Suzuki GSX-R750 - Performance Per Dollar Sportbike Comparison Test

Given that the truth almost always lies somewhere in the middle, you'd think the winner of our recent "Magnum Foursome" shootout would be a real contender for the win here. Suzuki's had plenty of time to polish this one to a point where you almost wouldn't recognize that this latest version comes from the same manufacturer that produced earlier, cruder GSX-Rs. If it came from Italy, you'd call it exotic and would swoon at its sub 400-lb. weight (the lightest here), and you'd praise the Italians for finally coming up with usable mirrors.

Like all these bikes, with the exception of the CBRs, the Suzuki is a pretty miserable long-distance freeway runner, but if you’re limber enough and have a jacket with padding in the left elbow to lean on, it’s not insufferable through a tank of fuel or three; luckily, the fuel light comes on early, usually at only around 130 miles, when there’s still over a gallon to burn. Our tallest testers, 5-foot-11 Dudek and 6-foot-3 White, both ranked the Suzuki second on their cards.

Once you get to the good roads, there's nothing but praise for the GSX-R, which flits from side to side almost as easily as the Honda 600 and returns the same sort of confident feedback, even though this unit's brakes were a tad mushy. Like the small CBR, the GSX-R needs to have its revs up to hang with the pack and sounds almost as good as the MV doing it. But unlike the Honda, there's enough torque contained in there that, after you've been spoiled by the bikes with TC, you sort of back-of-mind wish the GSX-R had the same safety blanket. And when you start thinking about TC, you wish the GSX-R had as much power as the others. It's a cruel world. At the end of the day, in this company, what keeps the GSX-R down isn't lack of performance as much as the feeling of its being "a bit bland," according to Senior Editor Blake Conner. "Unexciting" is a descriptor used by Rapp (a guy who's done some abnormally exciting things). Which is the sportbike equivalent of being kissed on both cheeks by Don Corleone. This is a tough crowd.

MORE OF THE OTHERS:

» MV Agusta F4

» Honda CBR600RR C-ABS

» Honda CBR1000RR

» BMW S1000RR

» Aprilia RSV4 R APRC ABS

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