Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

a (Above) Brembo corbon brokes. (Bofiom lelt) flte GSV-R V-four woil: through the unrilenced exhoust, (Boftom righr) Ihe 65dogrrc V4 rcvs ro 15,3d) rpm. GSX-RI000 with which Troy Corser blired the 2@5 World Superbike Series. That Corser's modified streetbike deliv- erc 209 hp at the gearbox (barely l0-per- cent l€ss than the GSV-R) and can cut lap times on spec Pirelli tires not so very far away from the same manufacturer's no- holds GP racer of equivalent capaciq/ but 30 pounds less weight - while running on the latest Bridgestone race tires - the mystery only deepens. Ahhough this was the third time I'd ridden the GSV-R in one form or anodrer, previgus outings were both at Suzuki's own private test sessions, whereas here at Valencia, my l0-l+ test came on a day when I was hopping back and forth between it and Rossi's Yamaha, as well as the equally work-in-progress ZX-RR Kawasaki. So this allowed me for the first time to make a sarne-day, hands-on com- parison between the Suzuki and is rivals, and the outcome was pretty instructive. Climbingaboard the Suzukiafter a ses- sion on each of the in-line fours at once revealed a maior difference in architec- ture - the narrow-angle V-four Suzuki is notably taller, with a seemingly more upright riding stance, which delivers more ofyour body weight onto the front wheel viayour arms and wrists as compared to the other bikes, where you seem to be lying more prone. And while the GSV-R feels to have its mass more compactd together than even the YZR-M l, the Suzuki does feel to have more weight on the front wheel than the YZR-M I - and certainly it has more ample bodywork, which gives the rider better protection in a strai8ht line. lt also feels just a linle big- ger and is slightly heavier to lift from side to side on a tight, twisry track like Valencia, where physical effort was required to make the GSV-R turn while still keeping up entry speed in a place where the Yamaha had done the same job practically on autopilot, and the Kawasaki wasn't so bad, either- However. where the Suzuki scores is undoubtedly in cornering speed, where a combination of what feels like a for- ward weight bias that's somewhat aided by the weight transfer delivered under braking by a taller bike like this (plus Bridgestone's great frgnt tire and the GSV-R's s\r/eet-steering chassis design) allowed me to get pretty brave in keep- ing up momentum in Valencia's more testing turns. The only problem with a bike like this, which handles great in turns, but loses out in top speed, is that while you can cut front-row times in qualirying, if you look hard enough for a clear track or can maybe grab a crucial draft at the right moment on the run to the line, tn/ing to do the same thing in a race is a different story With faster bikes zapping past you on the straigks, then parking themselves in turns and insisting you back off the gas to avoid hitting them, only for them to use their superior power to leave you standing on their way out, momentum maintenance becomes a tough hsk. "Handling has never been a problem with this machine - all through this year it's been great," said John Hopkins. 'And as far as the Bridgestones go, the edge grip's really good on them, and this year that's where we've had to make up our tjme - on the brakes, gefting in to the corners, and midcorner turn speed. Because we lose so much coming out of the turns and down the straights, we D have to make up our time somewhere - and this is the only place we can. But then you also destroy the edge grip of your tires doing that, though, and that obvi- ously creates a big problem for you at the end of the race." The only issue I had with the handling was that there wasn't as much bite as I expected from the Brembo radial carbon brakes, which, after all, were the exact same ones that worked so well when fit- ted to both the other bikes I was testing that day. "l have the brakes set up like that deliberately," admitted Hopper- "l do a lot of trail braking into turns because that's my style, and I don't need it to be that touchy, because I like to brake while l'm leaned over quite a bit. And I don't use the rear brake at all - liust use more engine braking and I also use the clutch. So because I like a lot of front brake when l'm leaned over, if it's too touchy then it's too easy to lose the front." Speaking of engine braking, this season Suzuki still Save its two riders, who are from contrasting schools of thought and experience, the option to ride the GSV-R in the way that suits them best when slowing for turns and shifting down through the gears. As he says, four-srro- ker Hopkins never tor.rches the back brake but uses the clutch and blips rhe throttle as a matter of course when brak- ing and downshifting into a turn. With a "normal" 2000-rpm idle speed in neutral, which is yaried in turns depending on the gear sele€ted and the reveGe torque sen- sor, the GW-R s engine-braking program is completet predictable in what it does. On the other hand, if you're a barely reformed ring-dinger two-stroke refugee like Kenny Roberts lr., the Suzuki will also allow you never to use the clutch at any time, once you've got it off the grid, I tried riding it like this for a couple of laps with rny left hand's lingers clamped to the handlebar, shifting up and down without the clutch - and if that's what does it for you, the Suzuki's your mate - ready to shift up and down pretty seamlessly throuSh the gears without blipping the throttle or any work on the clutch lever, no mafter how many revs you decide to use on the overun. You still get engine braking, though - there's a limit to how much ofthis two-stroke stuff the GSV-R is prepared to tolerate - but the only time you have to use the clutch is for shifting into bottom gear. So the confidence in corners rhat the Suzuki chassis package delivers definitely allowed Hopper and lunior to minimize the handicap posed by the GSV-R motor's lack of top speed, even from the uprated XRE-2.3 version of the V-four engine used this year, which (while more frugal because of the new 22-liter fuel tank \ tt t a t6 $r- & 3e, CYCLE NEWS . JANUARY 18,2006 25 I I * I / .|. \ t 4 \o .l \ s mh I- EI I t -l I Y. $ ''t I :. o? 'Y-::--t -fS- { I t ,I

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