The GSXR 2009 Model is Ready to Conquer The World… Again!
At last here comes the long awaited new GSXR 2009 with brutal parameters to leave other bikes in the dust. Year after year the challenge in the litre category just got a bit harder as all the big motorcycle manufacturers are trying to adapt more and more from their GP experience and technique. I know that nowadays the average motorcycle consumers became more performance hungry than ever before because that’s what they hear every day from everywhere that you can only be cool if you have the latest and the strongest bike what you can buy. I think that this kind of thinking is good viewing it from one side because the bike companies are forced to make quality products that lasts if they want to be on the field of profit for a longer period. On the other side as a result of this pressure on the motorcycle industry now you can buy incredible speed rockets at a relatively cheap price. These days I think we reached the point where – I can honestly say that – the limit is not in the bikes anymore. It’s in the people who ride them. To take these bikes to their limit you have to be a racer with years of experience behind your back. Hopefully if you buy one of these superbikes for joyriding with matching clothing then you can be very cool with it on the streets because you give the impressions to other people that you are a professional rider. In reality there are just a few who dare to rev their machine above 8000 rpm. At this rev the speed usually becomes closer to 200 km/h than to 100 km/h so you need to find proper road conditions for this kind of game and the ignition cut out is still working somewhere near 14000 rpm. That means you have to have guts to keep the throttle open this long and if you did manage it then you can start concentrating on how to survive in order to enjoy the pure adrenalin rush and the flying world around you. I think the time is very close when the manufacturers are going to decide to put a jet engine on every street bike with an afterburner and with two automatically retractable wings depending on the speed you are going – because the roads simply won’t be enough to let you use all the potential these bikes are capable of doing – plus a robot pilot who controls everything instead of you because we are humans and the fault that results in an accident is inside us. The machines just getting closer to perfection. So here is some technical info on what makes Suzuki’s monster to an incredible experience to ride.
The GSXR K9 engine specifications:
The bike has a newly designed engine with reshaped combustion chambers and also new cam profiles which results in the 12.8:1 instead of a 12.5:1. The intake manifolds are 10 mm shorter (from 148 mm to 138 mm) because it can affect positively the intake efficiency and delivers more power at higher revolutions. The GSXR 1000 engine has 999 cc and it was built to maximize power and torque throughout the rpm range. This power plant is also shorter because the crankshaft is placed more forward regarding to the cylinder centreline which enables the engineers to use shorter wheelbase but the swing arm a bit longer which increased the racetrack performance. There is a new SRAD (Suzuki Ram Air Direct) which is much lighter. The revised bore and stroke gives the engine better tuning potential and higher performance at very high rpm. The camshaft angle sensor was placed to the centre so it allows the cylinder head to be reshaped for reduced weight. The six speed close ratio gearbox’s input and output shafts are triangulated with the crankshaft. The transmission shafts were repositioned so it allowed more simple assembly using only two bolts instead of three which eliminates 16 screws and the weight to be reduced by almost 700 grams. There is a single counter balancer shaft measuring 20mm in bearing diameter further reducing mechanical losses. The back torque limiting clutch is using the Suzuki Clutch Assist System (SCAS) to help the rider with pulling the clutch and it prevents the blocking of the back wheel at high speed down shifts. It is operated by a cable instead of the hydraulic system which saves weight and also improves feedback to the rider. The new oil cooler shape has changed from the conventional rectangular to trapezoidal improving the aerodynamics and allowing lower fairing. Also the new radiator and the oil cooler allow narrower bodywork. The ECM is more powerful than ever and it runs the advanced engine management working in harmony with the SDTV downdraft double-barrel fuel injection system. This system uses two butterfly valves in each throttle body barrel where the primary valve is controlled by the twist grip and the secondary valve is controlled by the ECM. Each throttle body feeds two cylinders and each throttle body barrel carries two 12 hole injectors which are able to use the ultra-fine atomization technology. They operate under all conditions. The ISC (Idle Speed Control) improves cold starting by reducing emission and stabilizes the engine idle by automatically controlling the amount of fresh air going into the throttle body circuits, based on coolant temperature. Spark plugs are made from Iridium-alloy electrodes for better combustion. The new SAES (Suzuki Advanced Exhaust System) uses staggered length titanium head pipes, a collector, and a short mid pipe and there is a stainless steel under engine chamber that leads to two titanium mufflers. A catalyser was built into the under engine chamber in order to reduce carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and nitrogen-oxide emission. To maximize torque throughout the rpm range Suzuki built into the mid pipe a SET (Suzuki Exhaust Tuning) servo controlled butterfly valve. The computer controls the Suzuki PAIR system which injects fresh air from the air box into the exhaust ports to ignite unburned hydrocarbons. The S-DMS (Suzuki Drive Mode Selector) enables the rider to choose from three fuel injection and ignition maps to suit personal preference. The buttons are now located on the left handlebar.
The Suzuki GSXR 2009 has a newly designed chassis:
The bike’s frame was constructed from five sections of cast aluminium. Below and above the swingarm there are cross braces to make it stronger and also two main-spar/swingarm pivot plate sections. The new swingarm which is 33mm shorter was made out of three sections of aluminium alloy and the mainframe is also shorter so the wheelbase, therefore the bike is very agile even in tight corners. The seat height is basically unchanged.
The GSXR 1000 K9 has powerful Brakes, beautiful fairing, strong forks and light Wheels:
The new forks are delivering extremely good feedback to the rider and the cornering stability was improved also. The fork springs are submerged in oil for advanced damping and they are located at the bottom of the forks. There is an adjustable rear shock absorber mounted on the swingarm. The steering damper is electronically controlled by the ECM. The front brake discs are 310mm big and the aluminium alloy calipers are mono-block forged and the rear brake caliper is mounted on the swingarm. The wheels are all new regarding the design and the lighter cast aluminium material. The intakes of the SRAD system are a little larger and they positioned where the air pressure is the biggest. The headlight is placed between two position lights and they form a unique and exciting new shape. The side fairings are quite sharp but they were designed to improve wind protection and they direct the flow of the cooling air from the engine away from the rider. The brake light is integrated into the tail light and the turn signals are bordered by the seat cowl. The foot pegs are adjustable three ways in a vertical and a horizontal range. The fuel tank still can hold 4.6 gallons of fuel despite the new lines and shapes. The analog rev counter is surrounded with a nice silver ring and the digital speedometer is on the right and it includes a gear indicator and a lap time counter.
