Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/824646
2017 SUZUKI GSX-R1000 FIRST TEST P108 HOLDING IT WIDE AT COTA Two days in Texas, one at Circuit of the Americas and the other on the roads at the back of the city, highlight the two sides of the GSX-R's face. As my mate Ari Henning says, "taping the throttle on a 1000cc sportbike in sixth is about as good as it gets." He isn't wrong. And Circuit of the Ameri- cas is one of the few places in the country you can really let a 1000cc machine have its head. Down the back straight with the motor screaming up through the mid- range, past the 10,000 rpm VVT mark and dancing in the top end, the sheer shriek of the blue beast underneath is making me feel drunk on velocity. A GSX-R's intake has a distinct sound to it. It's meaty, loud and sounds like it could suck in small children. It's absolutely to the machine's detriment that there is no quick- shifter as standard on the base model GSX-R as it'd make the back straight even more fun, but I'm not complaining too much. The shift is still nice and smooth, feels pretty much like the old bike, but I'd sure love not to have to back off to snatch that next gear. In all, the best I see is 172 mph on the Suzuki's dash down the back straightaway. That's tremendous speed, but the way it gets there is underwhelming. It doesn't have the manic power of a BMW or the dirty great grunt of a Ducati—the Suzuki just gets on with the job of building speed smoothly and quickly, without much fuss. Very Japan-like. The VVT system is pretty damn discreet. I will be honest and say I find it hard to de- tect when it comes in, watching the dash lights swing past 10K rpm and into the top end. The GSX-R has excellent torque from pretty low down anyway, a feature of past GSX-R1000s, it's just the new bike feels fuller right through the rev range and after trying the three Suzuki Drive Mode Select modes, I settle on Mode A and leave it there as I like the directness of the throttle response. On the brakes at the end of the straight and I'd like more power at the lever. There's good feel, but the overall power isn't there compared to something like a Kawasaki ZX-10R with its Brembo M50 calipers or the similarly braked Panigale. The Suzuki also runs old school rubber brake hoses, not steel lines, and after 10 laps I come in complaining of brake fade and am surprised to find I'm not the only one. This is at the highest possible speed (Above) Decent, real world comfort (if there is such a thing on a sportbike), has always been one of the GSX-R's strong points. (Left) The 2017 Suzuki GSX- R1000's creator, Shinichi Sahara, knows how to shred on his company's products!