a quarter-century after its debut in the us, the original

suzuki GsX-R750
A quArter-century After
its debut in the u.s., the
originAl gsX-r’s ‘light
is right’ ApproAch still
reverberAtes
A
ll you really need to know about Suzuki’s
first-generation 1985 GSX-R750F, the first
example of one of motorcycling’s longest
and most successful dynasties, can be found in
a single number: 388. That’s the GSX-R’s claimed
dry weight in pounds. Full of fuel and oil, that
equates to right around 430 pounds. In late
1984, when the bike was introduced at the IFMA
motorcycle show in Cologne, Germany, that 388
figure beggared belief.
WoRdS: chArles everitt And Mitch boehM
PHoToS: frAn Kuhn
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Suzuki GSX-R750
By comparison, Honda’s much-vaunted 1983
V45 Interceptor taped in — in magazine road
tests – at 500-plus pounds wet; Kawasaki’s
1983 GPz750 weighed just under 500; and
Suzuki’s own prior 750, the GS750E, was porky
at just under 520. Coupled with a claimed
106-horsepower air- and oil-cooled inline-four,
the GSX-R750’s performance was guaranteed to
be ground-breaking.
That first GSX-R came from extraordinary
breeding stock, specifically Suzuki’s GS1000based XR41, which won the 1983 endurance
racing world championship. The XR41 was
essentially the prototype for the GSX-R750,
which retained the XR’s dual headlights,
aluminum frame, Full Floater single-shock rear
suspension system and more. In fact, Suzuki
claimed the 750’s extruded- and cast-aluminum
frame slashed almost 20 pounds from the
weight of a conventional steel-tube frame.
My first GSX-R750 sighting was in the spring
of 1985 in a local Salt Lake City canyon while
riding with buddies. At the time I was aboard a
1984 Honda 500 Interceptor, which, up against
the bikes of the day — GS1000s and 1100s,
CB750 and 900Fs, Seca 650s and 900s – looked
positively futuristic… right up until this guy’s
blue and white Canadian-spec GSX-R750
showed up. Instantly, all our bikes looked dated,
heavy and old-school, which ramped up the
jealousy meter and made us want to throttle
the lucky bastard who owned the thing. I’d
never seen anything like it outside the pages
of the bike magazines we’d been reading. The
aluminum frame, the low clip-ons, all the tricky
looking bits… it truly was a racebike with lights,
and none of us could stop talking about it.
Even the 20-valve FZ750, which had debuted at
about the same time, didn’t make us swoon as
heavily…
—Mitch Boehm
All of which brings us back to one of the GSXR750’s two most remarkable achievements: light
weight. In developing the 750, Suzuki focused
on shedding gross avoirdupois with the singleminded fixation of a third-generation anorexic.
That focus showed in almost every single part
of the bike, from the aforementioned frame to
virtually every engine component — pistons,
rods, crank, cases and so on, including the use
of a magnesium rocker cover.
Ultimately, though, Suzuki’s obsession with
weight — especially with the aluminum frame
— led to what could be politely called overly
lively handling at high speeds, resulting in a bit
of weave and wobble. American riders didn’t get
the chance to experience those characteristics
because the first GSX-R750s sold in this country
were 1986 models, which had a 25mm-longer
swingarm to de-fang the instability.
A year after that first sighting I found
myself at Laguna Seca Raceway as a staffer
for Motorcyclist magazine attending the world
launch of the GSX-R1100 and — for us Americans
— the new-to-the-U.S. ’86-spec GSX-R750. I
don’t remember much about the GSX-R1100
other than pure intimidation; it was too fast
and too capable, and as a Laguna Seca firsttimer, I was lost in the circuit’s blind corners
and — for me — blazing speeds. Remember,
this is before the tight infield section was built,
the run from turn 9 — now turn 11 — to turn five
being mind-boggingly scary at speed. What I do
remember is how easy the GSX-R750 was to ride
quickly, at least relative to the brutally fast 1100;
power, handling and braking worked together
seamlessly, and I found myself going faster and
with less effort than I could aboard the bigger
bike. — M.B.
The pinnacle of first-generation GSX-R750
technology was the Limited Edition version (right), which appeared Stateside in
early 1986 alongside the standard version,
which lacked the LTD’s dry clutch, solo seat,
electronic anti-dive and special paint. Left:
Motorcyclist’s Jeff Karr flew to Japan in early
’85 to sample pre-production machines, and
came back thoroughly impressed.
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GSXR 750
Above: The Editor at speed aboard an
’87-spec GSX-R750 on a So Cal backroad
for Rich Cox’s Nikon, and (below) at Willow
Springs during the racetrack portion of the
road test. Right: Attention-to-detail on the
first-generation GSX-R750 LTD was superb,
from the many beautiful castings and
dry clutch assembly to the foam-backed
instrumentation, dual headlights and GSXR1100-spec anti-dive front end.
The other surprising innovation for the
day — and another contributor to the bike’s
light weight — was its combination of air
and oil cooling. The use of oil as a cooling
medium had been employed on aircraft as
far back as the 1920s, but the 1985 GSX-R
represented its first use in motorcycling.
Back in the day it was considered ingenious
and, with the short, closely spaced fins,
contributed to the 750 engine’s distinctive
appearance, as did the gun-metal gray
finish. Suzuki developed a liquid-cooled
engine in parallel with the air-/oil-cooled
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