1990 Suzuki Gsx-R750

1990 SUZUKI GSX-R750

CYCLE WORLD TEST

SOME MOTORCYCLES DO IT ALL. OTHERS ARE CONTENT TO DO A FEW THINGS VERY WELL.

SOMETIME BETWEEN WHEN WE’RE BORN AND WHEN WE first swing a leg over a motorcycle, we learn the disillusioning truth: Life is full of compromise. Especially life in the motorcycle world. The motorcy-

cles we ride are compromised for the sake of price, the sake of government restriction, the sake of mass appeal.

But there is one corner of our sport were compromise is all but nonexistent, and that corner is ruled by bikes like the 1990 Suzuki GSX-R750. The GSX-R was built with two purposes in mind: to go fast, very fast, on twisty roads, and-with slight modifications-to go faster yet on racecourses. Sure! even the GSX-R is constrained somewhat bv compromise. It is street-legal, and its price of $6199. w hile not cheap, places it within reach of most buyers. But those are the extent of the concessions. Since the bike’s introduction in 1986. that no-compromise approach, along with a generous contingency program from Suzuki, has led to the GSX-R being one of the most-raced production motorcycles of all time. And for 1990, almost all the 750’s changes are aimed at making the bike even better on the track than it already was.

For example, racebike tuners found that getting horse-

power out of pre-1988 GSX-Rs w'as much simpler than doing so with later models. Back then, the stroke was a touch longer and the bore smaller—70x48.7mm as opposed to 73x44.7mm on the updated '88 and '89 engines. So. this year, the engine returns to the older bore-andstroke configuration. Only, the engine is in a slightly hotter state of tune, with 38mm carburetors (compared to 34mm in '87 and 36mm in '88), and it has 1mm larger intake valves than the old-style engines. That leaves very little room for the sparkplugs, so Suzuki resorted to the use of smaller. 10mm plugs.

Despite its more-race-oriented state ot tune, the new engine is smoother-running than the '87 or the later models. In fact, it climbs so effortlessly up the rpm scale that you might think it’s sluggish and unresponsive at the very bottom of the powerband. In reality, that feeling is present because all of the peaks and valleys in last year's powerband have been leveled out. and now' the bike makes linear power all the wav up to its peak. That peak is formidable. too. If you're familiar with last year’s GSX-R then you know pretty much wTat to expect. But if you’ve never ridden a modern repli-racer. then imagine accelerating from zero to 60 mph in about the same amount of time it takes a policeman to ask. "Can I see your license, please?"-2.95 seconds, to be exact. With a quarter-mile time of 10.92 seconds, the GSX-R is the quickest produc tion 750 this magazine has ever tested. Its top speed of 1 52 miles per hour is 8 miles an hour faster than last year's GSX-R, though still slower than our 1988 Euro-model Honda RC3O, which went 155.

CON

I his year's (iSX-R has other changes that are less no ticeable than the power-oriented ones. It has a curved oil cooler, similar to the one used on last year's GSX-R 1100, for increased heat dissipation without increased frontal area. And there is a new, six-spring clutch replacing the old four-springer, and now the crowns of the pistons are coated with a substance called Alumite, which is supposed to make the surface harder. Small changes. all, but ones Suzuki believes will increase the life of the machine. And last year's GSX-R already had a reputation for longevity.

Reliable or not, though. last year's GSX-R750 was somewhat upstaged by Kawasaki's spectacular ZX-7. a bike that was as potent as the Suzuki on the racetrack, and easier to live with on the street. Still, Suzuki resisted the urge to compromise the GSX-R, to make it more streetable. Instead, Suzuki concentrated its efforts on the front it considers most important: the racetrack. That's why the new GSX-R has a one-inch-wider rear rim than last year's. now measuring 5.5 inches. That means that the Michelin Radial rear tire can be wider, and that full-race slicks can be accommodated easily.

The wider rear tire, along with other chassis changes, like a less-steep steering head angle and a 10mm-longer swingarm, would lead you to think that the new' Suzukï is clumsier at slow speed "than last year's model. Not so. The Suzuki still is a marvel of manageability. Tossing the bike from side to side is as easy as handling a 600. And why not? The GSX-R is only about 10 pounds heavier than Suzuki's own Katana 600. And as the speeds climb to racetrack velocity, the Suzuki handles better and better, with enough stability and ground clearance that only the country’s best roadracers will have anything to complain about.

Good suspension has a lot to "do with that stability and ground clearance. Last year, it was necessary to buy an aftermarket shock for the GSX-R if you really wanted to be serious about winning races or going quickly on backroads. For 1 990. Suzuki has added a remote reservoir, complete with compression-damping adjuster, to the same Showa shock, and now the GSX-R's"rear suspension is up to club roadrace standards. The older shock’s only true trouble was heat-induced fade, but now the reservoir acts as a large heat sink, and the shock doesn’t lose its damping nearly as quickly. And the 15-position compressiondamping adjuster makes it easier to tune the suspension for riders of varying skill and weight.

In front, the Suzuki has the exact-same multi-adjustable, cartridge-style fork as last year, and its performance is excellent. We have heard that markets other than the U.S. might be offered a limited-production GSX-R with an upside-down fork—basically the same Showa fork inverted for less unsprung weight. The price difference is rumored to be about $600. But it’s unlikely that the limited-production model will offer $600 better performance than this year’s GSX-R.

All of this no-compromise racetrack performance means, of course, that the GSX-R isn't the most-comfortable bike in the world when it comes to street riding. Not by a long shot. The suspension is stiff, even for hard street use, the riding position is among the most-cramped of any streetbike made, the rear-view mirrors are of marginal use and the passenger accommodations are scant. Even the handgrips are uncomfortable, because they are far too short for average-to-large-sized hands.

But never mind. If you want a touring bike, there are lots of motorcycles you can buy. The Suzuki GSX-R is for riders who don't want compromise in their sportbikes. Even if you have never gotten any closer to a racetrack than the Turn-One bleachers, the Suzuki lets you have a glimpse of what it's like to be on the other side of the fence, to be on a full-tilt racebike.

And as for racers themselves, well, this year’s GSX-R has just made the job a little easier. Before you take any bike to the track, there's always a certain amount of modification that has to be done. With the new GSX-R, almost all of it was done before the bike left the factory. And this year, it was done right. E3

EDITORS'NOTES

A QUICK GLANCE AT THE 1990 GSXR750 showed some nice, new features: different paint and graphics, a reservoir for the rear shock, a stainless 4-into-l exhaust. What I couldn’t see, though, was much more exciting, as I soon found out at Willow Springs Raceway.

As 1 accelerated hard through the

gears, the engine let me know it had been altered, as it screamed into its upper-rpm range with more authority than previous GSX-R750s. Within a few laps, the chassis was clueing me in—by virtue of its smoother, more-predictable ride-that it had been changed for the better, as well. And, after circulating the track for nearly one full tank of fuel, with the shock holding steady, I knew that the rear-suspension durability, too, had been improved.

I liked previous-model GSX-R750s so much that I bought one. Anybody out there interested in a oneowner Suzuki, ridden only on Sundays?

—Doug Toland, Associate Editor

RIDING THE GSX-R750 REMINDS ME of trying my first beer as a kid. I wanted to like that beer; I liked the image of me, maybe in a cowboy hat, leaning against the bar with a frosty mug in one hand and stubble (quite impossible at the time) on my face. But in reality the beer tasted awful. And too much would make me hurt

bad. The fantasy quickly vanished.

When I see the GSX-R. I want it. I love the image. But I just can’t stand the motorcycle. Riding it too much makes me hurt bad. The seating position is so tight and uncomfortable that I expect my knees to start bleeding right through my pants. And for what? Unless I'm on a racetrack, I can have just as much fun on something more comfortable like a Katana 750 or a Yamaha FJ1200.

I eventually developed a taste for beer, although it took some work. I just don’t think I can work that hard on liking the GSX-R. —Ron Lawson, Managing Editor

I WANT TO TELL YOU HOW I BLASTED

into the turn, slammed the bike over and inhaled knee-pad smoke as I muscled the 1990 GSX-R750 through the corner. And I want to tell you how, when I hit the straightaway,

I twisted the throttle wide open and watched through wind-torn eyes as the front wheel rose majestically to-

ward the heavens. I want to, but I can't.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that the GSX-R is unable to handle being ridden like that; in fact, with its light weight, great handling and high horsepower, it loves such antics. But I'm simply unable to ride it like that on the track, much less on the street.

But the GSX-R almost makes me believe I can. It makes me think I can ride faster, smoother and with more control than I ever have before. That’s the way I felt about last year’s version, and with the improvements to its rear suspension, the new machine pushes me even nearer to corner-carving nirvana. Now if I could only figure out how to do those wheelies.

—Camron E. Bussard, Executive Editor

SUZUKI GSX-R750

$6199