[pillaka]

Almost 2 weeks ago I picked up a Suzuki 2003 GSX-R 1000 Racebike.

For the past 2 seasons and into the current one I've been riding some kind of 600cc sportbike. I've gotten pretty good, not saying I am the fastest guy out there, but most of the time probably quicker than 90% of the people at your typical trackday. After setting my new r6 ablaze I was in the market for something used, I was looking at another 600 but a friend of mine sent me a link for the suzuki I got, I figured what the hell, talked to the guy, and wound up getting it in a few days.

So besides riding my dad's FZ1 a couple times on the street, and my friends 954 on the street for about 10 min, this was my first real time actually getting the chance to flog around and open class sportbike at a racetrack (VIR South & North) memorial day weekend.

Took me about a day and half to get myself aquanted with her. Lots of guys told me, it requires a slightly different riding style. You go slow in, so you get a good line coming out of a turn where you can really put the power down and get that drive out.

Power is something this bike does not lack, the sheer acceleration alone is worth the price. Going down the hill after the LH kink on VIR South the bike had no problem getting the front tire off the ground in 4th gear on the gas. Shifting from 3rd to 4th on any kind of elevation change or bump, the front would pop a few inches off the ground. Just on the straights I was going over 20mph faster till I had to get on the brakes.

Full throttle 5th gear hitting the kink on VIR north, the rpms shoot up as the tire rides closer to the edge, coming out of the kink the revs stay right in the powerband, nothing is like the experiance of feeling the air buffet around my helmet and my back, the engine still hurling you foward - bike gaining more speed and the intake flat out wailing. Just about to bang into 6th the braking markers blast up and I gotta scrub off about 100 mph for turn 1.

End of the day I found that I started to ride it in kinda of a hybrid 600 - 1000 way. I began to brake later and carry a lot of speed going into turns. Soon I started to eat up bikes through the corners, mostly 600's and a few SV's, I would feed the power on coming out in a gear lower and start to get a good exit drive, then once the bike straightened up I would just hammer it full throttle and just beam past people. I was just smiling and laughing in my helmet the whole time. I could always hang with guys on liter bikes on my 600, now I was just getting a good drive on them and constantly getting them on the brakes. I love this thing.

But this bike demands respect, if your inputs are smooth and anticipated it will reward you, if you mistreat it the bike will have no problem throwing you off.