2002 Suzuki GSX-R750
After the incident at Buttonwillow, I knew I was probably going to be without the 748 for a while again. So,
I decided to bite the bullet and get another streetbike. I was thinking about
a SV650S, but in the end, wound up with a GSX-R.
At this point, I figure the bike has more than enough horsepower for the street
and trackdays I'm using it for. So, modifications have been limited to the
essentials:
The GSX-R is different than the 748 in every way, despite the similar engine
displacement. The stock bike was a bit stiff-steering due to the
non-adjustable steering damper, and the suspension, while fine at a casual
pace, wasn't as controlled as it could have been once things picked up.
Shortly after purchasing the bike, I left it in the capable hands of Jim
Lindemann. The front forks were resprung, revalved, and lengthened 10mm. The
rear shock was replaced with a triple-adjustable (high- and low-speed
compression damping, plus rebound damping) Penske unit, complete with
titanium spring. The whole unit is incredibly light with the Ti spring, but
I'm certainly not a good enough rider to feel the difference between that and
your run-of-the-mill steel spring.
A couple of trackdays showed exactly how huge the improvement was over the stock suspension, however.
My impression is that the bike will allow me the same corner speed as the 748,
although with not quite the same level of feel or confidence. It will get over
on its side quicker than the Ducati, however. Since it has about 30 horses
on the 748, plus at least 70 pounds less weight to carry, lap times are
obviously better.
That said, I think I still prefer the 748 riding experience. Everything is so
connected...direct...immediate, that it just makes for a more enjoyable ride.
Any adjustment in the throttle, at pretty much any RPM, will result in either
immediate drive or deceleration. The GSX-R is more like the Aprilia RS250 in
its ride experience - you have to be revving its tits off to feel like you're
getting the best from it, and it doesn't have the same engine braking (which
can be good or bad depending on what you're used to).
Just for kicks I did some dyno runs at G-Force Performance Center on October 23, 2002.
It made very respectable power box-stock, with no filter, exhaust, Power
Commander, cam degreeing, etc. - 126.3hp and 58.5ft-lbs of torque. I received the following dyno graphs:
Last modified: Tuesday, 16-Sep-2003 13:21:39 PDT
Questions/Comments/Problems: Paul H. Yoshimune
