May 5^th, 2008

Item	Cost
Balloons	$2.99
Incense	$4.99
Ribbons	$3.97
Tinsel	$1.99
Hat	$2.99
Decorations	$5.99
Art	$3.99
Yummy yeasty yellow yoghurt and yucca cake	$14.09
Total (not priceless)	$41.00

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The Ninja 650 has been the largest bike I've owned in my nearly 25 years of riding ... I rode a 350 before it, a 250 before that and, lost in the mists of time, my first bike was a 50cc MB5 I rode as a teenager. So when I got the chance to ride the Suzuki GSXR 750 the other day, I took it.

Pre-ride waiting

I was in the dealership looking for some new fasteners for my boots (they had them, yay), and while I was there, the girl behind the counter asked if I was there for "Demo Days". I couldn't ride right then because I had $120 of meat in the trunk of my car, but I took it home and grabbed my riding jacket, pants, and helmet and made it back in time to sign up for the last ride of the day, and picked the GSXR750.

This is something of a step up from my little upright-sitting 62 HP parallel twin bike.

I mean, my knees were a lot closer to my chin than I was expecting. I didn't mind it, and I'm still not so old that I'm going to cramp up every 10 minutes. But by moving my weight into that more aggressive stance I had to hunch over and put a bit more weight on my wrists. I didn't like that stance very much, and I'm not used to having to tilt my head back to see the stop lights, etc. I felt like a rabbit on a spit.

The power curve on the bike is pretty much what you would expect from a 125+ horsepower inline 4. Low end was plenty peppy enough though at around the time I'd normally be expecting to shift gears on my Ninja 650, the GSXR was just starting the fat part of its power curve. For the most part I kept the engine RPMs between 3K and 7K, and only had it up around 10K once, just to get an idea what really accelerating on it would feel like (it feels ... fun). But the bike's gauge marked redline at 15K ... I would have tried it up there if I thought I could get away with it, but the dealer's riders were riding with a group of us and I don't think they would have appreciated watching me fly past at high revs, even for a few seconds (we had been warned pre-ride about this). Another thing I noticed is, of course, much more responsive throttle. Smaller bore and stroke, higher compression ratio than the Ninja, (plus more kick). So the first thing I did when I started the bike was rev the crap out of it, mostly by mistake. But once I got used to that I found the power curve pretty linear--as linear as my Ninja's.

So, no surprise, the bike had a lot more power than I am used to. Maybe I am getting old, after all, because I didn't find it particularly intoxicating ... just sort of felt it was quite unnecessary for anything I'd need the bike to do. (My daily commute does not really require speeds in excess of 300 KmH and an acceleration of 0-100 KmH in the 3.5 sec range.)

The first time I braked was a very pleasant surprise. It has actually motivated me to start looking for better brakes for my Ninja. Quite simply, I felt so much more confident braking on this bike after a few stops, and I actually had some jittery feelings afterwards when I got back onto my Ninja which, by comparison, had a spongy, less responsive feel. This is definitely the biggest priority for me and my Ninja now. By the way: For reference, the Ninja has the best brakes of any bike I'd ridden before the GSXR. My old Honda CB was an adventure, and my Exciter was small and light enough (and I was young and stupid enough) that brakes were not a major concern. But riding with obviously superior brakes today was an eye opener.

Cornering on this bike was a nice experience too: I've ridden some unruly pigs in the past, and the Ninja 650 was such a beautiful experience to move up to. So getting on the GSXR made me wonder if I was perhaps taking a step down in handling abilility. Nope, it's every bit as flickable in corners as the Ninja 650--at least at the speeds I was going which were, to be fair, relatively close to the speed limits for the most part. Maybe there would be differences at high speeds hanging off the bike on some mountain road somewhere but, as should be more and more obvious, that's not my ride. (Denham and Hopscotch may disagree with that statement, but I would remind them that was just one or two moments in an otherwise dull lifestyle.)

GSXR750 cockpit

The fit and finish of the bike is superior to the Ninja 650 as well: The gauges are nice and readable, but look somehow more high-end than the plasticky Ninja gauges. The fairings fit nicely with no visible seams and--ahem--no fairing buzz or vibration. The only weird thing were those two painfully visible screws on the left and right sides where the fairings attached to the front. A couple of little 3-cent bobs on top of those screws would improve the cockpit look of the GSXR quite a lot. I looked at the GSXR 600 cockpit and it had the same look (and minor blemish).

So the bike looks more finished (well, it IS more finished), and the lines of the fairings are kind of baroque in comparison to the Ninja lines. I still like the look of the Ninja better, but I can see lots of people preferring the wedge shape made by the opening in the fairings and the swept bat-wing look of the headlights. It's not my cup of tea, but still very pretty. The painted lines are bright and shiny ... hmm, I wonder who they are trying to appeal to here? Again, I'd like to stress that I prefer the prettiness of the Ninja--especially its narrow waist where the seat meets the tank (my wife compares it to the shape of a cricket) but, again, that GSXR look is a classic and quite unmistakable.

To sum up: The bike was powerful and more fun than the Ninja in pure performance terms. It cornered just fine for me, and had oodles of spare power. Getting back onto my Ninja for the ride home only highlighted this more. But ... meh ... unless you are having a Male Anxiety Identity Crisis or wanna go tear up the track on track day, I see little point for all that power. (But everything's relative: I have a coworker who says that about my Ninja by comparing it to his Honda Jazz scooter.) The brakes have taught me a little about what good brakes should feel like. There's nothing like good stopping power, and the Ninja has nothing like good stopping power compared to the GSXR. Finally, for those who think this sort of thing is important, the look from the driver's view of the dashboard and gauges is superior. Didn't turn my crank enough to make me go in and talk trade-in values on my Ninja, but it was visibly superior. Last point: The stance was another turn off for me, it just made the GSXR a lot less friendly to ride. And though that's almost definitely part of the mystique and attraction to a lot of (young) people, it doesn't cut it for me; I don't sleep on a bed of nails for the same reason.

I think I'll keep my Ninja 650 a while longer (but those brakes gotta go).

Here's a pic of me standing behind the GSXR750:

Note goofy grin on subject's face

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