IN
THE
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TATSUYA SASAKI TALKS GSX-R1000
L
ast week, Suzuki unveiled its
long-awaited updated GSX-
R1000, and we caught up with
Tatsuya Sasaki, assistant man-
ager and chief engineer for the
2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000, and
chatted with him about how the
new GSX-R came to be.
How long have you been
involved with the GSX-R?
I started working for Suzuki
29 years ago! In 1986 my first
job was as the chassis designer
on the second generation of
GSX-R750 and I worked on ev-
ery bike until 1995. I then moved
to the product planning section
with ATVs before returning to
two wheels in 2008 following
the economic crisis. At that time
we couldn't make any new prod-
ucts due to the poor economy,
but since the recovery my role
has moved to mainly GSX-R.
When did work on the new
GSX-R1000 start?
I can't say specifically, it has
been in development for quite a
long time.
What needed improving on
the new bike compared to the
old model?
The new GSX-R needed to
be king of the sportbikes, which
has always been the GSX-R
series' goal—to be the top per-
former. Nothing has changed in
the philosophy, but everything
has changed on the bike to al-
low it to make this next step in
its evolution—chassis, geometry,
Sasaki-san has
forgotten more about
GSX-R's than most
people will ever
know.
