2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000R launch review

Sitting there at another sportsbike launch, there I was wondering, “why”? Sportsbikes sales are continuing to fall across the globe, yet here we were in a room full of frothing Suzuki staff at Phillip Island, discussing launch control, 200-odd horsepower and the Showa Balance-Free fork gracing the bike we were here to ride, the GSX-R1000R – the up-spec version of the new GSX-R1000.

Why? I wasn’t complaining, mind. I grew up on sportsbikes and the thought of punching a litre bike among Phillip Island’s rampant bird-life is a magnificent one – that track and 200hp is a recipe for high heart rates and a serious giggle-thon. I was happy to be there. I just wasn’t sure why.

Next minute, Suzuki Australia’s General Manager, Paul Vandenberg was at the lectern. “You may wonder why in the face of falling sportsbike sales, Suzuki is releasing a new sportsbike model?”. Yes! Yes Mr Vandenberg, I am!

“Passion”, was his simple answer. I get that.

Back in the game
While all the profit and loss ledgers have been pointing to the more sensible, road-going, comfortable, practical machines Suzuki also makes, a solid team of well-credentialled bike nerds spent their valuable time putting the mighty GSX-R back in the mix. And they did it well.

Monster power and torque, a suite of rider aides and modes to combat the likes of BMW, Ducati , Kawasaki et al, MotoGP looks and remote-reservoir suspension all add up to something that makes that tech sheet look good. It’s a gutsy move releasing a sportsbike at a track like Phillip Island, because if ever power and handling will be exposed, it's at this 4.5km ribbon of bike-smashing bitumen.

Punching gears and cracking throttles is the only way to know if all this tech sheet wonderment works – and the Island was perfect for our test day. 23 degrees, light breeze, dry. Let us loose!

Options galore
Leaping on my lightly warmed GSX-R1000, I was greeted with a dash not unlike a smartphone. Being the one colour, it takes a bit of getting used to, though the use of different sized fonts helps separate the traction control, engine mode, gear position, lap timer, battery status and the myriad other dash options you are presented with. Being a racetrack, I left the lap timer ready to go, snicked first and rolled onto the track.

At the risk of sounding disrespectful to such a sportsbike, one which used to fire fear into the hearts of all who rode it due to the immense power, I found my first few laps of a daunting track much simpler than I expected.

The power is metered out surprise-free, much like the original unit, it’s easy to get my 178cm length behind the screen in fifth down the straight and as for that gearbox, which angel is responsible for that? It’s perfect.

Upshifts are a light boot-tap north and I never missed a gear once, even when I rushed it a few times on the way up the hill out of turn six. The auto-blipper is also heroic, making for one less thing to do in busy entries like turns four and 10 -- the only two corners where the entire Island isn’t a speed blur. Best gearbox ever.

Traction control on song
Then, exiting Siberia in second gear, I was reminded by a flashing 'TC' (traction control) light that we were on road rubber. The Bridgestone RS-10 is a good road tyre, however four laps shod on a big-bore sportsbike around the most damaging track in the world (along with Daytona) is beyond its design brief. It was a good opportunity to feel a soft-action traction control and, amazingly, the bike remained rideable, even as the tyres protested.

More compression and spring preload on the rear tied the bike down a lot better – the GSX-R has always been on the soft side of the spectrum and while the rear still hated life, the bike stayed supportive and direct.

By the third session on the poor, tortured rubber, the bike was still feeling stable and like it wasn’t going to pull the rug out from under my knee, though the traction control was working overtime. I’m no Marc Marquez, but every left hander exit was a traction control test. In level three, it let know things were a bit loose back there, but helped me manage it and ride on – for track day lovers, this is a good feeling.

With the anti-lock braking (ABS) hard-wired on, I was having trouble getting it stopped when I went deep into turns four and 10, as the ABS intervened on behalf of the stretched rubber. I truly believe ABS is a life-saver, however I also believe it needs to be turned off on occasion. The fact you can’t officially on the GSX-R1000R is a downer. If an owner can be trusted when to open the throttle and how far to open it, then they can be trusted to know when leaving the ABS on is a good idea or a bad one.

Forgiving manners
After three sessions, I had learned the bike was forgiving, the electronics are soft-action and welcome, even if the ABS can’t be turned off and, combined with the roominess of the bike, this is one of the easiest to ride 1000s there is.

For session four, it all changed again. On went a sticky set of R-10s, the lap times dropped by two seconds, and suddenly the bike was hooking up and driving – and I expected things to get harder. They did, but only because two separate flocks of Cape Baron Geese had parked themselves inside turn two and the approach to turn eight kept us guessing.

The ABS was also turned off – not an option for road-going machines! The bike itself felt much better, but in some parts I was struggling to get the bike turned in —
more preload at the rear helped a little, but muscling the bike did more. Getting the bike stopped and turned into the slower corners is a delight with ABS off and sticky tyres on.

Despite hard squeezes of brake lever, the front stayed high enough to remain stable and the slipper clutch helped control, too. Not needing to rev and clutch on the down-change is normally something I miss, but on the hyper-fast and uber-busy Phillip Island, it’s one less thing you need to do and I loved it. I hate to admit, but the blipper downshift handled some ham-fisted braking attempts better than I would have manually.

Tracking it all
With the official riding sessions over, it was time for tracking shots behind the van. You actually learn a lot about a bike at this point, as you need to be accurate, controlled and precise when playing with a van full of photographers and video guys around the Island. It was here I solidified my feelings on the GSX-R1000R.

It’s one of the easiest bikes to ride of all the 1000cc throng. The rider aides are welcome, not annoying (lack of ABS switchability aside), and the engine is among the good bikes of the pack. To be honest, building a good engine isn’t as hard as it used to be and I expected the Suzuki to perform there – and it does. The hard bit is building a chassis to match.

I think putting the RS-10s road tyres through a torture they weren’t designed for meant we had to build up again to the better-feeling R-10s we had for the final two sessions – another session with grip would have been appreciated and we could have pushed the Suzuki even harder. I really feel there was more to be learned about the GSX-R.

I love the roominess, the gearbox (did I mention best-ever?), the suppleness of the suspension, the throttle response, the brakes.

Pure delight
There are harder-edged bikes in the class, making the amiable Suzuki hard to judge in outright speed, and that can only be done in a comparison. That friendliness tends to lend itself to good road manners too, though a racetrack is where it really loves to hang out.

The Suzuki does the sportsbike thing very well, though there is a hint of the Japanese clinicalness about it. Where the Kawasaki ZX-10R is raw, the Ducati Panigale even more so and the BMW and Yamaha brutish, the Suzuki is more forgiving, more precise and for some that means less exciting. If they were honest with themselves though, they may feel more solid on the Suzuki.

Price-wise, the GSX-R1000R we rode is to be priced around the $26k mark, with the standard GSX-R1000 around the $23k mark. My gut feel is riders will opt for the upmarket version because it has all the fruit and is good value in my mind.

Here’s to the passion that drives Suzuki to build a bike such as this, one which may piss off the financial bosses, but which the bike-porn-loving techs at Suzuki can’t help wanting to build and riders like myself love to ride on a track, even if practicalities means we don't buy them as much as we used to.

Will that turn around? Maybe. But until then, we can rely on the likes of Suzuki to provide us with two mega-power, sweet-handling, hi-tech racetrack refugees that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up as you click fifth just before the bridge on the Phillip Island straight. Motorcycling doesn’t get much more pure than that.

SPECS: 2017 SUZUKI GSX-R1000R
ENGINE
Type: Liquid-cooled, four-stroke DOHC, 16-valve four-cylinder
Capacity: 999cc
Bore x stroke: 76.0mm x 55.1mm
Compression ratio: 13.2:1
Engine management: Electronic fuel injection

PERFORMANCE
Claimed maximum power: 202hp (148.6kW) at 13,200rpm
Claimed maximum torque: 117.6Nm at 10,800rpm

TRANSMISSION
Type: Six speed
Final drive: Chain
Clutch: Wet, multiplate

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame: Aluminium
Front suspension: Showa Balance Free upside-down fork, fully adjustable
Rear suspension: Showa Balance Free monoshock, fully adjustable
Front brakes: 320mm discs with twin-piston calipers
Rear brake: 240mm disc with single-piston caliper
Tyres: Front 120/70-17, rear 190/55-17

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Rake: 23.2 degrees
Trail: 95mm
Claimed kerb weight: 203kg
Seat height: 825mm
Ground clearance: 130mm
Wheelbase: 1420mm
Fuel capacity: 16 litres

OTHER STUFF
Price: TBA
Colour: Metallic Triton Blue
Test bike supplied by: Suzuki Australia
Warranty: 24 months, unlimited kilometres