We have a habit – or addiction, if you prefer – of first going to the manufacturers’ websites to dream up the latest news, as well as, of course, to check out any promotions, news or current events. So, as usual, we browse through the Suzuki catalog and… we’re in for a shock: what happened to the GSX-R1000?
The GSX-R has been out of Suzuki’s European catalog for some time now, but Millone is still in Japan. However, after a glorious 40-year career, the time has come to say goodbye and one of the iconic models in the company’s history – but we can say of Japanese motorcycle production as a whole – now appears to be “out of production”. Of course, this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, but it still left us a little impressed. Here in Europe, it’s already 2023 before you can buy it (unless you already have it at your dealer), but knowing that the GSX-R1000 joins the ranks of models we probably won’t see makes us sad.
On the other hand, Suzuki’s withdrawal from MotoGP in 2022 had already given us an idea of the company’s direction and, shortly afterwards, even hopes of seeing it return to Superbike faded. Only the World Endurance Championship with the Yoshimura SERT team, run by Suzuki France, kept the Gixxerona flag in the air. And, incidentally, at the halfway point of the championship, it leads the standings by one point over YART Yamaha. For fans of the Hamamatsu manufacturer, there’s no shortage of alternatives to enjoy on the road, such as the new GSX-8R and the GSX-S1000GX crossover, and for fans of super fairings there’s the Hayabusa, but… the Gixxerona was the Gixxerona and it’s another strong sign of changing times.