This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Suzuki GSX-R750, a motorcycle that revolutionized the game. A MotoGP bike for the masses. To mark the occasion Suzuki has released a 35-minute documentary about the bike’s development. Amazingly, the company brought back key engineers who worked on multiple generations of the GSX-R out of retirement and let them speak candidly about their projects, a rarity among manufacturer-produced videos. Even if you prefer four wheels over two, it’s worth a watch.
The GSX-R was an evolution of the GS750, which dates back to 1976. To make it race-worthy, Suzuki gave it an innovative aluminum double-cradle frame, which helped achieve an incredibly light dry weight of 395 pounds. The year it debuted, it finished 1-2 in the 24 Hours motorcycle race, and in fact 10 of the 24 bikes that completed the enduro were GSX-Rs.
Over four decades of Gixxer are covered, and it’s refreshing to see the former Suzuki engineers discuss the challenges they faced in creating the iconic bike. They reveal some of the design choices that didn’t make the cut and some of the difficult calls to change, for example, the GSX-R’s unique oil-cooled engine to a water-cooled one in 1992.
That decision had a ripple effect, as the addition of a radiator and fan forced the steering head forward, reducing torsional rigidity, which led to a cascade of weight-adding reinforcements. On the other hand, the designers were allowed to keep vestigial cooling fins on the engine in order to maintain tradition.
By the mid-90s rivals like Honda’s RVF750R had caught up, forcing Suzuki to go back to the drawing board. The engineers recall the tough decision to ditch the double-cradle frame in favor of an idea that had been previously discarded — the twin-spar frame, a Yamaha invention.
In 1996, through a strict regiment of weight reduction, the engineers were able to get the GSX-R’s weight back down to 395 pounds from 463. Engine designer Masahiro Nishikawa reminisces about his drive to “reduce [the engine’s] size by even a single millimeter.” By 2000, they had gone even further, dropping the weight to 366 pounds with an 11-pound reduction in engine alone.
The retired engineers reflect on the hardships they had to overcome, admit regrets, and disagree about which generation was the best Suzuki bike of all time. It’s clear by the end that they all have great respect for one another and feel that they achieved something important. They built a machine beloved around the world. We chuckled when test rider Yuichi Nakashima says, “People in their final moments think of their families. But I think I’ll also remember the GSX-R.”
Many of them believe that the particular GSX-R they worked on is the best Suzuki product, even though this is the same company that built the Hayabusa. We wish more manufacturers would do this, specifically for non-flagship models. How great would it be to watch retired Toyota engineers discuss the making of the MR2, or see Nissan engineers reminisce about the Silvia? Until then, happy 40th, Gixxer.
