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
along at a miserable 75 miles per hour This bike doesn't care if it's in first, - it makes my day every morning. I honestly don't mind the ergonomics of second, or third gear, it just likes going mono whenever it gets the the GSX-R on my commute - they are Uke I said before, I wasn't content to leave good enough alone. I had to see how much horsepower could be extracted out of the GSX-R1 000 without breaking the bank. I tried a couple of different pipes on the bike, but they were both from Yoshimura. The first pipe I tried was the TRS Tri-Oval Zyclone stainless-steel race exhaust, with a high-exit mid-pipe, and titanium canister. In addition, I added Yoshimura's EMS (engine management system). so that I could alter the fuel· injection mapping to suit the pipe. See Cycle News issue #27 (July 11), for complete test results. The GSX-Rl0oo fitted with the above set up yielded 152.8 horsepower and 78 ft./lbs. of torque at the rear wheel, an increase of 7.3 hp, and almost 2 ft./lbs. of torque. The only problem with this set up was that I felt it killed the mid-range hit a bit too much, and took away the bike's tendency to wheelie in the mid-range. In this case that was a bad thing. It had a killer top end, and the high pipe layout is beautiful, but it just wasn't as fun in everyday riding conditions. Next, I tried Yoshimura's TRS Tri-Oval Race. titanium slip-on exhaust. This, to me, was the perfect solution. For half the price of the full system, the slip on performed very well. The pipe made 151.3 hp and 77.7-ft./lbs. of torque, 5.8 more hp and 1.5-ft./lbs. more torque, respectively. Better yet, the slip-on didn't affect the mid-range Yoshimura's EMS (engine management system). chance. a million times better than the GSX-R Our bike didn't stay stock for too torture devices of yore. The seat is long; see the sidebar for what I did to comfortable, and well-shaped, and the make it faster. It also didn't make it riding position suits my almost-six- through the past seven months unscathed, but I can tell you that it foot frame perfectly. On the rare weekends that I find has been a model of reliability. The time to go out and play in the bike has rarely faltered by any fault of canyons, the GSX-R is a great choice. its own, although I have caused it to Sure, it isn't as nimble as the Yamaha on occasion. The competition has 2002 in an R 1, but it makes up for it exiting the updated their offerings for corners, where the intoxicating acceleration is second to none. One of the effort to take the title back, but it Suzuki's best traits in the canyons - far enough. The GSX-R may have or on a fast racetrack like Willow heightened competition from Honda and Yamaha in 2002, but no matter Springs is its rock-steady handling - remains to be seen if they've taken it the bike stays planted, period. To top what happens, the GSX-R 1000 is still it off, what would a weekend ride be one of the best motorcycles ever without a few irresponsible wheelies? made, end of story. eN The first mishap on our test bike didn't even involve this bike, that's because I highsided our first test unit the day before we were supposed to do the street ride portion of our Open Bike Shootout. This required the replacement of Suzuki part # GSXR-1 A, the part retails for $10.399. and consists of a new bike. In short, I will say that in a desperate attempt to get fresh rubber on the bike - after we destroyed the tires from the racetrack - I mounted up a set of street tires that had spent a little too much time on the shelf. I knew from the light coating of rubber dust on the tires that they were too old, but we needed something on the bike right then. The first comer I took - even while riding with great care - caused the rear end to slide. and the slide inadvertently made me grab more throttle. It must have been the best 10-mph highside of all time. Soon thereafter, we had the bike that I've put the 7800 miles on. and all was well for a while. The only other mishap with the bike I wasn't a witness to. I'd parked the bike at the back of a parking spot at the grocery store, and went inside to use the ATM and grab some breakfast. When I came out of the store I didn't see the bike where I 'd parked it. lof course panicked and ran over to the spot to find that the bike was in fact still there, it just happened to be laying in its side. I still don't know what happened, as there wasn't anyone around who saw what happened, but the bike got knocked over and pushed forward in the space six feet from where I parked it. The end result was a broken right-front turn signal and bent right footpeg, with the Yoshimura exhaust's mid pipe taking the brunt of the damage - oh yeah, and a little bit of cosmetic damage to the right-side graphics and plastic. I was pissed off, to say the least, and all I know about it is that whatever hit it was blue, because that is the color of the paint smudges I had to polish out of the left side of the tank and frame. My only perfoOl1ance complaint about the bike would have to be the hole in the powerband from 4000-4500 rpm, which causes the bike's fuel injection to hunt in that revrange. It just happens to be a rev-range that you spend a lot of time in while riding on surface streets. The bike also on occasion would cough and die while sitting at a stoplight, or while leaving a stoplight. It did it bone stock, and then did It worse with the slip-on pipe. Ultimately, I decided that the idle had fallen out of adjustment. So I propped the fuel tank up and adjusted the idle speed with the adjuster on the left side of the throttle bodies problem solved. Replacement part prices: $34.95 Right-front tum signal Right footpeg , $35.00 Yoshimura mid·pipe $121.00 power in a negative way, and the extra power was instantly noticeable. As for the Yoshimura EMS control box, I felt that it was absolutely mandatory to have with the full race system. in order to getlhe most out of the pipe. On the other hand, the slip-on tended to run the best with the stock fuel-injection mapping, so I would save the money unless you plan on doing other modifications that affect airflow, such as cams or a high-now air filter. To see the ultimate GSX·Rl000, check out Cycle News issue # 27 (July 11) for my review of Yoshimura's GSX·R 1000 Projectile - a 170-hp beast that showcases all of the products that the company mllkes for the bike. The story is also reprinted on Yoshimura's Web site at: www.yoshimura-rd.com/cyclenew.asp. Parts Jist: Yoshimura part # 1115267: TRS Tri-Oval Race titanium slip-on $420.00 Yoshimura part;; 1115167: TRS Tri-Oval Zydone stainless steel race exhaust with Titanium canister and high exit mid-pipe $865.00 Yoshimura part # 54037: EMS control box $475.00 Available from your local dealer, or contact: Yoshimura R&D of America, inc. 4555 Cart"r Court, Chino, CA 91710,1/800-634·9166, www.yoshimura-rd.com One of the biggest expenses other than oil/filter changes has to be tires. I've gone through a couple of sets on this bike. The stock Bridgestone Battiax BTO 1OR rear, and BT011 F front, worked very well for everyday commuting and weekend canyon duty, offering decent grip and excellent mileage. For track days and racetrack testing we used Metzeler's Rennsport RS1/RS2 DOT race tires. They are some of the best DOT-race tires we've ever ridden on, and offered an awesome amount of mileage for a race tire. We ran a 180/55ZR17 RS2 Rennsport instead of the stock-sized 190/50ZR17 on the back at the racetrack, and it helped the bike to tum in a bit quicker than the wide stock rear tire. We stayed with the stock sized 120/70ZR17 RS1 Rennsport on the front. Another recommendation for the street would be the new Melzeler Sportec M-l street tires, see Cycle News issue # 43 (October 31) for a complete review of their excellent new tire. Fuel mileage has averaged around 34 mpg commuting with the slip-on pipe, and has dipped into the iow 20s at the racetrack with the full race exhaust system. Over the course of the 7800 miles, we haven't had any mechanical gremlins, so it's just been routine maintenance, such as tires. oil, oil filter, and fuel. Here are those prices: Metzeler Rennsport RS1 (soft) frOl'lt120/70ZR17 $202.95 Melzeler Rennsport RS2 (medium) rear 180/55ZR17 ...•.................$251.95 Motul 300V synthetic oil $24.95 (2 liter bottle) x2 Suzuki GSX·R Oil filter $12.00 c U a • e n e _. • NOVEMBER 21,2001 31