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/128314
have to admit that I was a little worried about riding the new 2004 GSXR7S0 at Suzuki's Ryuyo Proving Ground in Hamamatsu, Japan . It all started a couple of months ago when I innocently asked Kevin Schwantz which track was the worst he'd ever ridden. The reply was Ryuyo, and his tales of an ultrahigh-speed circuit lined completely with scantily padded concrete walls painted an ugly picture . So a month later when Suzuki announced that its GSX-R7S0 int r o wou ld ta ke place at Ryuyo, I wondered what the hell I was getting myself into. First of all Schwantz wasn't exagger· ating when he described the place. It looked at least as dangerous as he described, and the track had received I - some improvements since number 34's heyday. The Suzuki staff made it extremely clear that Ryuyo isn't a racetrack, but a testing facility, The first time I watched a bike come up the long front straight with a full head of steam, I realized that there wasn't a wall between the track and myself - just 10 yards of grass. I just shook my head in amazement and took a few big steps backward. More on the track later, but let's get one thing out of the way first: Let's answer the question many of you may be asking. Just why in the hell is Suzuki still making a GSX-R750 anyway? The answer is actually a lot simpler than you may think. No, Suzuki wasn't caught in a pickle by the new Superbike rules that favor the 1000cc bikes 750.., or the change of the 10000c as we ll. As a any inten- straight out of town, in bot h 750cc-c1ass racing and on the showroom floor - and it wou ld take a fool to argue otherwise. So instead of turning its back on the bike that has created so many victories and generated so much corporate pride, it decided to build a machine that will continue to add to the GSX-R750's legacy. Having recendy spent some serious time in the saddle of the 750's brand-new little brother the GSX-R6oo, as well as on the big bullyolder brother the GSX-RI000, I was excited to see if the middle sibling could hold its own. It didn't take long for my opinion of the new bike to develop. All it took was seeing an indicated 299 kilometers per hour (185 mph) on the speedometer on my first flying lap around Ryuyo. I'm normally not one to pay attention to the speedo on the racetrack (oh, sorry, proving ground) , but on Ryuyo's two-kilometer-long straight I stared at 299 clicks long enough every lap to think things like, "What would a deer look like if I split it in two going this fast," and then more to the point, what would I look like? My brain simply had way too much time to wander into negative thoughts . The GSX-R's artiflcially limited 299 kph ( 185 mph) is pretty optimistic because that's the speed that the Hayabusa is limited to, but even if the actual number is around 170-175 mph, that's one hell of a fast 750. The 750's motor is, in a word, excellent. Despite the fact that the track only had a few places where the bike could be squirted out of slower corners, the lower gears for a change. I was intimately in tune with the motor's top end after spen ding two days on the track , most of the time spent above fifth gear. The GSX-R750 has a voracious appetite for revs. The key to the 750's new-found performance is due to a completely redesigned cylinder head. The goal was to reduce mechan ical losses for improved acceleration and for a higher rev limit. Externally the motor is the same as the previous mill, but it's the higher compression heads that provide the added performance. New forged aluminum pistons have a new crown that combined with the redesigned valve shape has made the com bustion chambers more compact, raising the compression ratio from 12: I to 12.3: I. The hollow cams now have a larger 16.5mm hole through their centers, saving we ight and reduc ing inertia. The intake and exhaust valves are now made of titanium instead of steel and, combined with new lighter valve springs, help to reduce reciprocating mass and allow the redline to be raised by 500 rpm to 14,000 rpm. The limiter doesn't actually kick in until 14,500 rpm , which I experienced at the top of fifthgear through the track's blind chicane at the top of the front straight. I only made that mistake a few times before I started clicking sixth gear through that section . Just for perspective, Schwantz was hitting the rev-lirnlter in sixth gear at 299 kph to my 288 kph motor's acceleration was impressive. A better indication of the motor's power was discovered later in the day during a photo session when I was able to screw around , pull wheelies, and actually try out the The GSX· R75 0 is 6.6 po unds lighte r th a n the p re vio us madel, weighing in at a clai med 359 pounds dry. www.cyclenews.com C YC LE N EWS • MARCH 10,2004 29