GSX-R tweeks tested

The tweeks to my GSX-R1000’s suspension have made a significant improvement to the way the bike handles on track.

I rode Rockingham on August 18. Harris’s Ohlins suspension experts adjusted my suspension at Crescent Suzuki’s open day on August 21. And on August 25 (one week on) I was back on track at Rockingham to feel the difference.

I was on the same tyres (Avon Azaro-SP Pro-Series front and SP Sport rear) and the same tyre pressures (32 front 30 rear – on the track only).

The Harris lads reckoned the biggest difference I’d find was to reduce the bike’s tendency to run wide. And they were spot on with that.

But the bike was clearly having an easier time of keeping the rubber on the Tarmac – and I was able to get the power down big time without completely frazzling the rubber.

In fact, a 748 owner made my night when he told me he’d been following me around and watching the huge darkies I was laying down as I exited virtually every corner of the bend-laden Rockingham circuit.

For the settings we arrived at – see the GSX-R Set Up guide listed right.

On the downside, the dry track night meant this was the first time I had come to understand the complaints some make about the GSX-R1000’s brakes. Towards the end of the second and third sessions the front brake’s lever needed harder and harder squeezes, causing occasional juddering into the hairpin. It may be time to consider new pads or braided hoses.

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