SUZUKI GSX-R750F
Jeff Ware on the final part of the Slabbie rebuild.
Last month I reached the point of having a stunning complete rolling chassis to admire, and admire I did. I even called all of my mates to come round with liquid refreshments and admire the bike with me.
So, it looked that good. But would it run? I was absolutely hanging to ride it… (Ed’s note: this is Aussie vernacular for ‘gagging for a ride’). Well, with the oil cooler resprayed and refitted, a fresh engine full of oil and a new oil filter fitted, I hooked up a dummy fuel supply, and to my surprise the beast fired into life with no flooding or misfiring, straight into a smooth idle, and the throttle was ultra-crisp as well. That careful carb set-up paid off, not to mention the new spark plugs, perfect valve clearances and new air filter.
Once I ran the bike through some heat cycles to cure the exhaust and engine paint, I placed a fan in front of the oil cooler then let the bike idle for 20-minutes after running it through the gears. It ran perfectly. I was stoked. Sadly, the fan had mistaken me for Bertie and she was very annoyed that I’d asked her to stand in front of the bike for so long before signing an autograph that she didn’t even want anyway. She stormed off… (that’s a joke, Bertie.)
The following weekend I lowered the bike from the roof via the tie downs securing it and put it on its wheels for the first time, turning my attention to the bodywork.
The paintwork was touched up and highly polished. I painted the inside of all panels with a matt black, then fitted all using a new fairing fastener kit.
A set of OEM grips went on next, along with a freshly re-covered seat. I needed OEM indicators, and thankfully my old mate Andrew Pitt came to the rescue again. Remember my RGV250 engine with the ex-andrew Pitt pistons? Well, I also had the indicators taken off his original 1995 RGV250 production race, and they happen to be the exact same indicator we had for the Aussie market, so the lenses The 18in wheels are what set the Slabbie off from this angle. were tinted as per our model and fitted.
The bike was now finished, and aside from the cost of parts (we won’t go there. I’m sure Heather doesn’t care anyway, but just in case she ever reads CMM!) I didn’t spend a pound/dollar on labour and did all the work myself. It gave me some time out and the result is bloody awesome! So, let’s go for a ride!
I walk around my pride and joy and conduct a safety check. I try and put myself back 33 years, imagining what was going through the journalists’s minds as they prepared to ride the bike for the first time at the world launch, held at Suzuki’s testing ground at Ryoyo. They must have been buzzing. I drool some more at the stunning race replica looks and hop on the bike. The old-school feel of the bike is stunning and simply brilliant.
The huge screen sits tall and is so wide it is crazy. The way it curves around makes the bike feel racy. The tall and very narrow tank with endurance aircraft-style cap and vent is right under my chest, with a trick endurance-style ventilation hose between
my forearms, making me feel like Kevin Schwantz. The ’bars are really wide apart. I love the way the top triple clamp sits tall above the traditional clip-ons. It’s a real race feel from the 1980s. My back is bent over and I’m almost in a race tuck. I’m sitting well inside the bike, not on the bike, which is sometimes strange. The seat is plush and so low. The aluminum folding foot pegs are hideously high and give me a cramped feeling, while overall the bike is extremely narrow between the knees for an inline four, due to the main frame rails going over the top of the engine, rather than around it like a modern frame does. The dash looks so basic, but it looks ready to race and has only the basics for performance. I love the foam-mounted clocks – that is pure 1980s and 1990s grand prix style. The other trick thing is that the tacho doesn’t start counting until 3000rpm, a subtle sign of the intentions of the GSX-R750. I turn the fuel tap on, pull out the choke and hit the starter button. The bike All these parts were rebuilt or restored. What a job.
cranks hard a few times, fires into life and rumbles away at a high idle. The smell of rich unburned fuel was something I’d forgotten. Warming up seems to take forever (well, it does); about three minutes before a clean idle, not like these days when bikes idle instantly and off you go up the street before waking the neighbourhood... I'm good like that! I get it off the choke and give it some good throat-clearing revs. The heavy throttle and instant response are a reminder that the bike has mechanical flat slides with accelerator pumps as standard, which was all amazing stuff for the time. I pull in the light-feeling hydraulic clutch lever and select first gear, then head out for my first ever ride. It’s a moment I won’t forget in a hurry, as it is everything and more that I imagined it would be, and I feel an incredible sense of achievement as I cruise out on a warm-up lap. After a few laps to scrub tyres, bed brakes, and make sure there are no fuel or oil leaks, I do a proper test and ride the bike as fast as I can. which was just the way it was meant to be ridden in 1985. The immediate thing I notice is just how gloriously smooth the engine is. Suzuki nailed it from right back then. It is silky smooth with a fabulous gearbox that puts a lot of modern gearboxes to shame, with a short, sharp and positive shift and minimal lever travel just like a well-set-up racer. Upshifts and downshifts are slick and the ratios are close, adding to the excitement of the ride. I can really feel why these bikes were so amazing for their time. The world’s top bike journos must have been blown away when they rode this machine. The carburation, although touchy thanks to the flat-slides, is pretty good on my bike and the engine loves to rev hard, so I’m winding the throttle right to the stopper as
the GSX-R screams to 10,500rpm, where it makes peak horsepower. Peak torque is also high in the rev range at 8000rpm, making early throttle opening very easy and the bike tractable. The howl from the standard exhaust system is also so invigorating, and the bike has a spinetingling sound. You’ll recall I’ve fitted modern springs to the forks, while the shock is a modified R6 shock, so the suspension is brilliant. Braking is, too, but I’m cheating. With Venhill brake lines and Bendix brake pads, there is some improvement over stock brakes, which is nice. Cornering has to be done old-school style with lots of braking and a little earlier than on modern tackle, then fast, sweeping lines through the turns. With the narrow tyres (Pirelli Sport Demons) providing sensational cornering speed and the lightweight narrow rims helping with corner speed, the steering is
faster than I thought it would be for big 18in wheels. I found tucking in low and not hanging off too much felt the most comfortable. Overall, it is mind blowing for a 30-year-old bike, although it needs to be ridden with finesse and patience. Out on the street, my 1985 GSX-R is an incredibly good road-bike, aside from the cramped foot peg position. Amazingly, it runs at a good temperature all the time. Yokouchi-san did an amazing job with the oil cooling. Incidentally, I read that he thanks his grandmother for teaching him to stir the bathwater. He was lazy, and the old bath with a fire underneath it had to have the water circulated to avoid hotspots. He applied this principle to keeping the oil flowing around the combustion chamber of the GSX-R750F, in order to keep that cool. What a brilliant story, and what a brilliant bike. cmm