Would you look at what we rolled out of the workshop this month-another screaming yellow Suzuki GSX-R project bike! Even though it's the same color as Don Smith's GSX-R600 land-speed-record project bike featured in our last issue ("Mission Accomplished," May 2005), this Gixxer couldn't possibly be more different in intent and design. Smith's 600 was built for a very specific goal-maximum top speed-and it very successfully attained that goal when it set 20 land-speed records last year. As fast as it was in a straight line, though, the lowered and lengthened stance made the little Gixxer less than practical for back-road riding. With our next project we wanted to build something different, something optimized for cornering. Track-day season was fast approaching, after all, and as an unrepentant knee-dragger I desperately needed a new mount to make me look faster than I really am.
When it came time to select a platform for this project, there was only one choice as far as we were concerned: Suzuki's new-for-'04 (and unchanged for '05) GSX-R750. Sure, the GSX-R1000 might put down 25 more hp than the Gixxer 750, but horsepower is hardly the only factor that matters for going fast around corners. Balance and agility are just as important, and in our experience there isn't a sportbike on the market more balanced and easy to handle at speed than the 31/44-liter GSX-R. Think of it as a 600 on steroids-the chassis is identical to the GSX-R600's, but the 750 engine makes 20 more hp. And since the smaller motor has a lighter crankshaft and less reciprocating mass, the 750 is significantly easier to turn (and less tiring to ride) on the racetrack or carve on the canyons compared to a literbike. Factor in the big break on insurance rates for a 750cc bike compared to a 1000cc machine and you can start to see why we confidently consider the GSX-R750 the best all-around streetbike on the market today.
Starting with a zero-mile '04 GSX-R750, we systematically upgraded the bike from street spec to street-racer spec, squeezing out more power, upgrading to stiffer, more tunable suspension, improving the brakes and, of course, stepping up the bling factor a few points with a boatload of appearance mods. Project GSX-R750 now goes, stops and corners like a carefully prepped racebike, and looks hot enough to stop people in their tracks at the local bike night. Call it "Mission Accomplished, Part II."