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/128310
tion cham ber; the pistons are now flattopped; and the valves are titanium. making them lighte r and the re by reducing inertia and increasing engine speed. It all works because the GSX-R is fast but still has plen ty of to rque - not normally a strong characteristic of a 600cc sportbike. O nce you get used to how good t he bike goes. you also realize how quickly and efficiently it stops goi ng. T hat' s because th is year's 600 gets the full treatment on brakes. the highly fashion able radia lmounted num bers that are all the rage . No t having them these days is like being the on ly kid on taco day w ith a sack lunch. Suzuki uses four-piston Tokicos up fro nt. and they not only stop the bike in a hurry. but t he y feel part icularly nice through the fingers while doi ng so (due at least in part to a radial-mounted master cylinder) . Trail-braking is a piece of cake because of the excellent fee l that these binders provide. and some of the other testers in the gr ou p were even telling fish stories of rea r-wheel lifts under braking (bragging bastards!). Because of the braking power the rad ials provide . the discs themselves can be smaller than nonradial mounte d brakes - thus this year's GSXR600 uses 300 mm discs co mpared to the 320mm un its fou nd on last year's bike . With the sma ller d iscs also comes a weigh t savings of 20 grams each. even though they're .5mm thicker. Lighte r and sma ller also equals less reci procating mass fo r impro ved handling fro m the frbn t e nd . Th e fron t suspension on the new bike differs from last year's in tha t th is year's Showa is now upside down and 43mm instead 45 mm and conv entional. The rear suspension has changed in that it is now longe r (up to 332m m fro m 325). kicking the rear end up a tad . I didn't even touch the suspension until the second of three sessions on ou r second day at Misano (say that really fast). and even the n it was just a few clicks on both e nds to stiffen it up a little bit as my speeds picked up. Th e chassis on the GSX-R has bee n altered. mainly in an effort to make it more compact and lighter. It' s also more aggres sive in that t he rake (steeper) and trail (decreased) have changed to alter the geometry - and th e bike now also has 5mm more grou nd clearance. (Here's the part in my story whe re I'd love to tell you that I was going so fast I was dragg ing everything on both sides of the GSX-R600 . but that would be another fish story. Nothing touched . Ever. I promise.) The new GSX·R600 features stacked headlights which a llow the ra m·a ir system to be located clo ser to the center of the bike . The new GSX-R is a com fortab le bike to ride. at least on the racetrack. Be ing height-challenged never creates a problem with ro om iness. eve n on a sportblke, but the Suzuk i has loads o f roo m. and I cou ldn't get to the back of the seat if I tried. The gas ta nk is shorter and narrower for 2004. and t he seat sits Smm lower than on last year's bike . With th e chassis be ing narrower t his year. t he foot pegs are 10m m closer together. and I noticed th is immediately (just kidd ing!). Th e fairing is also narrower w ith sweet little stacked headlights highlighting the styling changes to the bike . And Suzuk i says this is also a performance be nefit. as the narrower. stacked lights allow the SRAD ram-air system to be located closer to the center of the nos e - the highest pressure poin t. thus increasing intake efficiency. Th ey say the 2Smm makes a diffe re nce . and we' II take t heir word for it . It's read ily appa re nt t hat the bike changes d irection wit h very litt le effort . The dopey little chicane at Misano is a did n't matter where I was. rpm-wise. C lean and cris p - every time. The GSX-R is light at 3S4 pounds (that's 29 pounds less than w hen the bike was int ro duced in 1997) and nimble. and the 30-minute stints we were forced to e nd ure at Misano were effortless and only left us wan ting more. Grip was also good at the Misano circuit . even though the bikes were fitted with st reet-compound Bridgesto nes and not grippy race tires. While the Euro mo d- The dash on the GSX·R is clean and func· tiona l. Note 1S,5 0 0 rpm re d line l Radial·mounted Tokico brakes give bath exce lle nt stop ping power and fee l. right/le ft combinat ion tha t places a premium on the bike's flickability. and I recall that set of co rners be ing a bit of work four years ago w hen Suzuk i introd uced its GSXR7S0 at the same racetrack. Not so with the 600. You're in and you're out in a New York minute. quick ly moving on to bigge r and better corners. Another thing worth men tion ing on the GSX-R is the fuel injection (the throttle bodies on t he ne w bike are now of the dual dou ble-barrel variety instead o f the four single- bar rel units used last yea r) - because somebody got it right. In two days of riding at Misano . I neve r encounte re d even a hiccup w hen picking up the throttle - and it www.cyclenews.com els w ill come with the 'Sto nes, th ose on th is side o f the pond will get Dunlo ps. You always have to be careful no t to jump to conclusions w hen you ride a Euro pean-spec bike in Europe because they always feel a bit faster and a bit perkier than t hey do at home. With that said. I'll stop short of saying t he GSX-R600 is the best 600cc sportbike I've eve r ridden. But I will say the bike I rode in Ita ly was a pretty incre d ible little motorcycle. If t he U.S. version has remotely similar power characteristics. I t hink you'lI agree with me . eN SPECIFICATIONS 2004 Suzuki GSX-R600 LIST PRICE $8099 DISPLACEMENT 599cc ENGIN E TYPE ....Liquid-coo led . in-line. four-cylinde r four-st roke BORE x STROKE 67.0 x 42.5mm COMPRESSION RATIO 12.5: I CARBURETION ..Electronicfuel injection IGN ITION Digital COl TRANSMISSION Six-speed. constant-mes h STARTING SYSTEM Electric FUEL CAPAC ITY 4.49 gal. WHEELBASE 54.7 in. RAKEITRAIL 24"/93mm SEAT HEIGHT 32.4 in. FRO NT T IRE 120/70- 17 REAR TIRE 180/55 - 17 FRONT SUSPENSION Fully adjustable 43mm inve rted Showa FRO NT·W HEEL TRAVEL .4.7 in. REAR SUSPENSION ..Fullyadjustable Showa w/progressive linkage REAR·W HEEL T RAVEL 5.1 in. FRONT BRAKE....Twin 300mm discs w/ 4-piston radial-mount calipers REAR BRAKE Single n Omm disc w/ 2-piston caliper FINAL DRIVE Chain CLAIMED DRY WEIGHT 354 Ibs. CYCLE NEWS • FEBRUARY 11 , 2004 29