Day Three.

Still raining.

Day four.

OK, so it's not raining. I go out on to the porch and peer over at the bike. The "Gixxer" was wet but the roads around seemed to be drying. Time to slip out of my Kung Fu pajama's and into my serious road gear.

I fired up the big open classer and headed off to the hills. As suspected, my initial impressions of the Suzuki were dulled by the aforementioned environment and, of course, by the weather. Not so today. On opening the throttle in anger I am greeted by G forces previously reserved for fighter pilots and NASA astronauts . The bike devours pavement at alarming velocities. Forget everything you've ever felt before. This bike feels like a nitrous burning drag bike.

I remember once seeing a car advertisement referring to a hot car with the phrase “This is the reason you look both ways before you cross the road”. Trust me on this one, this Suzuki will make you think twice, before thinking twice, about looking both ways before you cross the road…

The roads are drying nicely now but the weather is still a little cool. The tires are spinning up a little, I'm sure due to my over zealous throttle hand, than tire quality. Hey, I have been trapped in a hotel room for a couple of days. The throttle to engine response is seamless. Suzuki have seen fit to add the dual throttle valves ALA the 750, however, they are electric operated rather than a cable like the 750's, so they are a weight saver too. Because they are controlled by the ECM it's all deliciously matched to engine RPM and gear position. The ECM has, of course, been upgraded to match it's new job quota. The result? More get up and go regardless of situation.

I suppose I should mention wheelies. The throttle is like a rheostat, how high or how long is up to you. Ride this bike for any amount of time and you are transformed into a mixture of Gary Rothwell and the Star Boys. I just hope Johnny Law gets as much enjoyment watching you perform them as you will have doing them... err, see you in court.