Suzuki has won a total of seven titles in the top class of motorcycle grand prix racing, covering 500cc GP and MotoGP.

The winners include: Barry Sheene – 76-77, Marco Lucchinelli – 81, Franco Ucini – 82, Kevin Schwantz – 93, Kenny Roberts Jr – 2000, and most recently Joan Mir for 2020.

So what does Suzuki do to celebrate for 2021? It releases (apparently only to Europe so far) all 7 championship winning liveries for the newest GSX-R1000.

The Barry Sheene & Kevin Schwantz versions are my favorite. Which one do you like the most?



This one looks amazing!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: stickman428,

Grew up watching Barry. He was awesome.

I like the looks of #2 & 13.

# 2

Suzuki introduced sport bikes to the world. Even if they weren’t competitive, they had a proven track record that was easily accessible, at a price point, to most riders.

I don’t know how much Suzuki puts into racing, but if you are an amateur going into racing, the easiest choice would be a Suzuki.

34 & 13 for me

Different strokes for different folks.

I love Suzuki and have owned the gixxer 600, 750 and 1000. But I never cared for race replica livery on any manufacturer. I think these are ok, but the standard all white or all blue, mmmmmm!

However super Proud of their win this year! It was time!

I wish they would make one like this.

Number 34 Schwantz!!

Someone recently built the best GSX-RR race replica I’ve seen yet. They even managed somehow to get the correct Akra GP exhaust on this GSX-R1000! Those sculpted tubes of titanium are just gorgeous. I wonder how it sounds?



That exhaust! Oh my!




Here is the actual 2020 World Championship winning MotoGP Suzuki GSX-RR prototype race bike that they based their build upon. A street bike is never going to look exactly like a full on Grand Prix race bike but I think they did a damn good job. It’s definitely much closer looking than the race replica Suzuki made on their own.

Happy for Suzuki's win because that company has been in need something positive. But here's my negative Nancy take.
I guess they pretty well replicate the paint/decal scheme of Suzuki's sponsored competition GSXR but I'll go against the grain here and say for riding on the street I prefer a more subtle look rather than "the more decals and busy paint the better". And for track use do you really want to orbit around on a championship replica? Anyone who does better be a *very* fast rider or they'll look foolish.

Too bad Suzuki couldn't have used the money bringing out these replica looking race bikes and updated some of the bikes they sell, maybe starting with the DR line.

The premium they are going to ask for these bikes compared to the cost to make them won’t hurt Suzuki much if at all. Plastics can’t be that expensive compared to the premium a championship edition/race replica commands. (Typically an additional $3-5k or more) The cost of developing a new bike verses crafting some plastics for a special edition bike is probably not close at all. Its a situation where Suzuki can add some variety and attempt to inject excitement to their line up for racing fans without too much actual investment or effort. From a business stand point and branding standpoint it makes sense.

Be careful what you wish for. It is rumored that in an effort to revitalize their line up and adhere to ever more stringent emission regs Suzuki is going to be killing off the mighty SV650 & Vstrom 650 in favor of a new parallel twin engine. There are also rumors that the new engines will have supercharged or turbo charged variants. The rumors could be bullshit but such a change makes a lot of sense. Parallel twins are cheaper to produce and they are the engine of choice for many of Suzuki’s middleweight competitors. Personally, I figure it’s probably true. That V twin has been manufactured with few changes for a damn long time.

A Suzuki engined Bimota almost cost me a divorce! I complained about the speedo breaking at 160 mph in 5th gear to my spouse... that is when the fight started.

Yeah, it’s definitely NOT a good idea to talk to your spouse about the various times your motorcycle tried to kill you or the close calls you have had. I made that mistake once and will never be repeating it. When I said “no you don’t understand, it’s basically a miracle I’m alive right now” that only made the situation worse.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
The premium they are going to ask for these bikes compared to the cost to make them won’t hurt Suzuki much if at all.....

I dunno why not just celebrate and make the 2020 championship replica? I agree once you create all the expensive molds, making plastic panels is relatively inexpensive. But Suzuki is also going to have to inventory all that plastic in their parts warehouses which isn't going to be cheap given the limited units they plan to make. Regardless I hope it helps sell some more GSXR's for them. It's just a shame that a manufacturer of once leading edge motorcycles has been so stagnant year after year, in some examples of their line for decades. They were once #2 in sales right behind Honda in the US, now I believe they're a distant 4th. Hell the hottest and most profitable products Polaris, Honda, Yamaha, and Kawasaki sell are their side-by sides now, and Suzuki doesn't even offer one.

Keep in mind bro it’s probably going to be another 20 years before Suzuki wins another championship. Their win was amazing, it was a fairly surprising upset when you consider the budget of the teams they go up against and the power disadvantage they had to overcome. With the defending champ out this was Ducati’s or Yamaha’s championship to lose. I fully understand their excitement, in just 6 years they went from not even competing to world champions. This is also a way to try to appeal across age segments. There are a lot of people much older than me who LOVE that Barry Sheene replica bike. (Especially in the UK) I wasn’t even alive when he won but it made me go back an learn more about Barry and damn it made me wish I had been alive during that era.

Unfortunately these models will only be available in Europe.

Suzuki is not in the best financial shape. After 50 years in the business we lost our local Suzuki dealership. I saw it coming when they had some bikes in the showroom for well over a year and probably closer to two years.

I agree with you that their line up is stagnant. VERY STAGNANT. Suzuki tends to be reluctant to change. When they find a design that works they tend to keep it around as long as they can. New Euro emission regs are forcing Suzuki to make changes. Suzuki needs to do something besides just race replicas if they want to continue to exist.

I am hoping the new Hayabusa can bring back some interest and excitement to the brand. Kawasaki seems to be in control of the motorcycle arms race with that supercharged H2. Kawasaki got an absolute f&$k ton of free publicity from that bike as it was put up against million dollar super cars, a F1 car and even a fighter jet in a drag race and still won. Shame on Suzuki for allowing team green to have all the fun for so long.

quote:

Originally posted by Pyker:
Grew up watching Barry. He was awesome.

I'm walking to the ticket window at Goodwood in 2000 while a vintage motorcycle race is going on. About the time announcer says "Barry Sheene" I see him leading in all black leathers.