Description
By: Rob Simmonds .
Suzuki broke with tradition when they built the GSX-R750 in 1985 and single-handedly invented the race-replica class that is still the most popular in the world today.
Before the GSXR, road bikes didn't resemble the fully faired race machines from the tracks – instead they had 'sit up and beg' styling and were nothing like the uncompromising machines that you saw at the races. The GSX-R750 changed all that, by aping a race bike's styling, with a full fairing and squat, bullish looks married with the uncompromising engine and ergonomics of a racer. Not only that, but in many cases even as a road bike this racer-with-lights was better than some pure-bred race machines, straight out of the crate. Suddenly, a new class of machine was born – the race-replica – a class which to this day has an enthusiastic following across the globe.
The original 1985 GSX-R stemmed from Suzuki's superb Endurance and F1 machines of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and itself returned to the tracks with amazing success over the years. Today, 17 years after its launch, the GSX-R750 and its siblings are still going strong and are at the forefront of motorcycle development.
This book charts the birth and evolution of the GSX-R and its family members, as well as looking at the race successes that the machine has had in its 17-year history.
Rob 'Bertie' Simmonds has been a journalist for the past decade and has specialised in writing about motorcycling for the last seven years, working on Motor Cycle News as a reporter and sports reporter, Bike as Road Test Editor and Two Wheels Only as Assistant Editor.
