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When the new-bike spec sheets begin to arrive we all gasp at what they don't say, for this early in the selling season, many crucial variables such as weight and wheelbase have not been decided. But we in the 'zine biz whine to the manufacturers for earlier and earlier new-model info, and this partial information is the compromise that lets us make our deadlines.
Even so, there are good stories hidden here. This new GSX-R1000 moves its rider forward by shortening the tank and shifting the seat. Why? The harder a bike accelerates the easier it wheelies, so to keep that front wheel steering, Big Things have to shift weight forward. When Suzuki's many-time AMA Superbike champ Mat Mladin went to Willow Springs for the first test after veteran engineer Peter Doyle joined the team (just a few years ago), Doyle watched the early laps closely. When Mladin returned to the pits, Doyle took rubber foam and duct tape in hand and made a spacer that pushed Mat forward a bit. The next group of laps was a substantial fraction of a second quicker on average. With more weight on the front end, Mladin could gas it harder off turns without lifting the tire and running wide.
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| Borrowing from last year's 600 and 750, the 2007 GSX-R1000 gets a “Bird of Prey” makeover. |
Why not move the engine ahead? It's already there—any farther and there'll be rubber on the header pipes. This trend of moving the rider forward every year or so has had its effect on styling. Remember when gas tanks were long and low? If they were that way today, riders would have to sit on them to get the weight distribution they need. Therefore tanks have become shorter in length and taller in height.
Yamaha started the trend toward making whole chassis out of aluminum castings rather than a combination of sheet, castings and extrusions. No, let me take that back. Even before Yamaha did it a few years ago, one of the many attempts at Norton revival showed an all-cast chassis. The key to all this is new casting methods that give cast aluminum properties resembling those of forgings. The goals are 1) simplified assembly because of fewer parts; and 2) lighter weight, because casting gives detailed control of metal thicknesses everywhere.
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| From the front, all looks familiar, but the rear shot shows off new “twice-pipes” Will emissions regs force other bike-makers to do likewise? How will the aftermarket respond? |
Two mufflers, after all the years of singles? Bike are changing to hit the new emissions standards coming in '08, and this requires catalytic converters and oxygen sensors to keep the fuel mixture on the sweet spot that will give minimum total HC + NOx emissions. Accommodating all that may require extra flow capacity to make up for the restriction of catcons.
It's not as though any rational person thought the thousand Gixxer needed to be faster, but that's how vehicles are sold these days—every year and in every way, things are getting better and better. Or else. People won't buy them. So the '07 GSX-R has 8% bigger ports and bigger exhaust valves, which combined with higher-capacity coolant and oil radiators oh-so-subtly suggest more power. If the ports are bigger (and the specs tell us the cams are “more aggressive”—does that mean that before, they were shy and retiring?) then at lower revs intake velocity will be lower. That would normally mean poorer fuel vaporization, which depends on turbulence, which in turn depends on velocity.
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| What?! More choices? Can I have access to a factory mechanic, too? Fork features high- and low-speed compression-damping adjustments. |
But aha! Here in paragraph 9, item 12, it says that last year's four-hole fuel-injectors have become 12-hole models. Excitement! That means smaller, faster-evaporating fuel droplets that neatly compensate for any moments of unseemly tranquility in the intake tracts. Evaporate, ye droplets! Onward to your fiery fate!
Basic engine dimensions of 73.4 x 59.0mm bore and stroke (998.6cc) are unchanged. Why not shorter stroke, bigger bore and rod-stretching higher revs? Come on! This thing is already so fast that in AMA Superbike races the Suzukis have to race each other, leaving the others toiling in their wake. Ain't broke, don't fix it.
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