a L e g ac y o F P e r F o r M a n c e By Marc cook Foreword By kevin Schwantz deSign By toM Morgan DAVID BULL PUBLISHING DAVID BULL PUBLISHING Copyright © 00 by American Suzuki Motor Corporation and David Bull Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the Publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. We recognize that some words, model names, and designations mentioned in this book are the property of the trademark holder. We use them only for identification purposes. Library of Congress Control Number: 009096 ISBN: 1 893618 1 X Suzuki, the “S” logo, and the Suzuki model and product names are Suzuki trademarks or ®. © American Suzuki Motor Corporation 00. David Bull Publishing, logo, and colophon are trademarks of David Bull Publishing, Inc. Book and cover design: Blue Design (www.bluedes.com) Portland, Maine Printed in Hong Kong 10 9 8 7 6 4 3 1 David Bull Publishing 40 East Camelback Road Suite K10 Phoenix, AZ 8018 60-8-900 60-8-903 (fax) www.bullpublishing.com Photo Credits The publisher would like to thank all the artists who contributed to this book. While a large part of the photography was provided by Suzuki Motor Corporation in Japan and American Suzuki Motor Corporation, and the author, the following photographers also contributed their work: Shigeo Kibiki: Page 11-14, 19, 4, 6, 31, 3, 40-41, 43, 47, 4, 64, 68, 90-91, 94-9, 114-11, 137-139, 11 (above left, below left) Brian J Nelson: Page 10, 11, 138 (right), 139 (left), 149, 10 (above), 11 (above left, below left, above right) Kevin Wing: Page 9, 163, 191 Page 2: Resplendent in traditional blue-and-white Suzuki racing livery, the second-generation GSX-R600 represents the company’s best foray into the hard-fought middleweight category. This motorcycle also showed the great advantages of modular engineering, in which the 600 could successfully be based on the 70. Page 3: Styling has always been an important part of the GSX-R design—the original was based so closely on the endurance-race-winning GS1000R that it could almost be mistaken for it—but with the latest generation of GSX-R, it has become nearly an obsession. Numerous styling designs have been tried, in both illustrations and mockups, to be sure the latest version is both handsome and true to the GSX-R’s heritage. Page 4: It was the push for more horsepower that drove the engineers to liquid cooling. With that decision made, they could reduce the size of the cylinder block and head and incorporate the direct-action valvetrain they had wanted to use two years before—and still retain a fair portion of the previous engine’s bottom end. Page 6: The GSX-R is tested in the tunnel with a rider aboard to determine the overall shapes. Page 8: New ideas, new directions but a continuing clarity of focus allowed the initial designs for the 004 GSX- R600 and GSX-R70 to reach for a fresh, angular look that set the model apart from the more rounded, organic styling of the previous generation. Many of the ideas in this illustration made production, including the angular headlight and ram-air treatment, while others did not, namely the extended side panel and rounded tail section. Table of Contents Foreword by Kevin Schwantz. 11 Chapter 1 Before There Was a GSX-R. 1 Chapter 2 Where Light Met Right. 3 Generation 1: 198–1987 Chapter 3 Racing Drives Development—Again . 7 Generation : 1988–1991 Chapter 4 Facing the Inevitable: Liquid Cooling . 77 Generation 3: 199–199 Chapter 5 A Revolution Renewed. 93 Generation 4: 1996–1999 Chapter 6 Welcome Back to Literland . 113 Generation : 000–003 Chapter 7 The 1000 Takes the Lead. 133 Generation 6: 003–00 Chapter 8 The New GSX-R1000 Culminates Two Decades of GSX-R Development . 149 Generation 7: 00 On Chapter 9 Can We Make One for You? . 171 Afterword Twenty Years and Still Pushing Hard. 189 The author’s lasting impressions from Japan 6 8 9 OPPOSiTe: After Kevin Schwantz had proven FOREWORD himself in AMA Superbike racing, he moved full-time By Kevin Schwantz to the 00 Grand Prix class with Suzuki in 1988. By his retirement in 199 he had earned GP wins, 1 lap records, 9 pole positions, and won the 1993 World as it been twenty years already? I’m delighted to help the GSX-R celebrate this impor- Championship. Such was his stature in the sport that tant anniversary because both the bike and Suzuki itself have been so much a part of the FIM, the sanctioning body, retired his number my racing career. And now, of course, my school uses Suzuki sportbikes exclusively, so 34—the first time any rider I’ve had the opportunity to watch the development of the GSX-R from its earliest days had been honored this way. Schwantz continues to work has the ground-breaking race-replica sportbike to the incredible machine it continues to be today. with Suzuki as an advisor There is no doubt in my mind that the Suzuki GSX-R was well ahead of its time. I remember to the Yoshimura Suzuki team and through the Kevin hearing a lot about the bike and then seeing photos in early 1985, thinking, “Wow, this is an amazing- Schwantz Suzuki School. looking street bike.” I could tell that it would translate well into a race bike, but I also thought that it BelOw: A much younger— would be a big change from the bike I had been riding for Yoshimura in 1985, the GS700E. Because and exceptionally the GSX-R was not brought to America in 1985, I was still riding the Yoshimura GS. hungry—Schwantz raced his heart out for Yoshimura I believe we tend to look back on that period of AMA Superbike racing and think that the bikes Suzuki starting in 1984. The were less developed than they are now, even a bit crude. At the time, I didn’t think so. When I came 1986 racing season was Yoshimura’s first with the into the Yoshimura team, it all seemed incredibly exciting and I was just happy to be there, working GSX-R, but this “building year” paid off well for 1987, for a well-run team that had good equipment. My goals and strategy were pretty simple: take it day when Schwantz scored five by day and win races. wins aboard the Yoshimura- prepped GSX-R. I always got along with the GS700E. I’d come from motocross and dirt track, and so I liked the big handlebar. The bike, to me, was an absolute hoot to ride. It would do what I wanted it to do, went where I wanted it to go. I wouldn’t say finesse was a big part of my style then, but my style seemed to work well on the GS. We won the second race of 1985 at Willow Springs and picked up two more wins later in the year. I think the fact that Yoshimura had a year of development on the 750cc bike before I got there really helped. In 1985, I got to ride the GSX-R750 for the first time in a 200-kilometer race with Graeme Crosby as preparation for the Suzuka 8 Hours. I was imme- diately impressed with the bike’s performance, even if it was a big change for me going to clip-on handlebars from big, dirt bike-style handlebars. 10 11 ChApter 3 OPPOSiTe: Although the engine moved to a short- RaciNG DRIVES stroke design and received a significantly altered cylinder head, it was DEVELOPMENT—AgaiN fundamentally the same. It kept Mr. Yokouchi’s generation 2: 1988–1991 lightweight oil-cooling system featuring dual oil pumps and a massive oil cooler. The shorter stroke permitted a higher redline and therefore better rev ithout question the first-generation GSX-R was an out-of-the-ballpark success. potential; Suzuki turned that into greater peak The model turned the sportbiking world upside down. With one deadly accurate horsepower. slash of the knife, it caused every other sportbike manufacturer to bleed sales and, BelOw: The new 1988 GSX-R once through triage, to rethink its evolutionary product-development process. is shown at speed on the wBut even though the GSX-R—due credit to the 1100, but the 750 in particular—was do- track at the company’s Ryuyo test facility. ing extremely well in showrooms, it wasn’t winning everything in sight on the racetrack. Kevin Schwantz’s first season aboard the GSX-R, 1986, netted a single win in AMA Superbike. Honda’s first aluminum-frame VFR750 arrived that year, and Fred Merkel put the company’s substantial (some said “enormous”) race budget to good use, winning his third title in a row by ’86. The next year Schwantz took five wins and came home second in the championship. But it wasn’t enough for Suzuki, whose corporate pride was hanging way over the line. The GSX-R was conceived to win, and win it would. In the U.S. and abroad, the competition had stepped up to Suzuki’s challenge with the GSX-R, but plans were in place to advance the state of the art. The result, which debuted as the 1988 GSX- R750J model, represented a wholesale revision of the bike, with every part of its design—engine, frame, suspension, bodywork—dramatically revised.