2001 Suzuki GSX-R 600 Test
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Click to enlargeThe engine pulls well everywhere in the rev range.  It is no big bore but the engine performance is amongst the best in the SuperSport class.  

Quite often I found myself dawdling along in top at around 3,000rpm during Sydney traffic crawls, the bike never complained and would drive from that low.  Excellent for a 600.  Just under 5,000rpm in top sees around 100kph on the dial.  

Any urgent throttle action gives the rider some aural pleasure as the airbox makes a great roar.  The fuel injection system is excellent and I saw as much as 225 kilometres pass under the wheels when city commuting before the fuel light came on to tell me there was around 4 litres left in the 18 litre tank.

But keep in mind this is only a 600 so it does have to be kept revving in order to get good pull out of corners etc.  This is half the fun of a 600 and if you are too slack to enjoy whizzing up and down the gearbox, buy something bigger.

At Eastern Creek I entered the main straight around 50 yards behind an R1 and at the end of the straight was still only about 50 yards behind the much more powerful bike.  The Suzuki obviously has excellent aerodynamics.

Click to enlargeThe gearbox is smooth and positive, even with only 2,000 kilometres on the clock.  In my experience Suzuki gearboxes sometime take up to 15,000 kilometres to reach the pinnacle of their smoothness.  Clutch feel is good and we experienced no problems in that area.

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