’01 CBR900RR-1

AFTER Suzuki killed off its lumbering GSX-R1100 in 1996, the GSX-R750 bravely soldiered on.

It was a pipsqueak in capacity terms, but a giant-killer on the track. And it was wild and exciting, too.

But the world had fallen out of love with 750s – WSB was dominated by litre twins and 1000cc fours were much more fun on the road for ordinary riders, too.

Suzuki, which once ruled with its GS1000 and various GSX1100 derivatives, needed a 1000cc race-rep four with an anorexic chassis and track geometry.

In short, it needed to grow its GSX-R750 into a GSX-R1000. Out came the magic beans – in the guise of a multi-million pound development budget – and the GSX-R1000 was born.

Yamaha’s R1 reeled, the Blade reeled and the class was re-invented. The Suzuki was better, by a good margin, than either.

The hearts of Honda and Yamaha bosses sank. Neither the CBR nor the R1 had been updated and they looked like getting a booting in terms of sales.

The reality couldn’t have been more different. Many magazines rated the order of capability and desirability as GSX-R, R1, CBR. The sales charts said the complete opposite.

In 2001, Honda sold 2376 Blades in the UK, Yamaha flogged 2164 R1s and Suzuki shifted 1638 GSX-Rs. Faster on the track did not mean faster out of the showroom.