Try to pry the ignition keys from a Motorcycle Online staffer's grasp, after that first ride on a '96 GSXR 750. The smile spreads from ear to ear, the grip on the key fob is Godzilla-like.The new 750 tops the scales (without oil, battery or gas) at under 400 pounds. It rattles the dyno room with 117 rear wheel horsepower on a Dynojet dyno. Powerband wheelies are a twist of the wrist away. But it handles just like a little 600.
The massively light frame narrows between the rider's knees like the old perimeter frame never could. Swing your leg over the huge, ugly tailpiece and the first thing you notice is size, or lack of it. This 750 is 600 sized, and 600 light. The cockpit is spartan; the ignition key plugs directly into the top triple clamp, and instruments nestle in the nose of the fairing, almost out of sight through the low windscreen. Partitioned inside the speedometer, an LCD panel tells total mileage or either of two trip miles. Inside the tachometer, a coolant temperature panel distracts attention from the astronomical 13,5000 rpm redline.
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Dynos aren't the real world, but on the highway, that power hits as a huge wheelie in first gear if you yank the throttle hard, and keeps right on going until it peaks around 11,000 rpm. Down in the engine department Suzuki's designers have lightened everything in sight, and then some. The new engine is a full 20 pounds lighter than the older model, and 30mm thinner, contributing to the 600-class feel. Some weight shaving is due to new nickel-silicon coatings that replace heavy cylinder liners, and contribute most to the narrow engine. Most components lost weight.
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Throw a leg over this bike, and your butt thinks you're on a 600. It's much smaller, and more comfortable than any previous GSXR. The footpegs are still up high, but the fork-mounted clip-ons put less weight on the wrists than before. The twin beam frame narrows comfortably between the rider's legs. The bike is so small, the instruments so close, that it's only possible to see the speedometer by looking through the windshield from above. That's until you get up to serious speed, and start taking advantage of the chin cutout in the gas tank...
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And speed is where the bike excels. The rock-solid chassis, superb brakes and seamless power supply make for absolute confidence at almost any speed. No steering damper is fitted: None is needed. Even with a monstrously steep steering head angle (the same as Kevin Schwantz's GP bike of only a few years ago, a bike Suzuki drew on extensively in the new design). Stability is impressive, at any speed.
