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/127768
1996 Suzuki GSXR750·T (Left and above) Not only did Suzuki make the new GSXR750 more race worthy but more comfortable for normal street us e, as well. Overall, the bike Is still s mall but feels more s pacious than before. By Mark Hoyer Photos by Kit Palmer and Hoyer h e GS XR ha s go ne b a ck to its r o ots . A deca de a g o, th e fir st GSXR750 w as released, and it left the ot her p layers in the sportbike market stunned an d confused, not to mentio n in the d us t. Up to th at time th er e had never been a mass-produced motorcycle w it h such a n uncompromising focus on speed . It wasn 't like the motorcycle on the race track, it was the motorcycle on the race track. An d wh ile this sharp focu s nett ed fine results under the de mandi ng cond itions of com pe tition, it left a few things to be desired under the less speedy pa ce of the real-life, go ttarid e-to-work world. "Ergo -w ha t?" Su zuki d esi gn engineers asked . "You mean people actually have to ride this thing?" Yes, unless you had the physique of a m onkey (knuckle-draging lon g arms, stu bby legs) th ings w ere a bit, w ell , un com fortable. Nobod y cared, though . Con sumer s didn' t ask an y questi on s th e earl y GSXR w as th e co olest thing goin g. And for a while it virtually rul ed the AMA 750 Supersport class; as well as taking its fair sha re of Superbike victori es . Thi s 'd o es n ' t d o much for ergonomi cs, but suc h knowledge does tend to take so me of th e ache ou t of yo ur wrists, you r neck, your ba ck... well, you ge t the idea. N ow , of course, th er e's a new one. Aa ron Yates, Pascal Picotte, Scott Russell (riding one in the Daytona 200), and eve n ou r esteemed editor h imself, have T 6 (Above) The new GSXR750 has a short 55.1-lnch wheelbase, and weighs In at right around 400 pounds. (Left) The Instruments are a little difficult to see from on top of the bike; as you look down, the edge of the windscreen hangs over and gets In the way. tested the new GSXR's race-track mettle, and all have come awa y im p ressed. That' s fine for them, but what abo ut the res t of us? We were extreme ly interested to see h ow the new bike would stack up in normal street use, because, as everyone know s, wha t's goo d for the tra ck is n ' t n e ce ss aril y go od for the s treet. It ' s always been a qu esti on of co m prom ise - an d we w anted t o kn ow h ow much. So as soon as our test bik e became available, we hit the road. Th e GS XR is s ma ll , though it feels mor e spacious than last year's bike. And yo u n ot ice the w eight, or lack o f it, the first time you take it off its si des ta n d . Such a li ght m ach ine (39 4 .6 -po u n d claimed dry we igh t) with a short 55.l -inch wh eelbase and fairl y ext re me chassis geo met ry sho u ld be a han d ful over the irr egular pavem ent of the real wo rld. But it's really no t all tha t bad . Freeway ex pa ns io n joints p lay havoc on the rider because of the sho rt wheelbase, ro cki ng the b ike back an d forth, but that' s the worst of it. The susp e n s io n , w h il e su itabl y s tiff fo r th e machine's intended purpose, isn 't harsh . The plus side of all thi s is clearly evident the first time you lean in to a comer - an almost effortless affa ir, it's w orth noting. Steerin g is light and p recise, and left-ri ght tra nsitio ns co me eve n m or e eas ily th an for sleazy politicia ns . There is no vagueness here, just a wonderfully communicative fro nt end th at a lways lets yo u kno w w ha t th e fro n t tir e "is do ing. Of cou rse, after a few hundred miles all th is "noise " abo u t what th e front wheel thinks of the pebble it just ran over and the tar strip it just met can start to be a bit of a se nsory overload . Sma ller doses are bett er. " The broad, flat sea t is a pleasant su rprise, the padding unusu ally abundant. The seating posit ion puts yo u. right on top of the bars. Indeed , wit h the fairing shape such as it is, one ge ts the impression of nea rly bein g in front of the bike. The windscreen comes well back tow ard the rid er and more th an one tester found himself looking through it to get a sligh tly distorted look at the gauges, both of w hich w ould be ve ry easy to rea d - if the edge of the windscree n wer en 't in the 'Yay . Also, other manu factu rers take no te, th e GSXR750 offers dual tr ipmeters in its LCD odometer. Very nice. And while the new bod yw ork cu ts a dashing figure and pa sses effi cie n tly through the atmosphere, as for p rotect-