Faults:

The fuse for the clocks/lights/switchgear popped during an overtake, resulting in the needle of the speedometer hanging losing its drive and hanging down the wrong side of the clocks at the 6 o'clock position.. As a result, none of the lights/indicators/dials/instruments worked...

I fixed this myself by changing the fuse, and then dismantling the clocks to push the needle back round the correct side..

General Comments:

I have fallen head over heels in love with this bike.. In the 3 years I've been riding, I always had reasonably new bikes (2004-2006 machines) and had shied away from older bikes due to pre-conceived ideas that older bikes are less reliable and generally in poorer condition.

How wrong I was. I'll start with the performance. As another reviewer has written on here "It handles & drives like a really powerful 600". I've never ridden a 600 supersport, but it has no problem keeping up with or even passing modern 600SS's in the corners, then on the straights it has the powerful edge from 6-7k rpm upwards. Having only ever ridden v-twins, it took me a little while to acclimatise to the power delivery. Revving the engine harder and changing up later makes the bike pick its feet up. Below 3k revs, there's not much there, 3-6k revs it starts to hurry along, and by the time you've touched 7k revs, you're into the exciting bit of the rev range all the way to the redline at 12/13k revs.

0-60 is somewhere just over 3 seconds, the absolute top speed I've had on the clocks was 170mph (I frightened myself silly and will never do it again).

The engine is silky smooth all the way through the revs, the '98 SRAD being the first year that Suzuki moved to fuel injection. They seem to have gotten it right straight out of the box as there's not notchy fueling or jerkiness once you learn to feather the throttle/clutch at lower speeds or over mini roundabouts. The '98 does have a 'fast idle', which works very similar to a choke while the bike is warming up. If it's especially cold or the bike has been stood for a few weeks, it might require a slight turn of the throttle to get the engine running, but then it's fine once started (this could be an age issue but hasn't really affected me).

With regards to handling - this is the first bike that has given me the confidence to get my kneedown on trackdays, and all the friends I ride with have remarked just how much quicker/more confident I've become since I bought it. With my previous bikes (SV650, SV1000), I would often run into corners half heartedly, wondering whether the bike would be OK. On this bike I have run into one or two corners a little bit too hot, and the bike more or less whispers "go on, you're OK, just lean it over a tiny bit more and let me know when you're finished"... It really does inspire so much confidence.

This has also led to me conquering the holiest of biking grails - the kneedown. As I mentioned earlier, this bike has no problem getting past the 600's on straights or corners, but one of the best feelings in the world is having a big 1000cc supersport passing you on the park straight at Cadwell Park, then passing them as they brake far earlier for a corner, which you can comfortably carry more speed through (probably due to the lighter weight and shorter wheelbase of the 750). It is probably worth mentioning that this bike has had its front suspension seriously modified as it allegedly used to be a trackbike (8 previous owners in 12 years, 13,000 on the clock when I bought it in March '10 - lots of receipts for racing parts). As far as I can tell it's got uprated springs to suit a heavy guy (250lbs or 18 stone!) and probably uprated thicker oil to suit (15-20w maybe?).

Despite the fact it has probably been molested, raced and tracked, the bike is mechanically pristine. It's got the first 8,000 miles of service history and as soon as I got the bike at 13,000 I did the oil & filter, coolant, Yoshimura race can, Brembo master brake cylinder, brake pads, braided brake lines and all with fresh brake fluid. I also got some new tyres (Michelin Pilot Road 2's, which are phenomenally good) and the bike was good as new. It sailed through its MOT in July this year, and has covered 7,000 miles in the time I've owned it.

In terms of comfort and 'all round-a-bility' this bike has had all sorts thrown at it and taken everything in it's stride. Simply add a Renntec rack & some ratchets, soft panniers and away you go: 2x camping trips to the Isle of Man, 1 x camping in Scotland, 1 x North Wales, 1 x South Wales, many many many rideouts around the Yorkshire dales and North York moors - it has done the lot without any fuss.

Because the bike is older, compared to modern supersports, it is physically quite a lot bigger in terms of bodywork and riding position. Jumping on the newer better looking 750 leaves me feeling depressed that they can't be as comfy as my 12 year old SRAD, despite the fact there's very little between them in terms of handling, and a bit more power for the newer bikes. Also, if I took a brand new 750 on a camping trip and got caught in a rainstorm or scratched the paintwork whilst attaching all my camping gear, the week would be ruined. With this older 750, a slight scuff on the paintwork is annoying, but it won't put a dampener on the trip.

The other benefit to having an older bike means there's a vast collection of used accessories/tuning mods on auction sites and GSX-R dedicated internet forums for you to pick up at a fraction of the price they cost when new.

The only 2 niggles I've got about this bike are:

- it does carry pillions, but not very comfortably or for very long. They're sat way up high, and as it's designed to be a race bike, all that extra weight over the back end slows the acceleration/steering quite dramatically..

- the bodywork is starting to look a little bit tired now, with one or two scratches, and quite a few minor marks here & there.

If you're not bothered about carrying pillion on a regular basis or they weigh next to nothing then you're OK. Also, if you find a mint condition bike or don't mind picking up a bike with slightly tired looking bodywork (which can easily be removed and resprayed if you're desperate), then this bike will put a smile on your face and reward you with confidence/space to hone your skills as a rider.. Also look for the cliche's about 1000's being too much and 600's being too revvy for the road - the 750 has just the right power with fantastic handling.

Oh, and all this can be yours for a fraction of the price of a newer GSX-R - I paid £1800 for mine, compared to £3500+ for a k3 onwards or even more if you want one under 5 years old.

Go and get one...

Faults:

I tried to change the oil and filter, but overtightened the alloy sump plug and stripped the threads.

This was sorted by the dealer. The only other thing that went wrong was the speedo light, which packed up (40 GBP to sort) at 10000 miles.

General Comments:

The GSXR 750 WX is not for the faint hearted.

This bike does not boast massive torque, however, if you use the rev range (and I don't mean red-line the bike all the time, 11,500 rpm is plenty) she will fly.

The thrust on the Gixxer makes you feel as if the rear tyre is literally eating up the road. Couple this thrust with a raw induction noise and it is sensational.

The engine is tractable and smooth and you will never need 6th Gear unless motorways or autobahns beckon.

I can see 155MPH in 5th with plenty more to come and no tailing off of acceleration.

For twisties you can leave her in second gear and she will tear way past 95 MPH.

My bike never seemed to need oil, and the oil remained clear between changes, which is testimony to the superb engineers at Suzuki.

I fitted an aftermarket screen, which was fantastic as I found the original too low (no where near as low as say a Kawasaki ZX7R or ZXR750 though).

120/130 MPH crusing (where legal) is easy on a Gixxer with a decent screen.

I am 6'2" and never ever found the bike uncomfortable, which is contrary to popular belief.

Handling - you have to lean/push this big boy in. This is not a CBR600 where you can think where you want to be and you arrive - no - make positive effort and you will be rewarded with a fast cornering bike.

Brakes - The front makes a lovely "hiss" on application and is plenty powerful, however, if you plan ahead and roll off the throttle and pop out of the bubble you will hardly ever need to seriously push the brakes hard. The rear is very much like any other Suzuki sportsbike, you don't think there is much power there, but at low speeds you can easily lock a rear wheel.

Anticipate and use the brakes smoothly and you'll never find the issue of brake power coming up.

Tyres - I ran Michelin Pilot Sports, which seemed to work well in the wet and dry, although I would have loved to try the bike on D208's as I was a great fan of them on my previous Bandit.

Seat hump - sexy. The bike looks so cool with the hump in place.

Summary - Essentially, this is a road legal single seat racer, although by todays standard the bike is easily overshadowed by its newer rivals.

Buy one in blue and white, cherish and pamper it, it will be a future classic!!

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

This is my first "big bike", but I have rode a GSXR1000K5 and others eg Bandit 650, Hornet 600, CBF600, GSR600.

This bike is very forgiving and the handling is unreal, so good you will get yourself in some interesting situations, unfortunately not as good as the GSXR 1000, but the one I rode had three years technical advantage, and once again, on the road you're talking nothing really.

The only thing I can really comment negatively on are the brakes - they are good and will still easily stop the bike, but they do not fill you full of confidence when you are using them, as you feel like if you squeeze them anymore, the front will lock.

The note of the exhaust and engine is mad, especially at high revs, listening to it sucking in the air, it's wild honestly.

Performance figures speak for them self really:

0-60 3.2 seconds

Tops out at 168mph.

I've seen 159mph with my girlfriend on the back and it was still shifting before her kicking made me back off (This was off road obviously).

Max Power 138BHP.