2017 SUZUKI GSX-R1000
FIRST TEST
P100
We have yet to sample the
big daddy 1000R here at Cycle
News, something that will hap-
pen in the very near future, so for
us, the base model GSX-R1000
will serve as our introduction to
the 2017 machine—a bike Suzuki
is hoping will take it back to the
top of the superbike heap after
several years in the wilderness.
Like the Honda CBR1000RR,
it's been nearly 10 years since
we've seen a new GSX-R1000.
Well, seven, actually, but that's
It still looks like
a GSX-R and has
a very similar
feel to the old
bike when you
sit on it. The
new headlight,
however, looks
much better.
a lifetime in modern superbike
terms. The game has moved so,
so far since then, but Suzuki know
how to build a good bike when
they want to, and the title of King
of Superbike is one they dearly
want back after having a monopoly
on it for a couple of decades.
MORE REVS, MORE POWER
Smaller, lighter, faster—that's the
superbike game in 2017. Dimen-
sionally Suzuki's achieved the
smaller part of the equation as
the 2017 motor is 22.2mm shorter
(Clockwise from top left) Here you
can see the balls located in the cam
grooves (white sprocket). There's
very, very little that hasn't been
changed in the new Suzuki motor.
Brand new, lightweight finger
followers replace the tappet system
of the 2016 model.