Fun at the ton: Suzuki unveils 100th anniversary GSX-R1000R

Suzuki have announced a limited edition GSX-R1000R to celebrate the company’s 100^th anniversary.

• Related: Full Suzuki GSX-R1000R review on MCN

Have Suzuki really been around that long we hear you ask? Er, sort of. Suzuki first got going as a manufacturer of motorised looms way back in 1909 but they didn’t start building motorcycles until 1952. The business as we know it now was first incorporated in 1920, which is the anniversary they’re celebrating now. Simple, sort of. Anyway, back to the bike.

Limited to just 100 units in the UK, the anniversary GSX-R1000R gets a retro paintjob just like the current GSX-RR MotoGP machine, which is a blue and silver homage to Suzuki’s early race bikes from the 1960s.

Since it’s an R model not only does it get the 199bhp 999cc inline four from the standard production model, it also gets the nifty mechanical VVT system as well as fancy electronics including 10 traction control modes (does it really need that many…), a quickshifter, autoblipper, launch control and cornerning ABS.

The anniversary model will go on sale in October priced at £16,999, which is £400 more than the standard R model. Might not be a bad investment in a few years time.