GSXR1000R L7 - First Litre Bike

[anonymous-user]

Hey all,

Lockdown boredom has well and truly kicked in and the only thing keeping my sane is what motorbike I'm going to treat myself to in spring next year. I originally had my heart set on a 2016 ZX6R but I've discovered the GSXR1000R in moto gp blue and I've fallen in love!

I would be jumping from 1 years experience on a 70bhp CBF600SA onto a 200bhp monster. Anyones' thoughts on whether this would be sensible? I thought the ZX6R would be a nice step up but I'm concerned/know I will want to be jumping up to the GSXR after a year of the ZX6R which seems a waste of money to change.

Anyone own/ridden one, or been in a similar situation to myself? The aim is to get my Bikesafe and Advanced Riding with IAM done next year.

[black-k1]

The first thing to remember is that litre bikes are not fire breathing dragons that will kill you at the first opportunity. They're actually pretty easy to ride and in almost all situations are easier to ride than a 600. The extra torque in the low and mid range makes gentle pull aways and high gear/low speed "trundling" very easy. The only real differences are the rate at which they will add speed if you open the throttle wide (but, you'll have chosen to do that) and how much further up the speed scale they will continue to add speed at a noticeable rate.

As for the GSXR, I don't think any of the main stream litre sports bikes are bad and none are noticeably better than their age/price equivalent from other manufactures. If you like it, go for it. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

[Birky_41]

I own an L8 1000R. Upto 10k they are pussycats tbh with the standard cat and as many will say and above post they are only as spooky as you twist the throttle. I are a touch nippy from 11-14k though and you'll never want more - well at least I dont it just makes me giggle to myself that its actually legal to have that much performance on the road

Just ride it about in lower gears, get used to the weight, inertia, braking, cornering etc it wont take long. Really advise getting some track time (even euro stuff after this lockdown crap) early next year when UK weather still crap. Get confident and the bike will really impress

It will be an almighty shock if you find a straight, pin it and change gears just off red line compared to what you got though!

[Zakalwe]

Supersports only really make any sense on the track now, the Suzuki will be much easier to ride on the road without having to Rev the tits off it to go anywhere

[black-k1]

Zakalwe said:

Supersports only really make any sense on the track now, the Suzuki will be much easier to ride on the road without having to Rev the tits off it to go anywhere

Depends what you want from a bike. If all you want is to be able to ride it with the rev needle bouncing off the red and the throttle on the stop then you are absolutely correct. If you want to be able to ride the mid range knowing that for those few chosen occasions you can blast past other traffic while warping the space in front of you then there's no reason not to use them on the road.

[Zakalwe]

Are we talking about the same thing? Supersports class aka 600cc aren’t famous for their mid range.

However a Superbike, aka 1000cc, will certainly let you sit in the mid range with warp speed a mere twist of the throttle away, which is why I said they’re better for general road use. You have to dance all over the gear lever to get going anywhere on a ZX6R

Edited by Zakalwe on Tuesday 17th November 15:14

[bolidemichael]

black-k1 said:

The first thing to remember is that litre bikes are not fire breathing dragons that will kill you at the first opportunity. They're actually pretty easy to ride and in almost all situations are easier to ride than a 600. The extra torque in the low and mid range makes gentle pull aways and high gear/low speed "trundling" very easy. The only real differences are the rate at which they will add speed if you open the throttle wide (but, you'll have chosen to do that) and how much further up the speed scale they will continue to add speed at a noticeable rate.

As for the GSXR, I don't think any of the main stream litre sports bikes are bad and none are noticeably better than their age/price equivalent from other manufactures. If you like it, go for it. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

This is all good advice. It's up to you when and how wide you open the throttle.

[black-k1]

Zakalwe said:

Are we talking about the same thing? Supersports class aka 600cc aren’t famous for their mid range.

However a Superbike, aka 1000cc, will certainly let you sit in the mid range with warp speed a mere twist of the throttle away, which is why I said they’re better for general road use. You have to dance all over the gear lever to get going anywhere on a ZX6R

Edited by Zakalwe on Tuesday 17th November 15:14

You're right to ask! I was incorrectly reading your post as referring to 1000cc bikes.

[Zakalwe]

Thought as much!

[Prof Prolapse]

A bike is no more dangerous than a tin of biscuits when it's on the side stand, and by asking the question, you're clearly aware of the inherent risks.

Go for it mate!

[thatdude]

Just get on with it. You'll find it's a docile bike unless you ask for everything of it.

[MrGman]

Last year I had a 2016 R1 and a 2010 Zx6r at the same time, the R1 I always thought was a nice road bike as it was torquey it was easy to enjoy at lower revs whereas the zx needed thrashing, and once you were up in the revs you’d end up riding it flat out and therefore going faster than the R1.

As has been said above, asking this question shows you’re aware of its potential so go for if that’s what you want.

Though once you’ve had something like that you won’t ever want to go back and you could miss out experiencing some cracking bikes, eg. The Zx6r, daytona 675r, MV F3 to name a few

[anonymous-user]

Refreshing replies on this thread rather than the 'litre sports bikes are lethal and you need 20 years of experience to ride one!' type posts. I'm planning to get a year or so worth of experience on my old 600 srad then possibly go for an RSV Mille.

Edited to add - Just noticed the GSXR the OP is thinking of is 200 odd hp. The Mille I'm after is around 128 bhp so a slight difference! I think 200 bhp is probably too much for the road but I guess the throttle only goes as far as you want it.

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 18th November 11:44

[Das speck]

MrGman said:

Last year I had a 2016 R1 and a 2010 Zx6r at the same time, the R1 I always thought was a nice road bike as it was torquey it was easy to enjoy at lower revs whereas the zx needed thrashing, and once you were up in the revs you’d end up riding it flat out and therefore going faster than the R1.

As has been said above, asking this question shows you’re aware of its potential so go for if that’s what you want.

Though once you’ve had something like that you won’t ever want to go back and you could miss out experiencing some cracking bikes, eg. The Zx6r, daytona 675r, MV F3 to name a few

I had a k1 Gsxr 600 and a k6 1000 at the same time and I thought the same thing. The 600 needed much more commitment to keep the revs up.

[Gixer968CS]

I bought an GSXR1000L7 new and ran it for 3 years. I think I covered about 15,000 miles (I had a another bike for commuting etc) on it. Ran it to Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia etc. It's a really comfortable bike to ride as you kind sit in it rather than on it as with some sports bikes. Obviously they don't have traction control etc so you need to be careful when the roads are cold and/or wet. I had a couple of moments during my time with it, one was super scary riding in France in very heavy rain as they don't put grippy stuff in their road marking paint the the GSXR was very lively crossing the marking they often put right across the road when you enter town etc. I also gassed it up to quickly pulling right out of my road before I'd warmed up the tyres and the back cam right around on me. Heaven knows how I didn't come off!!

I ran it with luggage and it coped well. I rode it to work all through one winter and it polished up like new very time, no ill effects so I think the build and material quality was good. I had a black one, with red detail and I absolutely loved the way it looked. I had the yoshi end can and the pillion seat cover. Really lovely bike.

I sold it and moved on as I'm done with sports bikes now and the GSXR played a big part in that. Frankly, it's a missile. It's really only cruising at 100mph and it's very easy to ride too fast. I had a couple of moments riding up to T-junctions with cars at them and thought "st, I can't stop here if I need to". At the same time I was running a ZX9R, a reasonably quick bike but the performance of the Suzuki was on a whole different level. You cannot really ride these bikes as intended on the road.

Sold it and bought a BMW R1200GS which isn't as exciting but is equally as much fun. I'm glad I had the GSXR, but I don't miss it, but if you're after a 1000cc sports bike I'd highly recommend it.

[Gixer968CS]

Gixer968CS said:

I bought an GSXR1000L7 new and ran it for 3 years. I think I covered about 15,000 miles (I had a another bike for commuting etc) on it. Ran it to Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia etc. It's a really comfortable bike to ride as you kind sit in it rather than on it as with some sports bikes. Obviously they don't have traction control etc so you need to be careful when the roads are cold and/or wet. I had a couple of moments during my time with it, one was super scary riding in France in very heavy rain as they don't put grippy stuff in their road marking paint the the GSXR was very lively crossing the marking they often put right across the road when you enter town etc. I also gassed it up to quickly pulling right out of my road before I'd warmed up the tyres and the back cam right around on me. Heaven knows how I didn't come off!!

I ran it with luggage and it coped well. I rode it to work all through one winter and it polished up like new very time, no ill effects so I think the build and material quality was good. I had a black one, with red detail and I absolutely loved the way it looked. I had the yoshi end can and the pillion seat cover. Really lovely bike.

I sold it and moved on as I'm done with sports bikes now and the GSXR played a big part in that. Frankly, it's a missile. It's really only cruising at 100mph and it's very easy to ride too fast. I had a couple of moments riding up to T-junctions with cars at them and thought "st, I can't stop here if I need to". At the same time I was running a ZX9R, a reasonably quick bike but the performance of the Suzuki was on a whole different level. You cannot really ride these bikes as intended on the road.

Sold it and bought a BMW R1200GS which isn't as exciting but is equally as much fun. I'm glad I had the GSXR, but I don't miss it, but if you're after a 1000cc sports bike I'd highly recommend it.

Ignore the bit about about traction control, this prompted me to have a look at my old photos and it was my older L5 that was scaring me in France not the L7, which did have TC!!

[Dave3166]

I used to do trial riding as a teenager.
When I stopped, that was it for bikes for ages.
Then, about 36/37 I suddenly fancied a road bike.
So, I got my first ever one for the road, a brand new 04 GSXR1000. What a machine, 75 in first and on and on through the gears. Mind you, I wasn’t a proper biker, quite the opposite, just enjoyed riding it out, enjoying the country side & coffee stops.
Sold it with in a year, that was that, into cars now.
But, the bike was so easy to ride.
Waffling over, you can all wake up now:-)

[castex]

I have about 115bhp and it scares me silly / takes me to heaven.
I think you'll adapt.

[carinaman]

Dave3166 said:

So, I got my first ever one for the road, a brand new 04 GSXR1000. What a machine, 75 in first and on and on through the gears.

Didn't the 70s GS Thou do 70 in first?

[anonymous-user]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone, it's really appreciated. I was going to quote posts but there are just too many!

I didn't end up doing any work on my first motorbike in terms of self-maintenance; did clean and lube the chain a number of times. With a bike like this, what would you personally consider mandatory self-maintenance without using your local mechanic to do the job for you?