Suzuki GSX-R1000

As the new century dawned, it was pretty clear that Suzuki had been taking a knife to a gunfight for a while in the literbike class. After dropping the GSX-R1100 dinosaur back in the mid 1990s, the only bike the firm had to offer against Honda's CBR900RR, Kawasaki's ZX-9R and Yamaha's R1 was the GSX-R750. Of course, the SRAD GSX-R750 was a potent weapon, but not even it could give away 150-250cc to the more serious opposition. Suzuki's big twins, the TL1000S and TL1000R, had been disappointing, so the answer seemed obvious-get back to basics with a stroked version of the 750.

The bore was only 1mm bigger, but it was a 13mm longer stroke that added the extra 239cc. But what a difference those extra cubes made. The 2001 GSX-R1000 simply stomped all over the competition that had given its little bro such a hard time. Even the near-mythical Yamaha R1 was left looking a bit slow and dull by the new Suzuki, while Kawasaki's ZX-9R and the CBR929RR weren't even in the ballpark.

The Suzuki didn't have much in the way of high-tech features-nothing that the 750 hadn't already offered in engine or chassis gizmos anyways. Rather, the literbike put it all together in a super-torquey, light yet controllable package. Suzuki hadn't even bothered making it a "full" 999cc. The first motor was just 988cc, but it still kicked everything else up and down the track and street.

Of course it wasn't perfect: the six-piston front brake calipers lacked power and stamina-a problem the GSX-R range has often had of late. And while the gold-hued fork stanchions looked sweet, the way the titanium nitride coating flaked off after a few seasons of street abuse was a bit of a disappointment.

The follow-up model in 2003 was also a little underwhelming. Minor mods included new four-piston brake calipers that worked better and a black carbide coating on the fork legs. There was a little more go in the engine too, but with the opposition heating up in the shape of Honda's CBR954RR, Yamaha's fuel injected R1 and Kawasaki's ZX-10R in the pipeline, this was pretty much a stopgap model.

That was confirmed in late 2004, when a new GSX-R1000 was launched. A compact yet brutal bike, it saw a full 999cc motor for the first time. Without the emissions hampering of later models, it was a mega-light, super-controllable bundle of pure madness. On track, it was almost a match for the 750 in terms of agility, yet your right wrist could unleash a devastating blow of grunt with barely a flick. The power delivery was simply immense. The grunt just off-idle gave an immediate hit of dizzying acceleration, yet the fuel injection was faultless with perfect metering of power everywhere. The brakes were the best yet, helping make the 2005 model simply unbeatable.

Sadly for GSX-R fans, the 2005-'06 models seem to have been the model's high point. With the '07 model came ratcheted-up emissions regs; the Feds dictated a massive set of catalyst-equipped dual cans that added a lot of weight and fuss. Sure, peak power was up, but that came at the cost of a little midrange, and while the chassis gained some much-welcomed extra sophistication in the shape of advanced suspension, the appearance of the "chicken switch" Drive Mode Selector was a bad sign. We thought that the best way to control a 170 HP superbike was with the throttle rather than a restrictor switch.

Meanwhile, Kawasaki's ZX-10R had cornered a portion of the headbanger market, Honda's CBR1000RR was chomping at the bit and Yamaha had finessed its R1 into a truly awesome all-round superbike. In the last couple of years the GSX-R seems to have lost its heart. Honda ruled the roost again with a superb new CBR1000RR in 2008 before Yamaha's crossplane crank, fly-by-wire R1 stole the headlines again in 2009. Suzuki humbly exhibited an "all-new" GSX-R1000 for 2009 that simply missed the mark though. A fine bike of course, but the new GSX-R didn't excel anywhere, and the competition all looked much more serious.

2010 brought devastation to the Japanese superbikes from BMW'S S1000RR, and the GSX-R1000 fell victim alongside the other also-rans. It was a sad end to a legendary line, but we've got high hopes that the big GSX-R will soon fly again.

Timeline
2001
On paper, nothing stands out on the first GSX-R1000. The 750-based engine had twin cams, 16-valves, water-cooling, a six-speed tranny and 155 HP at the wheel. A balance shaft smoothed some vibes, and Suzuki's trademark SDTV dual-valve fuel injection system added gizmo-glam, while the chassis had a little jewelry in the form of gold-finished fork legs and six-pot calipers. But once in the saddle, nobody gave a damn about the spec-sheet...

2003
Not too much to write home about on the first update; still a 988cc motor with the same fuel injection setup but a faster ECU in charge. Bigger transfer ports between the cylinder bores reduced pumping losses at high revs, which meant a little more power output. The bodywork was sharpened up, and the forks' golden titanium nitride coating was changed to a black titanium carbide finish. Best of all though, the rotten old six-piston brake calipers were canned in favor of new-breed four-potters.

2005
When we first saw the K5 bike, everyone thought Suzuki had dropped the ball. We'd suddenly switched from a perfectly nice round side-mounted silencer to some crazy-assed pyramid setup. It might have been made of titanium, but we hated the stupid triangular can and almost didn't notice the other big changes. At last, it was a full literbike, thanks to a 0.4mm bore increase giving 998cc, while a heap of other engine changes improved power and torque everywhere. The chassis was fully updated too, with new bodywork, less weight, and superbly agile yet controllable handling. A real classic machine pumping out 160 horsepower.

2007
Following the K5 would always be a tough task, especially with the new emissions regulations that had to be complied with. The most obvious change was to the exhaust-a new dual-silencer setup gave the extra space required for bigger catalysts. This change alone was responsible for much of the 13-pound weight gain, and while the peak power output also increased by 7 HP (thanks to bigger inlet and exhaust ports and a higher redline), the K7 model didn't really increase the GSX-R's performance. Meanwhile, a pretty pointless 'mode switch' gave three power settings: 'A' was full power, 'B' gave full power with softer delivery while 'C' gave you just 100 HP.

On the chassis front, there was some revised steering geometry, together with separate high and low-speed compression damping adjustments front and rear.

2009
After eight years and four models, the GSX-R finally got a wheels-up revamp. An all-new engine got bigger titanium valves and a more over-square bore and stroke (74.5mm x 57.3mm), together with a raised compression ratio. It also went back to a two-piece crankcase from the former three-part design with the gearbox stacked behind the crank in a shorter, triangular layout. This allowed a new, shorter frame and longer swingarm.

Up front, the USD forks were new, flashy Big Piston Fork units, with simpler yet more refined damping circuits. Confusingly for us simple journalists, Suzuki switched from claimed dry weights to claimed wet weights (almost as if they wanted to hide something?). But real-world weighing reveals a figure around 20 pounds up on the K5 model.

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The Tech
We're not really very keen on the GSX-R's SDMS "power mode switch." But how the system works shows the importance of ECU-controlled throttle valves, and how the full ride-by-wire systems seen on the R1 and S1000RR have radically improved performance.

Suzuki's power modes are pretty simple. They work by changing how the ECU opens the secondary throttle valves. So in 'C' mode, the secondary valves never open fully, even when you're on full throttle in 'B' mode they open a little more slowly, trailing behind the twistgrip movements. And in the 'A' mode, the ECU opens its throttle valves more quickly, giving a more direct relationship between your right wrist and the engine.

What a true 'ride-by-wire' system does is eliminate the throttle valves altogether and replaces them with a sensor. So when you turn the twistgrip, the ECU "sees" a throttle demand and it works out what to do inside the throttle bodies. With a lot of work and some clever mapping, the engineers can make the throttle valves open however they please at any point. So at certain points, the ECU can open the throttle much more than you asked for-or much less.

Best Model
There's little debate really. The 2005-'06 GSX-R1000 was a genuine classic and we'll probably not see its like again anytime soon. The last bike built for the old-school emissions regs was much lighter than before or since, and had a super-strong, torquey power output. No fancy traction control, pointless power-mode switches or twin 30-pound mufflers here, just a sorted engine in a sweet chassis with sharp bodywork. When we rode it at the time we knew it was something special, but no one suspected it would be the craziest GSX-R1000 ever, even five years on.