BEEJ SUZUKI GSX-R1000R
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN… “Living la vie Gixer…”
With the Suzuki spending much of her time back from SBOTY stuck on slicks, and me being busy doing other stuff, it was a wee while before I was able to get her re-shod for some red hot road action. I did eventually get around to ordering some of my very favourite tyres though, namely a fresh set of Pirelli Supercorsas.
I really do love these tyres, they sit as joint favourite in my own personal tyre preference chart with Bridgestone’s R10, another track based hoop. While the marginally stiffer R10 will outlast (and every so slightly outgrip) the S’corsa on track, the Pirelli is in turn slightly better suited to road work, more proficient in the rain and warms up a tad quicker, too. And it still rocks on track, with that trademark Pirelli ‘flex’ I absolutely adore – we’re going to have a blast on this rubber for summer!
When the hoops arrived, I zipped up to JHS Racing to get them fitted, with which they duly obliged – thanks guys! I must also add that the bike is still running on Suzuki’s recommended track settings, which we dialled in during SBOTY as the OE suspension setup was struggling a bit with grippy rubber. I’ll double check what those were for next month, but I’m going to leave them in anyway.
I just prefer the way the bike feels and responds when running them, and although the OE setup was very plush on the road, that’s not what I’m bothered about, it’s still more than good enough to deal with bumps and so forth and, when I ride to a track day, it’s already ready to rock.
I did have time to fit my first modification though. Performance Parts Ltd have sent me a smorgasbord of lovely Yoshimura bits and pieces for the bike, and so it could go up on a paddock stand I fitted the sweet little Yoshi’ bobbins. They cost the princely sum of £35, and I rather like them! There will be a lot more going on from this stuffed box of Yoshi’ awesomeness in following issues, including an R11 exhaust can. First, though, I’ll be trying out an SP Engineering option for a few weeks, seeing as they did such a stellar job with the Yamaha MT-10. And then after the R11 has been fitted, I’ll give serious consideration to chucking a full system on her, also fromYoshimura.
Otherwise, it’s been more about me getting to know the bike a bit better. I will say the dash is hard to read sometimes, with the gear indicator so close to the speedo, if I’m doing 30mph in second gear and quickly glance down, my brain tells me 302mph! The gear indicator is a little large and, I think, positioned wrongly. Also, the rest of the info (and there’s a lot crammed in) is hard to make out sometimes. But, this not having a full colour Gucci dash, is partly how Suzuki have kept the price down, so fair enough!
As I said last month, the brakes could do with some love, and after a wee incident where there wasn’t enough stopping power in the first half of lever travel, which oddly enough coincided withme filling my pants, I have gotten around to actually requesting some new pads. They may not totally cure the brakes’ issues, but so long as I havemore stopping oomph, earlier, I’ll be happy.
I am enjoying the motor though. It’s a belter alright and bringing me back around to traditional inline fours, as I’ve been going off them the last few years. This Gixer has enough grunt to lark about at sub 40mph speeds, almost like the Gixers of old, and it’s making me very happy. Can’t ask for more than that, really! More next month…