As motorcycles have evolved, perspectives on the GSXR1100 have changed. When the bike was new, magazines lauded its power, handling and lack of weight but today’s authors use 20/20 hindsight to be more critical. Recent articles, some with head to head comparisons with newer sportbikes, still rave about the powerful 1100 cc engine but otherwise describe the GSXR1100 as large, heavy, and unstable. Hardly the stuff of modern sportbikes. [3] Some of these assertions are borne out by Suzuki’s year to year tinkering with the frame geometry in order to make the bike handle better. The result is that different years have different handling characteristics on the road. Earlier bikes are lighter but the square section alloy frame is prone to warping under extreme stress, later models are more rigid and offer increased power but suffer from increased weight.
The original bikes had minor improvements but, excepting the new much stiffer 3 spoke wheels seen on the J model, stayed essentially the same until its first major reworking in 1989.
The 1989 (K model) fitted the 1100 engine (the first use of the now legendary and highly tunable and strong 1127cc oil/air cooled design) into a new heavier, shorter and stiffer frame based on the previous year's updated GSXR750 and suffered many problems, some claimed as a result of the changed geometry, others said there was nothing wrong with the frame and that it was the suspension units that were set-up all wrong.
Whatever it was the standard bike was thought hard to handle and many modern magazines go so far as to advise buyers to avoid the "K" model, some even calling that year a “lemon.”[4] Sadly this was an attitude that was reinforced with the tragic death of the much loved, liked, well respected and highly experienced Suzuki racer Phil Mellor at the Isle of Man in 1989 on the GSXR1100K race bike. Jamie Witham also crashed in the same race and it was enough to see the race authorities at the IOM to ban the big bikes from racing for several years.
In 1990 the (L Model) bike was again tweaked and the wheelbase lengthened to correct the previous year's handling problems. 1991 (M mdoel) saw the addition of larger carburetors and major cosmetic changes when the faring was reworked to place the headlights under a smooth plastic cover that helped the bike’s aerodynamics. 1992 (N model) was mechanically the same but offered more aggressive graphics in line with the time. It was also the last year of the oil cooled engines as the bike was re-designed for 1993.
1993 (WP model) saw major engine changes with the introduction of water cooling and some significant chassis changes. The move away from oil cooling allowed a surge in power bringing total output to 155bhp at the crank and saw yet another hugely strong, reliable and extremely tunable Suzuki engine created (Performance Bike in the UK reported on one taken to over 190bhp at the wheel - without the use of a turbo or nitrous Oxide injection!).
A new stiffer largely forged five-sided pentagonal cross-section fame was introduced along with an asymmetrical 'banana' swing-arm. Bigger Nissin six piston brake calipers were fitted. The bike’s weight went up slightly as well, finally topping the 500 pound mark that Suzuki had been flirting with for years, but the overall look of the bike remained essentially the same as previous models. 1994 (WR model) saw nothing but colour changes.
Throughout the water cooled years, 1993 to 1998, the GSXR’s design saw only one relatively major revision with the launch of the 1995 WS, everything else on the 1996 WT, 1997 WV and 1998 WW models was restricted to mere colour and graphics changes.
In keeping with the usual model development this followed many of the same changes introduced to previous years GSXR750WR (also known as the SP). Minor but significant changes were made to the suspension (better quality 43 mm USD forks replaced the 41 mm USD forks used on the WP & WR models), the ignition and the cams (putting back the stack of bottom end and mid range pull many believed had gone AWOL with the WP & WR models).
The 1995 WS and onward models also featured a race style braced swing-arm (in place of the asymmetrical 'banana' swing-arm found on the WP & WR models). Overall peak power (approx a measured 133bhp at the rear wheel - which made the then enormous factory claims of 155bhp, which many were sceptical of, at the crank perfectly credible) was unchanged but the torque curve on the bike was much improved. From the 1995 models weight fell back 221KG (487LBs) in the UK market. Some aerodynamic modifications were also introduced (most obviously narrowing the frontal area and reducing the size of the front fairing, the separate day time driving lamp disappeared and was incorporated into a new narrower twin headlamp cluster)
Many owners say these bikes are the easiest to live with and the most well rounded. Good fuel economy is even possible (45mpg+ on a long cruising run) and the slight changes made to the footpeg position on the WS-on models even made distances a much less daunting prospect. In reality the bike had become a highly competent and monsterously fast (177mph was measured as the max speed of the standard WS bike by one UK bike magazine, Superbike in 1995) sports-touring machine, a far cry from its race-born origins,
It is clear the design had reached its fullest form in the mid 1990s but that in terms of the leading edge of sports bike design it was already outdated and left behind as competition spurred the development of ever more powerful, ever lighter sportbikes.
This was demonstrated nowhere else more clearly than Suzuki's own brand new 1996 GSXR750WT, a return to the ultra-lightweight with a new beam frame, the SRAD, design which offered approx 115bhp at the rear wheel - coupled with the added boost from the new presurised airbox design (always particularly efficient on Suzukis - Fast Bikes in the UK once measured a full 10bhp increase in power on the Crescent Racing shop's dyno & wind tunnel @ 120mph in 2003 with a GSXR1000). All at a chassis weight 'cost' on the GSXR750WT of only 179KG (394LBs).
Clearly Suzuki were returning the GSXRs to their race-bred roots.
1998 saw the last GSXR1100s roll off the assembly line and, despite how popular the bike had been in its heyday, there was no hue and cry as production quietly stopped. Suzuki would be without a big bore sportbike for three years before the GSXR1000 was released.
Despite the fact that over its production run tens of thousands of GSXR1100s were produced and sold all over the world, original examples in good condition have become something of a rarity. Many bikes were ridden hard and they were often crashed. As a result, they became and remain a popular starting point for street fighters and customs.
The bike is a tuner's favorite - all versions respond well to tuning and even early models can make 140 hp (104 kW) at the wheel with relative ease. Simple intake modifications and a good exhaust will yield upwards of 10 hp (7 kW) increase. More enthusiastic tuning will see 160 hp (119 kW) or more, and many drag racers use superchargers or turbochargers with this engine to break the 500 hp (370 kW) mark.[citation needed]
A modified version of the original oil/air cooled 1100 engine was still used in the original 1200cc model of the Bandit 1200 motorcycle and taken to the biggest factory big-bore job in the hugely torque-laden GSX1400 up until 2008.
[edit] Specifications
- Model: GSX-R1100
- Year: 1993-1998
- Displacement: 1074 cc
- Stroke: 4
- Power: 155 hp 10000 RPM
- Torque: 11.7 kgf-m 9000 RPM
- Compression: 11.2 : 1
- Bore x stroke: 75.5 x 60.0 mm
- Starter: Electric
- Dry weight: 231.0 kg
- Seat height: 815 mm
- Overall height: 1,190 mm
- Overall length: 2,130 mm
- Overall width: 755 mm
- Ground clearance: 110 mm
- Wheelbase: 1,485 mm
- Front tyre dimensions: 130/60-17
- Rear tyre dimensions: 180/55-17
- Front brakes: Dual disc
- Rear brakes: Single disc
- Fuel Tank: 15.0 L
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