2021 Suzuki GSX-R1000R and GSX-R750 100th Anniversary Quickspin

Suzuki celebrated its 100th year of incorporation in 2020, and to mark the milestone it has released limited-edition versions of its 2021 Suzuki GSX-R1000R, 2021 Suzuki GSX-R750, and 2021 Suzuki GSX-R600.

The three exclusive variants boast a heritage-inspired Metallic Triton Blue/Metallic Mystic Silver colour scheme that takes its cue from the 2020 Team Suzuki ECSTAR MotoGP machines, one of which Joan Mir rode to victory in the 2020 MotoGP Championship.

The race bikes in turn pay homage to Suzuki's race bikes of the early 1960s, such as the RT67 pictured, which was ridden by Stuart Graham and then later by Barry Sheene.

Bar the paint scheme each model remains stock standard, although the flagship Suzuki GSX-R1000R is of course a step up from the 'garden variety' GSX-R1000, if indeed you can apply such a term to a 202hp superbike.

For a $3000 premium, the Suzuki GSX-R1000R comes with up-spec (but still manual adjustment) Showa suspension, an adjustable swingarm pivot point, braided steel front brake lines, LED position lights, and a lightweight battery.

However, these 100th Anniversary models are only available in strictly limited numbers, with Suzuki Australia offering 30 examples of the GSX-R1000R, 50 of the GSX-R750, and just 10 of the GSX-R600.

They're priced exactly the same as the standard models – $26,990 ride away, $17,490 ride away, and $16,490 ride away respectively – so don't expect these special editions to hang around for long.

Active today in motorcycles, cars and the marine market, Suzuki was founded by Michio Suzuki back in 1909 as Suzuki Loom Works. Headquartered as it is today in the Japanese city of Hamamatsu, the fledgling business manufactured weaving looms for the nation's thriving silk weaving industry.

The business grew and was incorporated on March 15, 1920, rising up from the depression following the First World War to become the Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Co. With its innovative products, including looms that could weave dyed threads to create multi-coloured fabric, the company continued to expand.

Following the ravages of the Second World War and amid pressing need for affordable personal transport, Suzuki produced its first motorised bicycle, the Power Free, in 1952. It was powered by a 36cc two-stroke engine and was a massive sales success.

In 1954 the company's name changed to Suzuki Motor Co Ltd, while the following year saw Suzuki introduce its first car, the Suzulight, along with its first production motorcycles: the four-stroke Colleda COX 125 and two-stroke Colleda ST 125, both lightweight singles.

Suzuki's 'S' logo arrived in 1958 (and has remained unchanged since) and then marine outboards followed from 1965.

The three divisions at the core of Suzuki – cars, motorcycles, and marine – continue to this day.

Related reading:
Suzuki 100th Anniversary GSX-R range pricing announced
2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000R Launch Review
Generation Gixxer

bikesales recently took the 100th Anniversary editions of the Suzuki GSX-R1000R and Suzuki GSX-R750 for a blat in the hills, with bikesales editor Dylan and I pointing the pair at the Yarra Ranges east of Melbourne.

Beyond track days, this sort of country is the native habitat for supersport models like these, and we swapped regularly between the two over Black Spur and between Marysville and Lake Mountain, with a run up to Lake Eildon for good measure.

I started on the GSX-R750, which really occupies a unique space on today's motorcycle landscape. Inline 750cc fours were hugely popular from the late 1960s but the ascendency of litre-class V-twins in the Superbike World Championship in the 1990s slowly saw the Japanese manufacturers abandon the class. All except Suzuki, that is.

Suzuki created a sensation when it launched the first GSX-R750 in 1985, the model kick-starting a new era in lightweight, high-performance sportsbikes. While the model has undergone many evolutions in the years since, it hasn't essentially changed now for a decade, but still serves as a neat intermediate step between the 600 and 1000.

It's an honest, no frills, narrow-focus sportsbike with just one priority – to get you through a set of bends, or around a track, as quickly as possible. But, in 2021, it's showing its age in terms of technology.

You can forget about fancy instrumentation, quickshifters, ABS, traction control and the like, although it does come with a choice of two ride modes and there's a lap timer, although the bare bones trip info is limited to two trip meters, an odometer, a clock, and little else.

The GSX-R750's styling is a little dated too, if you ask me, with its chunky mirrors, the odd faux carbon-fibre body panel, and its broad tailpiece with integrated indicators, but then perhaps that only becomes prominent when it's parked next to more modern fare, like its GSX-R1000R big brother.

Even so, the 100th Anniversary scheme is understated but classy, and I love the fluoro yellow pin-striping accenting those black rims.

It may be getting on a bit, but the Suzuki GSX-R750 gets through a corner blisteringly well, as I soon discovered in the Yarra Ranges. In fact, as a street bike, I'd even say I preferred it to the all-singing, all-dancing Gixxer thousand, because on the 750 I felt like I was able to extract more of the bike's performance potential. On the flipside, very few riders can come anywhere close to tapping the full potential of a modern litre-class sportsbike…

And of course there's the price difference. The Suzuki GSX-R750 is a clear $9500 less than the GSX-R1000R (and still $6500 less than the GSX-R1000). That's a whole heap of new tyres, right there!

I found the Suzuki GSX-R750 refreshing for its simplicity, yet no less engaging for the thrilling performance it nevertheless offers. And that exhaust note! The stock pipe on the 750 emits a chilling banshee howl that stirs the soul – appreciably more so than the more muted note from the 1000's stock muffler.

Hopping onto the big boy – which, it should be noted, is also 13kg heavier – it's immediately evident things are getting serious. The LCD dash is off-puttingly busy – it's crammed with info – but after spending a little time on the bike it's actually not too tricky to learn your way around the various functions and menus.

It's reassuring to have all the modern safety gear on hand to catch you should bravado triumph over talent – there's Cornering ABS, 10-level traction control (yes, 10!), and three ride modes. And when you first open the taps in anger, it's nice to know that safety net is keeping watch (not that it's any replacement for the ultimate safeguard – your own common sense!).

Right from off the Suzuki GSX-R1000R feels muscular and athletic. Like the 750, it's entirely possible to ride it with a modicum of restraint at around-town speeds, but once the revs start to build – past 6000-7000rpm, say – you get the sense you've strapped into one of those giant rubber band fairground rides, where you're essentially launched from a giant slingshot. The rate of brain-bending acceleration increases exponentially the closer you get to redline, as you tip the bike on its ear and narrow your focus on the next corner apex.

It's utterly mental – so overblown for use on public roads, yet so deviously intoxicating because of that fact.

The ergonomics are similar for each, with perhaps a little more legroom on the GSX-R1000R. It's a typical racer's crouch, yet I've sampled more extreme machines over the years. Resting your guts on the tank will be par for the course on longer rides, so make sure you chuck on a tank protector lest you scratch that limited-edition paint.

I thought the brakes on the GSX-R750 were powerful and precise – and then I went and rode the 1000. The Suzuki GSX-R1000R's Brembos with steel braided lines are next level: so much stopping power, yet such incredible feel. Backed by Cornering ABS, these stoppers are the full package. Then there's the bidirectional quickshifter (with two sensitivity settings), which works a treat, and launch control. No wheelie control, though.

And the Showa Balance Free Front fork (or BFF) and Showa Balance Free Rear lite monoshock offer a sublime ride and a high level of manual adjustment. Not that the Showa BPF set-up on the 750 is any slouch, either.

And both bikes benefit from ultra-slick six-speed gearboxes – a Suzuki strength that goes back decades – and super-light (slipper) clutches.

Fuel economy? Pretty good actually, given their performance focus. We recorded 5.8L/100km in the hills on the GSX-R1000R, and 5.3L/100km on the GSX-R750. That equates to healthy working ranges of around 250km and 300km respectively.

Both these bikes are pure adrenaline on wheels. They're the archetypal racers with lights, and so they're not for everyone. Born for the track, on public roads you'll need one eye on the speedo and a shipping container-load of self-restraint, if you hope to hang onto your licence.

If you want all the bells and whistles, and the bragging rights of owning a 200-plus-horsepower machine, the Suzuki GSX-R1000R will rock your world – for a price. For old-school sporting thrills at a slightly more restrained pace, there's still life left in Suzuki's battle-hardened but budget-conscious GSX-R750.

Both have the performance to back up the GP-inspired looks, but at no extra cost you'll need to move smartly indeed to snare one of Suzuki's 100th Anniversary Gixxers.

ENGINE
Type: Liquid-cooled, DOHC, 16-valve, four-stroke, in-line four-cylinder
Capacity: 999.8cc
Bore and stroke: 76.0mm x 55.1mm
Compression Ratio: 13.2:1
Fuel system: Electronic fuel injection

PERFORMANCE
Claimed maximum power: 202hp (149kW) at 13,200rpm
Claimed maximum torque: 117.6Nm at 10,800rpm

TRANSMISSION
Clutch type: Wet, multi-plate slipper
Transmission type: Six-speed
Final drive: Chain

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame: Aluminium twin-spar
Front suspension: 43mm Showa Balance Free Fork (BFF), fully adjustable
Rear suspension: Showa Balance Free Rear lite (BFRC lite) monoshock, fully adjustable (with high/low-speed compression damping)
Front brakes: Twin 310mm discs with radial-mount four-piston Brembo calipers, Cornering ABS equipped
Rear brake: 220mm disc with single-piston Nissin caliper, Cornering ABS equipped
Wheels: Cast alloy
Tyres: Bridgestone Battlax RS10; 120/70ZR17 front, 190/55ZR17 rear

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Claimed wet weight: 203kg
Seat height: 825mm
Wheelbase: 1410mm
Rake: 23.2 degrees
Fuel capacity: 16.0 litres

OTHER STUFF
Price: $26,990 ride away
Colour: Metallic Triton Blue/Metallic Mystic Silver
Warranty: 24 months/unlimited kilometres
Bike supplied by: Suzuki Australia

ENGINE
Type: Liquid-cooled, DOHC, 16-valve, four-stroke, in-line four-cylinder
Capacity: 750cc
Bore and stroke: 70.0mm x 48.7mm
Compression Ratio: 12.5:1
Fuel system: Electronic fuel injection

PERFORMANCE
Claimed maximum power: 150hp (110.3kW) at 13,200rpm
Claimed maximum torque: 86.3Nm at 11,200rpm

TRANSMISSION
Clutch type: Wet multi-plate slipper
Transmission type: Six-speed
Final drive: Chain

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame: Aluminium twin-spar
Front suspension: 41mm Showa inverted Big Piston Fork (BPF), fully adjustable
Rear suspension: Showa monoshock, fully adjustable with high/low-speed compression damping
Front brakes: Twin 310mm discs with radial-mount four-piston Brembo calipers
Rear brake: 220mm disc with single-piston Nissin caliper
Wheels: Cast alloy
Tyres: Bridgestone Battlax BT016; 120/70ZR17 front, 180/55ZR17 rear

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Claimed wet weight: 190kg
Seat height: 810mm
Wheelbase: 1390mm
Rake: 23.5 degrees
Fuel capacity: 17.0 litres

OTHER STUFF
Price: $17,490 ride away
Colour: Metallic Triton Blue/Metallic Mystic Silver
Warranty: 24 months/unlimited kilometres
Bike supplied by: Suzuki Australia