Suzuki GSX-R750

It's a two-year-old model so what's it doing here? Can Suzuki's middle Gixxer match new contenders?
Try as the Honda and Triumph might, but there's no kicking sand in this reluctant bully's face. Even though the pair dance round the Tarmac track and take to the local roads like natives, the Suzuki feels like it can deliver a knockout blow at any point of its choosing.
But rather than the GSX-R750 feeling like a clumsy blunderbuss, blasting its way past its diminutive but daring rivals, the Suzuki somehow feels every bit as cultured as the Honda and ultimately delivers a kick that not even the Triumph can match.
If anything, this machine feels bashful, almost reticent to show its full hand of aces. Aping the Honda, and then some, the Suzuki deals with the routine with the same workmanlike ethic as it does flat chat round a track. So exploring new roads is a breeze as the low seat height, balanced poise and fulsome motor combine to make a very accommodating companion. You may not feel the same verve of the Triumph, but it outscores the Honda's humbleness thanks to its extra cojones - although the three-way
adjustable footpegs could be set a little lower for road comfort.

The Suzuki soon sheds its shyness and. almost apologetically, the motor comes to the fore. There's no getting away from the fact that the Suzuki makes the most of its four bigger holes, but it's the way that this power is consigned to the road that generates faith in its every ability. In some ways, it's easy to let the GSX-R do the work and sit back and take in the scenery - I was guilty of this on the road. Dave and J P raced off on the smaller bikes, leaving me dawdling behind, but the Suzuki dug deep and soon reeled the pair in. even though my riding and concentration deserved ridicule.
The aural sensation as the bike howls past 8.000rpmon its way to the redlineat U.OOOrpm is Suzuki through and through, but that's only half the fun as the motor truly makes the track a shorter place.
Mugged With one eye on the speedo and one on my braking marker on Almeria's back straight I wondered why panic set in as the corner jumped at me like a mugger in the shadows. And no wonder, because the Suzuki steams into the final corner 15kph quicker than its rivals - and at the top of fourth gear, rather than fifth gear on the smaller bikes. Thankfully, it stops as well as it goes.

Rest assured, there's plenty more where this comes from and thanks to Honda-like levels of power delivery to the sticky rear Pirelli (the standard bike comes on Bridgestone BT-015s). squirts of power connecting Almeria's corners together are applied with unerring accuracy and complete confidence. And that's with the Suzuki emitting horsepower that can get you into serious trouble with too. The liberties that you can take thanks to the Honda's stability and the confidence thatyou carry with the Triumph's grip have to be tempered with the Suzuki, proved by the fact it was first to runout of rear tyre life.



Libertine

The Suzuki doesn't have everything its own way. and you sense thatyou regulate when, and by how much, you open the throttle as a corner opens up. The datalogger shows that it's only on the longer straights that the Suzuki makes its power advantage count. In some cases, the surfeit of grunt actually moderates how you ride the bike, erring on the right side of a highside as you feed the power in more pragmatically than you would on the CBR or 675.
While never feeling tanker-like, the Suzuki certainly feels a bigger bike than the Honda, and much wider than the skinny Triumph. As such, it loses a degree of ultimate accuracy as you try and hit apexes that were a breeze before. You'll still hit them, but with faster corner approaches, a mechanically simple steering damper and more physical input required to initially turn the bike it does require a quick mind to compete with this rapid machine.

The extra power means you ride more of the track, powering out to curbs as the steering fights the understeer that the engine's creating, but it never dominates this domineering machine, it's merely the first in a long list of highlights. The left hook of the engine is used in combination of the right jab of the chassis and excellent suspension. And in the process we discovered some great settings for the bike round Almeria - the standard ones.
To feel so fluid on a bike, so part of the machine's intentions is testament to this machine, and as the chequered flag came out the trip counter clocked 200 richly rewarding and assured track miles. If the 750 class is dead. I'm loving the wake.