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/128348
away class leader. Suzuki provided a chart that showed the 2004 Honda CBRIOOORR weighing 396 pounds; Kawasaki claims a dry weight of 37S pounds for the 2004 Kawasaki LX· IOR. The 2005 Yamaha YZFRI weighs in at 379 pounds. The weight savings were achieved in every poss ible component, including many in the power· plant, now a full 99B.6cc. The displacement was gained from an increased bore of 73.4mm, but it didn't increase piston weight; the forged units now each weigh eight grams less than last year 's. Each of the eight 30mm (up from 29mm ) tita nium valves weighs 5.B grams less for a total intake valve weight savings of 46.4 gram s. The 24mm titanium exhaust valves are also light, for a total exhaust valve we ight savings of 44 grams . New, flat-faced valve shaping ma kes a more compact combustion chamber and an increased compression ratio , 12.5: I up from 12: I. The 2005 cylinder head has large r The GSX-Rl000 is available in three calar co mb ina tio ns: blue/white, ellow/black and black/silver. The ram-air d ucts have been moved even closer to the center of the fa iring for more effec tive air flow. The headlights are brand-new as well. intake and exhaust po rts , with the two outside inta ke ports angled 5mm close r to the cylinde r head centerline, all to allow the use of more compact thr o ttle bod ies. Att ention to the smalles t de tail re sulted in we ight savings on head bolts and cam cover bo lts. Ov e rall, the engine is lighte r, with less rec ipro cating we ight and more power. Keeping the four cylinders coo ler is a new tra pezoida l radiato r with I7-per cent more coo ling capacity, achieved wit hout increasing fro ntal area . The rad iato r is wider at the top and narrower at the bottom , and taller overall. Suzuki was pe nalized in 2004 by the AMA rule limiting alterna tive throttle bod ies for fou r-cylinde rs. They responded for 2005 with improved , digitally co ntrolled fue l-injection and en gine management systems. The throttle bodies have 2mm larger bores (52mm vs. 50mm at the inlet, 44mm vs. 42mm at the primary but terfly valve, and 44mm vs. 42mm at the inta ke man ifold) and carry two mu ltiholed, fine atomization fuel injecto rs in The instrument cluster is a brand-new design and has a ll of the information the rider needs. each bore. The primary fuel injector is always wo rking, w hile t he second o ne kicks in at highe r rpm . What fo rst catches t he eye w ith the new machine is the new, all-titanium exha ust system . The large , triangulate d unit inco rpo rat es the Suzuki Exhaust Tuning system , w hich uses a servo-controlled butterfly valve in the pipe betwe e n the collector and the muffler to improve thrott le respon se and to rque in response to engine rpm , throttle pos ition and gear choice . The clutch on Mladin's GSX-RIOOO was a constant problem in 2004, tho ugh it was vastly improved by the en d of the year. Suzuki took that into accou nt when it built the new unit, now activated by a more po sitive, cam clutch re lease system. Ramped e ngageme nt cams built into t he clutch hub adjust pres sure under different cond itions, the result being that it acts as a bac k-torque limiter and contributes to smoo the r downshi fts. Sitting on the new GSX-R I 000 te lls you they 're on to something. Lowe r and narrower, the seating is more reminiscent of a 600cc machine t han a 1000. The seat is 20mm lower and the reac h to the co nt rols is 40mm shorte r. The dist ance betw een the footpegs is 17mm narrower, meaning the pegs can be slight ly lower without compromising lean angle. The wheelbase is 1405 mm long, 5mm shorter for 'OS, with rake incre ased from 23.S to 23.75 deg rees, with 5mm mor e trail. Th e head lights are vert ically stacked, which kee ps the intake ducts closer to the fairing nose , w here the air pre ssure is the highest. The front turn signals are now integrated into the stream lined mirrors , and the rear turn signals are built into the tail section. Overall, there's a 4-percent reduction in frontal area and a 5-pe rcent red uction in aerodynamic drag. O ne of the untold sto ries of this year 's AMA Chevrolet Supe rbike Championship was the Yoshimura Suzuki's team use of wind tunnel testing late in the campaign, when the Hondas were using the ir speed advantage to make a run at Mladin. Suzuki has bee n able to co nce ntrate the www.cyclenews.com weig ht by re ducing the frame lengt h by 6mm, mea ning the engine crankshaft is 3mm closer to both the steering head and swingarrn pivot. The swingarm pivot shaft location can be adjusted up and down, changing the sw ingarm angle for racing by using the optional race kit spacers. The Kayaba inverted cart ridge forks have redesigned 43mm inner tubes , plated wit h an anti-stletion materia l. The rear Kayaba piggyback reservoir rear shock has a new linkage. The 17-inch cast aluminum alloy wheels have thinner spokes, re ducing unsprung weight by 300 grams pe r wheel. The bike co mes with a 120/70ZR-1 7 fron t an d 190/50ZR- 17 rear Bridgestone Battl ax radial tires. Stopping t he big Suzu ki ar e large r 3 1Omm fro nt brake discs, up from 300mm. Four- piston, radial-mount front brake calipers w ith aluminum alloy piston s are now co ntrolled by a radial piston master cylinder. Th e inst rume ntatio n is all-new, with an ana log tachometer, LCD speedomete r, odome te r, dua l tripmeters, clock, coo lant temperature and new gear position indicators. LED turn signals, high-beam , neutra l and fuel-level-indicato r li hts are used , and g a separate set of LEOs indicates fuel inject ion, coolant te mperatu re and oil-pressure wa r ning. What does it all add up to? Too soo n to tell. As this is written, Mladin's crew chief Pete r Doyle and mechan ic Reg O 'Ro urke are in Japan building t he 2005 race mac hines for their fo rst tes t in Malaysia in early November. The new GSX-RIOOO won't be available to co nsume rs until March , though Mel Harris, vice president of ASMC's motorcycielATV division, said Suzuki was "tryi ng to make every effort to have it in time " fo r the Dayto na 200 . It will eN certainly be worth the wait . CYCLE NEWS . NOVEMBER 3, 200 4 25