Isthis the tool for Mat Mladinto WI
unprecedented sixth Superbike title .
By
he 2005 Suzuki G5X-R1000 is
illegal unde r t he 2004 rules .
The minimum weight fo r a
5uperbike in the AMAChevrolet 5uperbike Championship is
370 po unds . The new Suzuki flagship
weighs 366 pounds . Throw on a Yoshimura
ex haust system; take off the t urn signals,
mirrors, head light and kickstan d ; and
re place t he bo dyw or k and inst rument
panel. and you're looking at adding ballast.
T
More impressive is the power to weight
ratio . With claims of 172 horsepower, up
from 162, that's nearly a 1:2 horsepower to
weight ratio, which should make fo r a very
fast motorcycle .
"It shou ld be the Superbike champ ionshi p bike ne xt year for sure," Yoshimura
24
NOV EMBER 3, 2004 •
HENNY
RAy
ABRAMS
Suzu ki's Be n Spies said after o ne lap
arou nd Road Atlanta on t he new Suzuki.
Suzuki wasn't quite ready to offer test
bikes. Instead they gave a technical briefing
in co njunct ion w ith the Wo rld Suzuki Cu p
and WERA Grand National Finals at Road
Atlanta. But a few select riders did get a lap
- w ith t he warning that t hese same
machines would be used as photo models
t he next day and to bring them back in one
piece . They did, fo r the mo st part .
"It just feels good," Yoshimura Suzuki's
Aaron Yates said. "It's going to be a bike
you can go out and ride really hard and be
comfortable on , I feel like. I feel it's going
to fit me well. I revved it up pretty good .
That thing will pull; it'll run good . I didn't
really get to ride a superstock bike last
C Y CLE NEWS
year.
kno w wh at
they run like.
I know ou r
su perbike is
running really
good, and t hat
t hing, it pulled and
pulled. It seemed like it ran
like a superbike."
Yates will be racing t he new GSXRI 000 in both t he Superstock and
Super bike classes in 2005 .
Ben Spies took his solo lap on co ld DOT
street tires. Still , there was a burst of speed
he was familiar w ith.
"I opened it up on the back straight once
and it pretty much fee ls like what my super-
40th Anniversary
s t oc k
bi k e
had all
year long,
which
was
goo d in stock
form ," Spies said.
"The thing handles awesome . It didn't feel like the
OL
tires were cold. Y tipped
it in and it turned. It was awesome . It's hard to te ll because of cold
tires, just the lightness of it. I think it's going
to be the bike to have."
Reducing weight and centering the mass
was repeatedly stressed during the briefing.
The new RIOOOweighs 2 kilos (4.4 pounds)
less than last year 's machine and is the run-
