Track-Tested

TRACK-TESTED

ROADRACING THE 1993 GSX-R750

JUST HOW GOOD IS THE NEW LIQUID-cooled Suzuki GSX-R750? To answer that question, we flew to Shannonville Raceway Park, located in Ontario, Canada-the venue of our recent test of a Canadian-spec liquid-cooled GSX-R750 (see Cycle World, September, 1992). This time, we came to ride the wet-liner GSX-R750 in the Pro 750 Production class at round three of the Canadian National Championship series. After all, the main reason for the new liquid-cooled motor is to make Suzuki's sportbike more competitive in production-based racing. How would it stack up against the class-leading Kawasaki ZX-7Rs?

Blackfoot Motorcycle in Calgary, Alberta, delivered our bike to the track, and Team Suzuki Canada, headed by crew chief Mike Crompton, provided pit support. The bike, virtually identical to the 1993 U.S. version save for graphics, arrived still in need of attention to complete its transformation into production racer. We replaced the stock Showa shock with a Fox Twin Clicker, and the stock steering damper was swapped for an adjustable GCB unit from Storz Performance. A set of Bridgestone Battlax tires were spooned on in place of the standard rubber, and the finaldrive gearing was changed to suit Shannonville’s tight layout.

I put in 15 or 20 laps during Saturday-morning practice. The bike worked well from the outset, requiring only minor adjustments. We started by increasing damping rates front and rear, and then raised the rear ride height via the adjustablelength Fox shock. This quickened the steering and yielded the added bonus of increased cornering clearance for the exhaust canister in right-hand bends.

Things were beginning to click, although I did have one tense moment when the front brake faded, the lever pulling back to the grip while under hard braking at the end of the top-gear back straight. Luckily, there was a paved run-off road, so my overshoot ended without incident. We replaced the stock pads-which had glazed over-with a fresh set of GSX-R racekit pads, which provided strong and consistent two-finger braking for the duration of the weekend.

I got a flying start in Saturday afternoon’s three-lap heat race, coming from row eight to finish ninth in a 25bike field, earning a third-row start for Sunday’s final. Several times during the short sprint, though, the rear end stepped out as I twisted the throttle hard exiting slow corners asking for more grip than the Bridgestone could provide. But the new Suzuki chassis proved to be very forgiving-rolling out of the throttle a notch brought the wheels back into line without too much drama.

Team Suzuki Canada’s Jeff Gaynor and Kawasaki ZX-7Rmounted Steve Crevier were the heat’s top qualifiers, both riders using Dunlop’s hot new D364 radial rear tire and running at a record pace. Sunday morning, I had one of the DOT-approved Dunlops on the rear as I took my position on the grid for the final. Gaynor had informed me that this particular Dunlop comes in fast, allowing a hard charge right from the start-unlike some tires that require a lap or two before they’ve generated enough heat to offer good grip.

Gaynor was right. My GSX-R was hooked up as I worked my way forward through first-lap traffic in the mixed-field of GSX-Rs, ZX-7Rs, CBR600F2s and FZR600s, getting better drives off the turns than I had in the heat race. But as with any tire, there’s a limit, and I found it in a big way while driving off the apex of the final turn of that first lap. The back end let loose, stepping way out while I was still cranked over. Too much throttle too soon, but worse yet, I chopped the throttle too abruptly, which snapped the bike back into line with me up on the pegs, head out over the windscreen. Following a couple of full-lock swappers, I was unceremoniously spit off. Crompton described it best, saying, “It turned into a shopping cart on you.”

So, as good as the new Suzuki performs on the race track, it still doesn’t

change the fact that the hand that twists the grip rules the bike. But judging from my all-too-brief stint aboard the GSX-R750 production racer and the battles that continue to rage between Gaynor and Crevier for the class championship, you can expect the new Suzuki to be a serious contender in the States in 1993.

Don Canet