My initial impression as I climb aboard the K5 is the same as when I first rode the 750 and 600 K4s – the reduction in bulk has me shaking my head in amazement. The 1000 is tiny. In fact, Suzuki engineers proudly point out that the 1000 is smaller than the 600. I’m comfortable, though, and apart from missing the extra control on offer from the wider footpegs of the K4 my 185cm/95kg frame suits the more compact GSX-R better than ever. Go figure…

With controls adjusted and a bit of a stretch we head out for our compulsory sighting laps behind a Japanese test rider. Three laps at a moderate pace is hard to deal with on a bike like this and as soon as I’m let out alone I’m into it – the new Gixer and I getting a feel for each other from the off. That’s the advantage of having a world launch at my home track. No corners to learn. No braking points to find. No unexpected bumps to send me off line. And I’m thankful, too, as the 1000 really isn’t the kind of machine I’d want to ride when I’m not quite on the job – particularly on this typically hot February day when Eastern Creek is a little slick and a lot more difficult than is usually the case.

Not that the new GSX-R1000 is hard to ride. Quite the opposite in terms of power delivery and chassis performance – but open that throttle and a whole new universe opens up. A level of performance that is as demanding and on-edge as anything on offer from a high-end race bike a few years back. In fact, the superbikes I raced five or six years ago were pussycats compared to this. And they were factory-supported jobbies…

Believe me. You need to be focussed to ride the Gixer hard but the rewards are much higher than ever before.

With a warm set of BT014 hoops ready for business, I put my head down and cut some fast times. I was here on a K4 just a few weeks ago but I’d never guess I was on a GSX-R today. The bike is performing almost flawlessly as I get more and more comfortable and settled. The thing I’m noticing most is the way the bike steers. Gone is the old way of the Gixer; end-of-the-‘bars-and-hold-her-down steering. The K5 turns-in accurately and easily on or off the anchors and once on its side the bike is holding a line and tracking through turns like it is on rails. No need to hold the K5 down mid-turn and no need to get off the throttle to get the front down like on the K4. The K5 just falls on its side and responds to the smallest footpeg and ‘bar inputs to adjust lean angle or line. The vagueness of the K4 front end is still there but nowhere near as bad. However, a combo of the BT014s lack of feel and the negative-preload fork set-up means that the uneasy feeling in the front when the throttle is cracked off a turn is still lingering slightly. It is a problem that I was hoping Suzuki would have fixed but to be honest the forks feel exactly the same as the K4 units to me – even the valving feels the same and I think you’d have to be a factory rider to note the differences.

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