February 26, 2008 - Jon Pearson

Fresh news from a rather fresh Misano circuit here are the first riding impressions of the 2008 Suzuki GSX-R600 ... Scroll down for the full story

A new track, new bike, cold hands, fog and I'm suddenly doing 140mph/230kph into a fifth gear right-hander with the throttle pinned? I'm either mad or I'm feeling pretty happy the new Suzuki GSX-R600 is one planted little bike.

Thankfully all signs are good from the new baby Gixxer with trademark stability and agility filling the gap common sense should be occupying in my head. New bodywork might seem distinctly different but under the skin it feels pretty much the same as the old model - which is to say very good.

Tweaks to the engine have produced a barely noticeable, small handful of more horses in the mid-range and a similar boost to the torque figures. But like I say I found it hard to pin-point the boosted mid-range Suzuki are talking about.

Bigger differences are improved suspension settings and stronger brakes, both of which give bags of confidence, whatever the weather (thankfully). Other than that Suzuki has made the kind of new model you're hard pushed to feel differences on without a back to back comparison test. Unless you take it on face value of course.

One big add-on is a "chicken switch" as per GSX-R1000 which seems a little worthless on a 600 to my mind but apparently plenty of "new riders" plump for this kind of bike fresh off their learner tools so the switch might come in handy for some.

For more info click www.suzuki.co.uk or check out the May issue of SuperBike magazine