CL A SSICS
WORDS AND PHOTOS:
Rhys Jones
THE ‘R’ FACTOR
he battle for four-cylinder sports bike,
or superbike, supremacy, began with
the launch of the Honda CB750 in 1969,
followed by the Kawasaki Z1 in 1972, but it
wasn’t until 1978 that Suzuki made a stunning
contribution with its GS1000. It set new
standards for sports bikes of the period, and
was hailed as the first Japanese sports bike to
handle as well as the European competition.
The 997cc, 8-valve, transverse mounted
4-cylinder, air-cooled engine, produced
87bhp at 8000rpm. Top speed was 217km/h.
There was also a 750cc version of the 1000cc
machine. A Yoshimura tuned GS1000 won the
US Superbike title for Wes Cooley in 1980.
Suzuki then launched the GSX1100 in 1981,
another air-cooled five-speed four, but
with a 16-valve DOHC engine producing
100bhp with a top speed of 220km/h. At a
time when manufacturers were developing
aerodynamic fairings, fuel-injection,
monoshocks, and all the trappings of a new
generation, this was to be the last of the
unfaired, air-cooled superbikes with twin
rear shocks.
Next, just a year or two later, came the
beginnings of that new generation, in the
shape the GSX1100 Katana. It had the DOHC
16-valve five-speed engine, now producing
111bhp with a top speed of 225km/h. It was
also 5kg lighter than the outgoing GS1000.
Although the GSX1100 engine was tried
and tested, what made the Katana stand
out amongst all other sports bikes of the
day was its appearance. Suzuki wanted a
machine that would turn heads, as well as
perform. The design of the Katana had been
given to the German group responsible for
designing the BMW R90S nearly a decade
earlier. Katana was the name given to the
ceremonial sword carried by a Samurai
warrior, and the resulting machine looked as
sharp as a sword.
The motorcycling world didn’t have long to
wait for the next, and vital development. The
GSX-R750 was launched in 1985.
GS1000. Last of the top
performing naked sports bikes