If you don’t keep a pulse on the work that Team Classic Suzuki has been producing the last few year, then you owe it to your nostalgia to peruse their Katana race bike or Suzuki XR69 replica endurance bike. They are exquisite.
Now the British outfit has a new bike for us to drool over – one that cuts right to our 1990’s loving superbike hearts. It is a Suzuki GSX-R750 SRAD circa 1996.
This year might be a throw away for many people (for the record, it lost me at murder hornets); but for Suzuki Motor, 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of its incorporation – having been formed as the Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Co. in 1920 by Michio Suzuki.
To celebrate this century-long milestone and achievement, Suzuki Motor is doing what it does best: bold new graphics. As such, the three GSX-R models are getting a special 100th Anniversary livery, which draws heavily from the brand’s MotoGP program.
These special colors for the GSX-R600 ($11,599), GSX-R750 ($12,699), and GSX-R1000R ($17,999) will be available in only limited numbers and will be sold as 2021 model year machines.
Today we have an unusual story involving a recall. Suzuki Motor of America is piloting a program where it will pay owners to go get their recalls done, trialing the idea with the GSX-R owners who need to have their front brake master cylinders inspected and repaired.
The recall affects 2004-2013 Suzuki GSX-R600 & GSX-R750 models, as well 2005-2013 Suzuki GSX-R1000 superbikes. For those who get their recall completed between September 1, 2018, and November 30, 2018, there is a prepaid $100 Visa card in it for them.
Suzuki Motor America today sent our first view of the 2018 Suzuki GSX-R600, 2018 Suzuki GSX-R750, and 2018 Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycles – now before you get too excited, they are exactly the same as last year’s models (save for some bold new graphics).
This is of course all according to plan. We have already written about Suzuki’s plan to bring new middleweight GSX-R600 & GSX-R750 sport bikes to market, as well as a new Hayabusa.
As such, we expect still to see new sport bike models debuting from Suzuki at this year’s EICMA show in Milan, and all three bikes should arrive mid-2018, as 2019 model year machines.
After the debut of the GSX-R1000, there has been a bit of talk about Suzuki’s plans for the rest of its sportbike lineup, namely the GSX-R600 and GSX-R750. A story from AMCN pointed to a new GSX-R750 for the 2019 model year, but said that the GSX-R600 would be no more.
Our own sources disagree with that AMCN report though, saying that we would see both: an all new 2019 Suzuki GSX-R600 and an all-new Suzuki GSX-R750 for the 2019 model year.
We would be on the wrong side of confirmation bias if we said that today’s news supports our claim, but what we can tell you is that it doesn’t look like new GSX-R600 or GSX-R750 models will be coming for the 2018 model year, as Suzuki Motor of America just filed some interesting paperwork with the California Air Resources Board.
In Episode 48 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast, we didn’t set out to talk about all the weird technologies in the motorcycle industry, though our conversation certainly covered its fair share of them.
We start the show talking about the Vyrus 986 M2 supersport, which features a unique hub-center steering chassis. This leads us into a conversation about the supersport market, and the rumors that Suzuki is bringing out a new GSX-R750.
From there, Quentin breaks some news that a reliable source has told him that there will be a new Suzuki GSX-R600 for the 2019 model year, which goes against what had previously been rumored. We then finish up the Suzuki talk with a quick discussion about the Suzuki Hayabusa, and hyperbikes in general.
The show ends with us talking about KTM’s new fuel-injection for two-stroke dirt bikes, and what that means for that segment of the industry. Q also tries his best to explain how transfer port injection works, though we would recommend googling some visual adds when you get to that portion of the show.
A fun show, though we think you will also find it very insightful as well.
You can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Enjoy the show!
For Suzuki, the debut of its first all-new superbike design went swimmingly well, with the 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000R impressing journalists at its launch in Phillip Island earlier this year.
We would hope so, as the Japanese manufacturer once laid claim to being the King of Superbikes, but then cowardly abdicated its throne for an eight-year period, where only modest updates came to the line.
Like most of Suzuki’s motorcycle lineup, the GSX-R models have suffered from abandonment by their caretakers in Hamamatsu, and while there is a new GSX-R1000 for us to drool over (though its true mettle yet untested against its rivals), what is to come of its 750cc and 600cc counterparts?
Our friends from Down Under seem to have the answer, as Australia’s Motorcycle News reports that a new Suzuki GSX-R750 is in the works, likely to debut as a 2019 model year machine.
As for the GSX-R600, well…that appears to be going the way of the dodo, as Suzuki seems set to follow Honda’s on its exit out of the supersport market.
Suzuki is giving us an early look at its 2018 lineup, showing the 2018 Suzuki GSX-S750 and 2018 Suzuki GSX-S750Z street bikes at the INTERMOT show this week.
Adding a better compliment to the Suzuki GSX-S1000, these 750cc machines build off the same strategy of taking a track-focused sport bike, and making an naked street bike out of it. For the 2018 model year, Suzuki is revising the GSX-S750 it debuted in 2014, to take on the FZ-09 in earnest.
This time, Suzuki is adding more to its venerable open-class machine, the Suzuki GSX-R750, in order to make the 2018 Suzuki GSX-S750.
Also, two flavors will be available, the Suzuki GSX-S750 and the 2018 Suzuki GSX-S750Z – the latter having ABS brakes and a matte black livery.
Suzuki Motor of America has issued a massive recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which affects 68,344 motorcycles. The range of bikes varies considerably (full list after the jump), but the recall stems around the same electrical issue.
According to the recall paperwork, Suzuki’s recalled motoryclces have a defect in the circuit board for their regulator/rectifier power module, which as a result may not charge the battery sufficiently.
Despite the wishful reports that have been circulating the media sphere lately, Suzuki is seemingly not poised to bring any new GSX-R sport bikes for the 2016 model year, as Suzuki Motor America has confirmed this year’s models will return for next season.
This news is undoubtedly a blow to fans of the Suzuki brand and GSX-R line, who have been keen to see Suzuki reclaim its sport biking crown. There is however a silver lining to this news…
Debuting today at the German GP in what has to be the best industry #tbt move ever, Suzuki is showing off a special 30th Anniversary livery for its GSX-R line, including the GSX-RR MotoGP race bike.
As the name implies, the livery celebrates 30 years of GSX-R sport bikes, which have sold over one million units since their first debut in 1985.
Helping celebrate the special occasion, the 30th anniversary livery bikes will be available globally from Suzuki, though there’s no word right now on how much they will cost in the USA, or when they will be available.