw inds a nd headwinds gust i n g o n parts of th e cou rse m ake the bik e feel n erv ous and send it h unting arou n d ; it wa llows in th e tap-thebr ak es-and-make-one-downshift fir st turn. th e rear end m ov ing u p a nd dow n a nd u p in a slo w osci lla tion , th e handleb a rs weavi ng a nd bo b bi ng. Pa rallel pavement sea ms ma ke it wobble, a n d it doesn' t feel sta ble in fas t tran sit ions from side- to -si de or uprig ht -to-one-side. I ha ve to sp en d to o much tim e a nd energy a nd co ncentra tio n o n push ing against th e bars, co ntro lli ng the wobb les a nd weaves. I ca n' t ride it fast, feel cl umsv. wonder w hy I a m riding a round ;. stra nge track o n a co ld da y a nd not having a n y fun a t a ll. Even th e sig h t o f th e tach reachin g 10.600 rpm in six th gear doesn ' t ela te m e - I' m too bus y tr yin g to ho ld m y co urse int o th e w ind . On th e thi rd la p . the bike got co mpl e tel y sid ewa ys com ing off a ti ght ri g ht-hander, w here the Itali an had cra shed. I' d ha ve to ro ll o n the throttle more gently. (Co n tinued 10 JUl.!!," 28 ) "Ryuyo.. . is packed right u p to the edges of the property... there isn't much runoff - usually six or eight or 1 0 feet and then into a wall," 15

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