Suzuki GSX-R 1100WS

No changes from the previous year to the bike, engine or chassis - only graphic changes

As motorcycles have evolved, perspectives on the GSXR1100 have changed. When the bike was new, magazines lauded its power, handling and relative lack of weight. But today's authors who compare it against 1994's introduction of the Supersports bikes, driven by Tadao Baba's development of the Honda Fireblade, can 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. 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 1989 (K model) fitted the 1100 engine (the first use of the now legendary and highly tunable and strong 1127 cc oil-air-cooled design) into a new heavier, shorter and stiffer frame based on the previous year's updated and extremely well received GSXR750J (the first of the 'Slingshot bikes, named after the mix of flat-slide on one side and flat slide with a curve on the other Mukuni carbs). Magazine testers trying out the machines gave rave reviews but something was changed between then and the bikes going on sale. The 'Slingshot' 1100 K sold in the shops suffered handling problems, some claimed as a result of 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”. This was an attitude that was reinforced with the death of the Suzuki racer Phil Mellor at the Isle of Man in 1989 on the GSXR-1100K race bike. Jamie Whitham also crashed in the same race and it was enough to see the race authorities at the IOM 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 model) saw the addition of larger carburetors and major cosmetic changes when the fairing 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 155 bhp 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 190 bhp at the wheel – without the use of a turbo or nitrous oxide injection).

A new stiffer largely forged five-sided pentagonal cross-section frame 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.

Many owners say these bikes are the easiest to live with and the most well rounded. Good fuel economy is even possible (over 45 mpg on a long cruising run * imp gallon)15,9 km/l and the slight changes made to the foot-peg position on the WS-on models even made distances a much less daunting prospect. In reality the bike had become a highly competent and monstrously fast (177 mph 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 sport bikes.

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 115 bhp at the rear wheel - coupled with the added boost from the new pressurised airbox design (always particularly efficient on Suzukis - Fast Bikes in the UK once measured a full 10 bhp increase in power on the Crescent Racing shop's dyno and wind tunnel @ 120 mph in 2003 with a GSXR1000). All at a chassis weight 'cost' on the GSXR750WT of only 179 KG (394 LBs).

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.

Source wikipedia.com