The Suzuki GSX-R750, launched at the Cologne motorcycle show in 1985, was like no other Superbike yet built. Up until this time, it was generally considered that superbikes, bikes of 750 cc upwards, had amazing power, torque and top speed but as a consequence were heavy and cumbersome, and therefore outclassed on the track by the smaller middleweights of 500 to 550 cc.
The Suzuki GSX R750 was based on their endurance bike, the GS1000R XR41, which won the 1982 World Endurance Championship. In fact it was hard to tell the road going version from the endurance machine which copies the twin headlamp fairing and the 18 inch wheels.
This road going bike was designed to address the problem of power and weight prevalent at the time. Suzuki had decided to try and leap frog the competition by designing a Superbike that not only went well but also handled well. The GSX R750 had the design brief to be ultra-powerful and for the first time in a Superbike, to also be ultra-light.
The lightness was achieved in two ways. The first consisted of a radical new aluminium frame. Aluminium was already used for the frames of Suzuki's RG 250 lightweights, but this new frame was not only the first to be able to handle high horsepower, it also had some 60 less parts than a steel frame of that era.
Another stroke of genius by the Suzuki engineers was the use of oil cooling. One of the problems of engine cooling is that straight forward air cooled engines suffer a degradation in performance as they get hotter. Until then, the traditional remedy to this was to add water cooling, but the drawback with water cooling meant the fitment of additional parts and therefore increased weight, which went some way to reduce the performance increase achieved by the cooling itself.
What the Suzuki engineers did was incredibly innovative. Firstly they identified the most important areas that needed cooling. They then increased the capacity of the oil sump, introduced an oil pump and thereby produce an effective cooling method with the minimum of additional weight. It was called the Suzuki Advanced Cooling System.
Another considerable positive side-effect of this cooling system was that power could be increased because smaller, lighter pistons could be used with higher compression. To top it off the GSX R was also fitted with a head design initially incorporated in the 1980 GSX 1100, the Twin Swirl Combustion Chamber.
This meant that the machine became a class leader with its 749 cc dohc 16 valve engine putting out 100 bhp at 10,500rpm. Not only that, but it's radical design and resultant light weight, meant that despite having slightly less power than its main rival, the new Yamaha FZ, it could more than match the Yamaha over the quarter mile and top speed. Even though the bike was fitted with 18 inch wheels the handling was superb, the bike being particularly stable when cornering. The huge 300mm front discs and four pot calipers had incredible feel, giving the rider real confidence under braking.
Suzuki's radical approach to the Superbike genre now meant that superbikes would never be the same again and that more power no longer meant a degradation in handling.
The Suzuki GSX R750 was based on their endurance bike, the GS1000R XR41, which won the 1982 World Endurance Championship. In fact it was hard to tell the road going version from the endurance machine which copies the twin headlamp fairing and the 18 inch wheels.
This road going bike was designed to address the problem of power and weight prevalent at the time. Suzuki had decided to try and leap frog the competition by designing a Superbike that not only went well but also handled well. The GSX R750 had the design brief to be ultra-powerful and for the first time in a Superbike, to also be ultra-light.
The lightness was achieved in two ways. The first consisted of a radical new aluminium frame. Aluminium was already used for the frames of Suzuki's RG 250 lightweights, but this new frame was not only the first to be able to handle high horsepower, it also had some 60 less parts than a steel frame of that era.
Another stroke of genius by the Suzuki engineers was the use of oil cooling. One of the problems of engine cooling is that straight forward air cooled engines suffer a degradation in performance as they get hotter. Until then, the traditional remedy to this was to add water cooling, but the drawback with water cooling meant the fitment of additional parts and therefore increased weight, which went some way to reduce the performance increase achieved by the cooling itself.
What the Suzuki engineers did was incredibly innovative. Firstly they identified the most important areas that needed cooling. They then increased the capacity of the oil sump, introduced an oil pump and thereby produce an effective cooling method with the minimum of additional weight. It was called the Suzuki Advanced Cooling System.
Another considerable positive side-effect of this cooling system was that power could be increased because smaller, lighter pistons could be used with higher compression. To top it off the GSX R was also fitted with a head design initially incorporated in the 1980 GSX 1100, the Twin Swirl Combustion Chamber.
This meant that the machine became a class leader with its 749 cc dohc 16 valve engine putting out 100 bhp at 10,500rpm. Not only that, but it's radical design and resultant light weight, meant that despite having slightly less power than its main rival, the new Yamaha FZ, it could more than match the Yamaha over the quarter mile and top speed. Even though the bike was fitted with 18 inch wheels the handling was superb, the bike being particularly stable when cornering. The huge 300mm front discs and four pot calipers had incredible feel, giving the rider real confidence under braking.
Suzuki's radical approach to the Superbike genre now meant that superbikes would never be the same again and that more power no longer meant a degradation in handling.
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→Classic Motorcycles: The Suzuki GSX-R750
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→http://vaughneames.blogspot.com/2012/04/classic-motorcycles-suzuki-gsx-r750.html
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