This test very nearly didn't happen. It was not due to the bikes or the suppliers but to a certain test rider getting more than a little carried away on the Suzuki! Suffice to say, almost coming to grief through youthful exuberance gave me the ideal opportunity to test out the brakes on this year's incarnation of Suzuki's flagship sportsbike - and they are good, in fact they are very good! It was becoming clearer why a test between the Suzuki and the Yamaha was needed. What you have here are two bikes, both very capable of going very fast indeed. So, to clear up any confusion and to advise you exactly which one you should be spending your hard earned cash on, read on…..	R1 -V- GSXR
Yamaha YZF R1 2000	There is very little in it when you cast an eye over the bikes for style. After all, they are both Japanese and character to our far Eastern brothers is some thing on the keyboard of a design computer. Neither of these bikes have soul, but then again, they are both reliable… The R1 does look a little dated now, despite the Y2K make over, with smoother lines and a better, taller screen. Yet the GSX-R doesn't look that much different to last year's bike. A bit sharper at the front, a bit smoother here and there to help it cut through the air, but that's about it.
Paint schemes are the real difference. The Suzuki looks built for aggressive riding. The blue and white graphics reflect nearly 20 years of single-minded sportsbike design. Not to mention Suzuki's GP and WSB teams, Trans Atlantic battles (showing my age now) and heroes like Kevin Schwantz, Frankie Chilli and Stephane Chambon. All this in some stickers - impressive. Yamaha have also tried to replicate this same sort of emotion with the red and white paint job. But the speed blocks are too subtle and it just doesn't seem to convey the aggression of the R1 effectively.	Suzuki GSXR750Y 2000
Synchronised Skidding?	Maybe that was the whole point. In these times of heavier, more restrictive legislation and speeding controls, do you really want to stand out? With the looks of the bikes out of the way it's the riding that may swing you one-way or the other. Let's make no mistake, both of these bikes are very fast and handle very well. But what we have here is a battle of the supreme, a struggle of the best to be the best. Whatever criticisms you read here be sure of one thing. These are tiny points, small, subtle differences, because which ever you decide to buy, you won't be getting a bad bike!
Jumping on the GSX-R you will be left in no doubt that this is a focused sports bike, built for track days and very, very fast road riding. The height of the foot pegs, the reach to the low bars, the cut out in the fuel tank, all are a pain at average speeds, but an absolute bonus in committed corners when you need to turn the bike quickly and hang on with your legs rather than having a death grip on the bars. Get astride the Yamaha and it feels, somewhat surprisingly, a little smaller. The width of the tank is slimmer, the bars are a little higher, the space on the seat is a little wider, but still slimmer than the Suzuki. All this makes the R1 feels a little less intimidating, a little less focused and a lot more comfortable! Miwa-san, the designer of the R1, took the rider's weight into the equation when he designed the suspension of the bike. There is a lot of weight transfer from the front to the back under acceleration, and visa versa under hard braking. This is a technique that used to be used in Grand Prix racing and still is with some riders. It's not right or wrong, some riders like the bike to have a 'yo-yo' feeling, a result of this avenue of design, while others want the bike to feel stiff underneath them. So, when you ride the R1 it doesn't feel taut, it absorbs a lot of the bumps and ripples you find on the road, and in general riding it feels very civilised. Dial up the pace a few notches and it still handles very well. A few racers have complained that the R1 doesn't turn very well, but all you need is a good counter steering technique and it turns just fine, at speed or at walking pace. In the corner it tracks the road well, never getting out of hand or running wide at any point.	Yamaha YZF R1 2000 R1 Clocks
GSXR750Y GSXR Clocks	Neither is there a problem with the Suzuki. It is a lot sharper. The suspension is stiffer, giving more feedback, but at the cost of comfort. If you want to feel the front tyre squash an ant on the road then this is the bike for you. Never expect to ride more than 100 miles on a motorway or you may find yourself permanently disfigured, with a compressed spine from all the bumps that get transmitted through the seat. Pick the pace up though and the suspension moves into a different league. What was a little harsh before now feels just right. It turns crisply, it tells you exactly what is going on beneath you and just what the tyres are doing and are capable of, allowing you to push the limits a little more and with control. The braking incident is a fine example of this, but it also shows the effectiveness of the stoppers. Feedback is second only to a full set of racing discs, calipers and pads. Getting the bike to reduce that amount of speed in such a short distance takes a very good set of brakes indeed. It's not about outright power, there are several sports bikes with brakes much more powerful than those on the GSX-R. Nope, it's about feel. A set up that can tell you just how much more you can squeeze that silver lever before you are in danger of losing the front completely. This is a particularly good property to have under a pressured situation like that.
Just as powerful are the twin potters on the R1. These brakes have been legendary for their power with 'only' four pistons per caliper. What they lack, again only compared to the GSX-R, is feel. If anything the anchors on the Yamaha are more powerful than those on the GSX-R, but the feel you get under your forefingers isn't quite as sharp, which in turn means that you don't, or can't, use them to their full potential. This is something both bikes suffer from on the road; an inability to use all their performance, and the same applies to the motors. Make no mistake, both of these bikes are fast enough, quick enough to land you in trouble with the Police or worse, with yourself, as it's so damned easy to out ride your abilities.	R1 -v- GSXR
Suzuki GSXR750Y 2000 -v- Yamaha YZF R1 2000	With the R1 it's because the engine is as docile as a pussycat at low and middle revs. It lulls you into a false sense of control. "You're the boss," it tells you as, you short shift the gearbox, taking advantage of the torque the litre engine has. Before you know it the revs get higher and higher, and the bike gets more and more lively. Start to abuse the throttle and the R1 turns into a raging bull. It rears up and tries to spit you off (or so it seems) and the pleasant, useable torque is replaced with 140 anger horses all wanting to make the bike go faster and faster. Hang on! It's going to be a hell of a ride! While the Suzuki engine doesn't have the torque of the R1, it does have a nasty little trait that is even worse - addiction! Getting the fuel injected motor off from a standing start is a little difficult. There is a small glitch in the fuelling that means you soon learn to rev the bike high, past 3,000rpm, before you start to feed the clutch out. This starts the drive to the upper part of the rev range and where all the fun is. Don't get me wrong, the motor is far from peaky, it just likes to be thrashed - and you will find yourself doing it more, and more, and more until a roundabout appears over the crest and you're flat out, tucked in behind the screen and committed…