SHOOTOUT
P78
5 TH
2013 MIDDLEWEIGHT SPORTBIKE SHOOTOUT
E
ngineered for racers seeking an effective and easily
modifiable race bike, Suzuki's 2013 GSX-R600 ($11,599)
has been a favorite for club and
professional racers alike. It's
a proven package, having netted three of four AMA Daytona
SportBike Championships. Even
though it received a refresh two
years ago, today's Gixxer-6 is one
of the older platforms in this contest. Can it still compete against
the newer generation machines?
Compared to other manufacturers' regularly scheduled
wheel-to-wheel redesigns, Suzuki prefers to develop its sportbikes through carefully crafted
refinements. Thus today's GSX-
R600 doesn't feel a whole lot different than it did a decade ago.
Of course, it is lighter, faster, and
better handling, but the real benefit is how familiar a platform it is
for many of our testers.
Swing a leg over the red GSXR and it's clear that it's one of the
lighter bikes in this contest. It has
a low center of gravity and bal-
