VOL. 52 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 P63
GSX-R750 Y
The 16th year of the GSX-R750 in
2000 bought with it another new
model, the third major revision in
its history. The look was totally
changed, with sleeker bodywork
replacing the bulbous look of the
mid-90s. Underneath the new clothes
sat a narrower engine with a totally
redesigned fuel injection system. The
cylinders and the upper crankcase
were now cast as one unit, helping to
increase the overall strength and bring
weight down, plus the new chassis
had a 20mm longer swingarm to aid
traction and stability. New four-piston
brakes (replacing the old six-piston
units), sat up front.
The 2000 GSX-R750 was claimed
to be a whopping 29 pounds lighter
than the 1996-'99 machine—11
pounds of that alone came from the
engine with power now claimed to
be 141 horsepower. Mat Mladin used
the machine to decimate the AMA
Superbike field, winning the title in
2000 and 2001 to make it three in a
row before being stopped by Nicky
Hayden and the Honda RC51 in 2002.
But this would be the last time
the 750 would be considered a true
superbike. The GSX-R1000 arrived in
2001, the power race had started, and
from 2003 the 750 was in no-man's-land.
2000 last time the 750 could be considered
a true superbike, and it was a weapon.
2000
