Future Gsx-R? 2015 Suzuki Gsx-R1000?

FUTURE GSX-R? 2015 SUZUKI GSX-R1000?

IGNITION

NEWS

It looks like Hamamatsu is busy at work bringing track and street together

Kevin Cameron

The big question surrounding Suzuki's return to MotoGP next year has two parts. Why did a company famed for its transverse inline-Fours go GP racing with V-Fours, and why switch to an inline engine for next year?

There are sub-questions, as well, which is why we had an illustrator modify this spy photo of the new MotoGP Suzuki, adding GSX-R-like graphics, a muffler and rain-grooved tires. Does the new MotoGP bike foretell the coming of "super GSX-Rs" based on use of a common "look" and engine architecture?

At the beginning of MotoGP in 2002, everyone was furiously predicting a Honda V-Five repli-racer, but so far, only Ducati has done anything of the kind, with its limitedproduction Desmosedici RR. Will Suzuki, whose income and tradition are so linked to the GSX-R, be the one to manufacture a highvolume repli-racer?

Suzuki's use of V-Fours in MotoGP put the inline engines of production GSX-Rs in the shade—not exactly an ace marketing move. It may be for the same reason that in 2004 Yamaha adopted a 90-degree crankshaft in its YZR-Mi MotoGP engine: An inline with a flat crank seemed to be at a disadvantage versus a Vee-engine in cornering. Keeping inlines in GSXRs made commercial sense because other makers' sportbikes had the same "handicap," but in MotoGP, the V-Four looked like an advantage.

Today, the proven concept of an inline engine with a 90-degree crank makes it possible to use these powerplants in both production and MotoGP.

Here's a thought: Every time I see early-season shots of MotoGP bikes in unpainted black fairings, I am struck by their rounded, low-drag shapes. That's understandable, for those are the shapes the wind tunnel likes best. Fairings on streetbikes, by contrast, sport the 1950s' jet-fighter sharp edges that marketing focus groups like best. There's no accounting for taste! CW

CSX-R1000 1 MILLION COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

More than 1 million GSX-Rs have been produced since 1985. For 2013, Suzuki has earmarked 1000 (of 1985 worldwide) of the $13,999 special editions for the U.S. market.