VOL. 51 ISSUE 2 JANUARY 13, 2015 P69
three decades on to look after
the bike once more, and remind
me of some reference points
from both our yesterdays as he
warmed it up for my first outing
at Cape Town. With more than
five liters of oil in the wet-sump
engine, this is doubly important
on the oil-cooled Gixxer, making
it curious that its minimalist dash
consisting of an ignition key
which must also unlock the seat
(an arcane requirement of the
Superstock class, presumably
as lip service to the fact this
was once a streetbike!) and a
stock white-faced tachometer,
no longer features the oil
temperature gauge that was
on the bike when I first rode
it back then. (Strangely, there
never was one monitoring the
oil pressure as well, which you'd
think was quite important on
this bike). With the aid of the
large oil cooler mounted in front
of the cylinder head, normal
running temperature is actually
100-110°C, and Heron Suzuki
dyno tests showed the hotter
the engine runs the more power
it produces, presumably as
tolerances are taken up.
Clambering aboard the GSX-R
delivered a real surprise. I'd
forgotten how low the seat was,
especially compared to later 750
Superbikes, though even the
contemporary FZ750/VF750
had you sitting higher up, and
also how cramped the riding
position is once you've inserted
yourself into the thickly padded
seat, which seems improbably
plush for a racer, practically like
an armchair. You're effectively
wedged in place, and it takes
some maneuvering to hang off
the side in turns, making Mick
Grant's trademark economical
style of sitting in place while you
use the good grip of the modern
Michelin Pilot One street tires
to crank it on its side, the hot
tip for riding this first-series
Gixxer. No wonder it was such
a fantastic bike for endurance
racing. Tony Salt's fitted 17-inch
wheels off a current GSX-R750
to be able to fit modern Michelin
Pilot One rubber, rather than the
18-inchers it came with as stock,
or the 16-inchers Grant raced
with, for which tires are now
unobtainium. He's also mounted
a plate above the exhaust on
which to position your right heel
instead of barbecuing it on the
pipe, but the right-foot one-up
gearshift conversion was done
back then by Heron themselves
to accommodate Mick.
