Gsx-R1000

GSX-R1000

WHOLESALE CHANGE DOESN'T often come quickly on the heels of resounding success. Since its debut a decade ago, the GSX-R1000 has amassed an impressive tally of 37 com bined World and National roadrace titles. The platform has proven particularly domi nant in AMA Superbike, string ing together seven back-toback championships spanning 2003-09, and it claimed an eighth World Endurance title this past year. That adds up to pretty compelling justification for Suzuki to basically tread water in 2012 with only minor updates to its flagship super bike as others have taken the electronic-rider-aid plunge.

We were most recently reminded of the GSX-R's performance prowess in our "Electronic Warfare" shootout (August, 2011). We equipped our stock 1000 test bike with a Bazzaz Z-Fi TC aftermarket traction-control unit and lapped second quickest amongst the current crop of factory-TCS-endowed literbikes. It will be interesting to learn if this latest GSX-R can meet or beat the competition without any TC intervention.

My first taste of this year's model was at Homestead Miami Speedway in south ern Florida. Suzuki refers to the bike as a refined version of the fifth-generation GSX-Rl000, the short list of updates aimed at improved circuit performance. The goal was a tangible evolution in each of the basic performance aspects: acceleration, cornering and braking. The single-day, track-only press introduction on the speedway's 14-turn, 2.21-mile infield road course provided a glimpse of the bike's capabilities.

Despite Suzuki's stated emphasis on enhancing track performance, and the fact that I have yet to log any saddle time on the street aboard the new Gixxer, I'm 100-percent confident that the updates offer a significant improve ment for the everyday road rider.

The switch to Brembo Monobloc radial-mount calipers up front (a la last year's 600/750) has given the bike a true race-spec binder upgrade that appears to be a change of pad compound away from competition-level bite and one finger performance. The new Sunstar 310mm rotors are made of heat-resistant stainless steel, allowing a 0.5mm thick ness reduction and attendant weight savings. While a fairly firm squeeze on the lever was required to maximize stopping per formance, I liked the level of feedback. Solid, two-finger stopping power and consistency without having an overly aggressive (touchy) initial action is well suited to street and track day use.

DON CANET

The Showa BPF fork has been altered to accom modate the bike's 4.4-pound weight reduction and centerof-gravity shift resulting from the switch from twin mufflers to one. The length and travel of the fork legs are slightly reduced (7 and 5mm, respectively), while softer standard settings were applied. I didn't find any need to tweak the front setup but did add a few clicks of rebound to the shock to help settle a bit of pogo action at the rear under hard acceleration out of one par ticular corner painted with long streaks of fresh rubber. The front felt fantastic, providing firm-yet-supple action under hard braking and cornering load, along with stability I could trust while accelerating and at speed. This is the best I've experi enced with a Gixxer since the BPF was introduced back in 2009. Based on my limited dry laps prior to afternoon showers, I can't say if the front end confidence is all Showa or maybe a trait of the Bridgestone RiO Supersport race-compound radials I was trying for the first time. The OE tire fitment is Bridgestone's brand-new Battlax Hypersport S20, a street/sport tire that had not yet been introduced.

While there are ample visual cues that separate the `12 model from its prede cessor-a new black tachometer face, red pinstripes on the wheels, a single titanium muffler and golden Monobloc calipers-one twist of throttle at lower rpm spells out the most significant dif ference: a healthy increase in midrange torque. A combination of exhaust-cam profile, a slight compression increase, exhaust tuning and ECU mapping have resulted in this boost, but without any loss of peak power, says Suzuki. The press-kit dyno chart suggests a flatter torque curve has filled in some dips that previously existed.

We'll find out soon enough when we get a testbike on the CWDynojet dyno; but for now, I can say I was impressed by how readily the Gixxer grunted out of Homestead's second-gear hairpin, begin ning the drive with revs below 4500 rpm. Once the rain hit, I put in a few more laps sampling the Suzuki Drive Mode Selector B and C modes and was very glad I did. Earlier, in dry conditions, I was puzzled by the non-linear delivery when I rode in either alternate mode. It appears that my rolling the throttle on too aggressively (which is easy to do on a grippy track) while in B or C mode was the issue. In the wet, I applied throttle more steadily and was rewarded with smooth, controlled delivery.

The business end oftheGixxer is A-mode, and its improved linear delivery-extending from basement revs all the way to the indicated 13,600-rpm redlinemakes the wait for Gixxer 6.0 all the easier to process. K