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/128131
2001 Suzuki GSX-R1000 sport bike for 2001, I was bursting at the seams with anticipation. I was the first guy here at Cycle News to ride the new GSX-R1000 at its introduc- ike a lot of sportbike enthusiasts, J when Suzuki announced that they were producing a new open-class I 30 NOVEMBER 21. 2001 • cue I bike revolved around riding the near- tion at Road Atlanta last December, By BLAKE CONNER PHOTOS BY TOM RILES 150-horsepower bike on a cold, e n ... _ s and I haven't stopped raving about the bike since. My first,memories of riding the damp, racetrack on street-compound tires. Exhilarating would be a massive understatement for how I was feeling as I guided the bike down Road Atlanta's back straight at 160 mph, with a Miss Budweiser-sized wake shooting off my rear tire on the wet racetrack. The second memory that jumps into my mind was that, after exiting turn seven at Road Atlanta, there was a rise in the track that would make the GSX-R wheelie lap after lap. I normally don't mind a power wheelie here and there, in fact I love them, but the GSX-R1000 was snapping its front wheel toward the sky at 135-140 mph lap after lap. I never got used to it that day, and once I was able to tame the wheelies down a bit, I only reduced the height and extended the distance, they were seriously long. From that day on, I knew that Suzuki had created something special, the most badass sportbike ever produced. A few months later, in late March, we gathered all of the open-class sportbikes in the category together and conducted the Cycle News Open Bike Shootout. The victor was the Suzuki - narrowly defeating the nimble Yamaha Rl - primarily due to the Suzuki's unbelievable horsepower and lack of weight. Our bone-stock GSX-R1000 produced 145.50 horsepower and 76.3 ft./pounds of torque on the dyno, a full 11.1 more horsepower than the runner-up R1. I've ridden a lot of bikes over the past few years that I felt I could own and live with, but this bike redefined my opinions completely. Sure, I love riding all types of bikes and there are so many cool bikes on the market these days, but I always seem to gravitate back to the GSX-R1000 in our garage. As of this writing, the odometer on our GSX-R1000 reads 7800 miles. It has served duty as a daily commuter, weekend canyon carver and track-day weapon at Willow Springs International Raceway. My commute is about as boring as they get, consisting of eight miles of surface streets and 25 miles of freeway carpool lanes each way. To this day, there hasn't been a single morning with the GSX-RIOOO that I didn't open my garage in excited anticipation for riding the bike to work. I never get bored with the bike, and in fact, it keeps me from getting bored on my way to work. I never get over how much I enjoy dropping down two gears into fourth, and zapping by cars that are droning