|
So there I was
flying out to Sunny California to
go test ride the new Gixxer 1000
and 600. Come to California, they
said. Great weather, they said.
Well, it rained and rained,
consequently, we came back with
some super soggy pic's of the 600
and no real ride impression. So
here's a Sunny Florida review,
where tires are warm and sticky
and the sun is always, always
shining... MikeE
 I
tell you what; it's gotten a
little ridiculous lately trying to
stay on top of the 600-class
pecking order. It's almost as
up-to-the-minute as the bloody
computer industry. This seems to
be the name of the game in the 600
arms race. The cold war may be
over, but the mid-size
crotch-rocket wars are just
shifting into high gear. It's a
bit of a dilemma for the sportbike
buyer, no sooner have you laid
down your hard earned dosh on a
new steed, when a rival
manufacturer goes out with the
specific intention to out do it.
You really can't
buy a bad motorcycle anymore
though. Some are just better than
the next, and usually only
minutely better at that. We've
heard all the tough talk. We've
seen how the GSXR 750 compares to
the open class. What can the new
middleweight Suzook do?
From the moment you take a seat on
Suzuki's 600 Supersport class bike
it becomes immediately apparent
that this bike has one singular
purpose: To win races and dominate
any asphalt skirmish.
Starting with the seating
position, it is either perfect or
torturous, depending on your point
of view or whether or not you are
a strapping young buck (like
myself) or a tired old geriatric
like Emery, who should really be
riding a VFR anyway.
Air flow over the
fairing seems to relieve a lot of
the weight normally placed on your
wrists that lead to fatigue. The
windshield is smaller than last
years' but still much bigger than
the tiny piece of glass on some of
those other 600's.
This bike
was designed to go fast though,
very, very fast indeed, around a
given racetrack or a tasty stretch
of your favorite uninhabited
canyon road. All other
considerations, such as wind
protection, long distance pillion
seat comfort, or fuel economy
become quickly irrelevant.
Banked
over on its ear at silly lean angles, it is completely
stable. Feedback through the front Showa 45mm
conventional fork gives you intimate knowledge
of what's going on down where the rubber meets
the road. The confidence you get out of the front
of this bike is simply magnificent! In my mind,
this is by far the best fork on any current Japanese
mass production sportbike, without any doubt.
Stability is the key word here.
There is nothing you can do to upset this motorcycle.
With the wheelbase pulled out almost an inch
over last years' model, any of the occasional
twitchiness associated with that bike, when
being pushed extremely hard, has completely
vanished. Nothing will knock this bike off line.
Not mid-corner ripple bumps, not gnarly pavement
at the exit, not running over small animals
while riding through your neighborhood, nothing!
This bike has huge top speed potential too,
if the motor can pull all that gearing. A little
top speed testing of my own has the optimistic
digital speedo reading 164 mph with the motor
still pulling hard in sixth just short of redline.
It's incredible how little time and distance
this bike requires to reach its maximum velocity.
Run it in deep, too. Go on, don't
be a wuss. Run it in even deeper, the thing
just begs for more. "Is that all you got"?
It seems to ask as you realize that you could
have easily waited another 20 feet before tugging
on the front binders. Those big 320mm discs,
the biggest on the front of any current 600,
slow the bike down so aggressively it's like
catching a 3 wire on the USS Nimitz. It's extremely
easy to modulate though.
Knee on the deck, steady
as the rock of Gibraltar she is, start to pick
up the throttle and the Carburetion is flawless,
enabling you to feed in the power much earlier
than you could have ever imagined on any other
bike. The motor, obviously not much for torque,
absolutely comes alive on top as it screams
to it's 14,500 rpm redline with a blast of horsepower
and total disregard for the laws of physics
or internal reciprocating mass.
It's flexible too! The digital
fuel injection is flawless. At low RPM the engine
will pick up revs without complaint and accelerate
briskly even when well out of the powerband.
And when it does reach the powerband, hold on,
because it's now in full afterburner mode like
no other 600 before it, it's unicycle time.
There's more than ample torque on tap for the
previously mentioned unicycling antics in first
or second.
The close ratio six-speed
transmission is typical Suzuki. Read light and
smooth, with precise shifts an afterthought
rather than deliberate movements of one's left
foot. Even at near terminal velocity, it is
still pulling very hard as the ram air system is
obviously living up to its end of the bargain.
The brand new from the ground
up 2001 model shares virtually no similar part
numbers between itself and it's older sibling
and it shows with a 32 pound wet weight reduction.
This dramatic weight loss is felt immediately
when changing direction, accelerating or decelerating.
Just as the GSXR had succumbed to the full frontal
assaults from Honda and more directly, Yamaha,
she heads back to the gym on a serious weight
loss program and emerges with that 32 pounds
shaved from the already svelte body. Put the
two bikes together alongside each other and
the differences can be seen instantly. The new
bike looks much smaller and much, much sleeker
than the older version. It appears the old girl
has let herself go a little bit in the last
few years, as the younger babe is ooh, so much
sexier
So it's slim, it's also has hidden
muscle. How much you say? Earlier model Gixxers
made in the neighborhood of 89 to 90 bhp at
the rear wheel. The 2001 edition is pumping
out a Tyrannosaurus Rex-like 100+ rear wheel
horsepower stock at the rear Dunlop. That is
tremendous horsepower for a stock 600, and 10
to 14 more than the previous generation bike.
With that power, Suzuki becomes the first manufacturer
to break the magical 100 horsepower mark with
a stock 600. Hooray, cookies all around!
The 2001'snewfound torque,
while not quite up to Kawi ZX-6R standards,
is still markedly stronger than the previous
generation's "is this thing on?" midrange.
The latest bike will simply accelerate and provide
more than adequate thrust to get in and out
of Disney World traffic. I had no trouble merging
into 70 mph traffic from 45 mph in fifth gear.
Acceleration is obviously not in 1000 territory,
but sufficient enough for me to merge my aforementioned
ass all the way over to the fast lane without
disrupting the flow of traffic.
Suzuki has succeeded big time
with this bike's design goals, which were obviously
to build the best track scalpel on the middleweight
market. If your goal is to go blazingly fast
around your local racetrack, or just super quick
on your next Sunday ride, then this is the 600
for you. This bike is everything the previous
600 should have been. It now possesses the motor
that fabulous chassis so rightly deserved; only
the chassis is now twice as good as it used
to be too.
The gripes then? Well there does seem to be
an annoying amount of driveline lash still present.
And I don't feel that I need to mention the
(sometimes, not so fresh) riding position again.
Actually, I believe I just did. Also a slight
vibration can also be felt, mostly through the
footpegs, when droning along in top gear (at
the posted speed limit of course!) after about
a half hour or so.
So, is this newest edition of
the GSXR 600 really that much better than the
competition? Depends on whom you ask.
I have previously owned a pair of older generation
GSXR 600s, along with a 2000 R6, and a whole
fleet of Honda 600s before that, including the
original Hurricane, the impeccable F2, and the
evolutionary F3. I have no allegiance to any
particular brand over another. Right now it
is hard to argue against Suzuki though. They
have stepped up to the plate and are here to
play hardball with their stunning GSX-R line.
Before I started researching this
article, I had never ridden the new for 2001
Suzuki GSXR 600. If I had any money, I'd park
one in my garage.
Nuff said.
Suzuki GSX-R600
Engine: 4 Cylinder Inline 4 -stroke , DOHC
Displacement: 599cc
Bore & Stroke: 67 x 42.5 - 12.2:1 Compression
BHP 101.5 @ 13,500 rpm
Torque 45.7 lbs @ 10,500 rpm
Gearbox: 6 speed, Constant Mesh
Carburetion: Fuel Injection with 36 mm throttle
bodies
Ignition: Digital / Transistorized
Frame: Twin Spar Aluminum Alloy
Front Suspension: Showa 43mm Cartridge-type,
Coil Spring, Three way adjustable 4.9 inch Travel
Rear suspension: Showa Single Shock, Link-type,
gas/oil damped, three way adjustable 5.1 inch
Travel
Steering Damper: Stock Suzuki
Front Brakes: Twin Tokico calipers on floating
320 mm rotors.
Rear Brakes: Single 220 mm rotor, 2 piston caliper.
Wheels: 3 spoke light alloy
Front tire: 120/70/ZR17
Rear Tire: 180/55/ZR17
Weight: 387 lbs. (Dry) 361 lbs (CA model)
Fuel Capacity: 4.80 gallons
Seat Height: 32.7 inches
Colors Blue/White ~ Yellow/Black
Proper Review by R. Racer ~ Photo's
by Bob's Pawn Shop
Article Courtesy Of
 |
