The Former Glory of the Suzuki GSX-R1000
Sportbikes are for the road, yes, but let's face if, manufacturers build them with a large percent of track/racing in mind, so they have a good base to work with, Suzuki built the best sportbike in existence in 2005, with a slight improvement in the Suzuki GSX-R1000 K7, and nothing has troubled it since.As a road bike, the Suzuki GSX-R1000 K series has been hugely successful, but why has it been struggling on the track? Troy Corser won WSB in 2005 on a GSX-R1000, but ever since then, Suzuki has struggled to get the results that the new generation Gixer had promised.
The Crescent Rizla team had a 'mare from day one, with new riders each year, and no development dedication. Only the American Suzuki team have enjoyed Superbike success.Back in 2005, the Superstock class should have been renamed the Suzuki Gixer Cup, as the majority of bikes were Suzuki's, and after working out how to get them handling, this continued into 2006. With the new and improved GSX-R1000 K7, it looked as though the trend was set to carry on, but racers were ditching their GSX-R1000 K7 and buying back their old GSX-R1000 K6's.
Now the balance has swung to the Yamaha YZF-R1. It's a strange one, but maybe Suzuki build too much of a good road bike and don't think enough about racing needs? Honda, in comparison, built the Blade with racing at its core. It's seriously lagging behind on the road, but it's cleaning up in Superbikes.
