We think so. After chatting to various sources (some reputable, some more HP sauce-like) and race teams in recent months, it’s pretty much a dead-cert we’ll see an all-new Suzuki GSX-R1000 in 2016 – more than likely at the Tokyo/EICMA shows later this year – and some even claim it could have been launched this season.
If there’s one manufacturer in dire need of something fresh, and a complete overhaul of its top-shelf sportsbike, it’s Suzuki. As comfy, user-friendly and handy on the highways as the GSX-R is, the old girl is also extremely out-dated and is left lacking against sexier, faster rivals. It needs a comprehensive makeover.
Given the relative success of its factory MotoGP program, hopefully we’ll see a veritable feast of gadgets and power filtering down onto the latest crop of Suzuki street bikes. However, the World Superbike program (where new rules favour faster stock engines) isn’t going so smoothly, and a spanking new GSX-R would go a long way to remedy the torrid results. Alex Lowes could probably qualify on a shopping trolley if he tried hard enough, such is his talent and raw speed, and it makes you wonder if he was promised a new steed in 2016 as part of a previous contract extension.
UPDATE: Japanese magazine ‘Young Machine’ have stuck two new GSX-Rs on this month’s cover. Judging by the crap rendering skills, this probably isn’t the actual 2016 GSX-R1000 sitting alongside an all-new GSX-R250, but there are obvious clues…
