SuperBike Magazine

June 24, 2009 - Kenny Pryde

Inevitably, there's a Worx Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 replica on sale now. With an Akrapovic exhaust, PC V and a natty paint scheme, it's worth a look ... Scroll down for the full story

It's one of the best-looking bikes in the British superbike paddock and the Worx Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the hands of Sylvain Guintoli was the only one capable of challenging Leon Camier's Airwaves Yamaha.

True, this bike isn't a replica in anything other than paintjob, but it looks pretty and the modifications that have been made to the stock bike were enough to want me get stuck in to my own long term GSX-R1000 test bike.

The team at Crescent Performance down in Verwood in Dorset knows all about Suzukis and have added an Akrapovic carbon end can and connector pipe (keeping the original header pipes), re-mapped the fuelling using a Power Commander V and made a few chassis tweaks to make the already nimble-handling bike steer a tad quicker still. Add the lustrous Dream Machine paintwork and you've got a bike that sounds better, looks better, fuels better, handles better and is lighter than the standard bike. For regular track day riders you also get a removable headlight cover with Guintoli's race number '50' on it.

I took the bike out for a few laps at Castle Combe circiut in Wiltshire and had my own stock GSX-R1000 K9 there to help with a back-to-back comparison. The first thing that strikes you is the crispness of the throttle response in comparison to the stock bike. The fuelling is so precise on the Worx rep thanks to a custom map design for the Akrapovic dialled in by Alan Cook in the Verwood Dynojet dyno.

Precise, crisp and eager, the bike was essentially running on stock suspension settings, but the standard new-bike preparation and check had been done to a higher degree, with fork oil and height checked and some (secret!) alterations made to the ride height both front and rear. The paint job is immaculate and for some weird reason actually makes the bike look slimmer. And no doubt the R&G tail tidy adds to the impression of 'slim-ness'.

And, if the bike looks slimmer, it certainly weighs less thanks to the loss of the stock double trumpet end cans, replaced by a single Akrapovic carbon unit. There's no doubt that the Worx bike was turned more easily going through the chicane of the circuit compared to the stock bike. It sounded a tad racier too, but not to an obnoxious level and still managed to get through the stringent and absurd noise-testing at Castle Combe (track day riders beware, my stock bike was tested at 10,500rpm rather than the more usual 6,000rpm. Insane, truly.)

In addition to the bike, the cost also includes two tickets to the BSB round of your choice, automatic entry for a brace of VIP tickets to Oulton park BSB finale and a pillion ride with John Reynolds. Plus, each bike has a seat cowl signed by Sylvain Guintoli which is then lacquered over, so even if someone copies the paint, it wont be pukka! There's a signed certificate of authentication that comes with the bike too and your first service is free.

The Worx BSB replica costs £10,949 which is about £1000 more than the stock GSX-R1000 K9, but, as ever, when you add the cost of the parts and the fuel mapping, it's still good value. And, as was pointed out to me, that's still cheaper than a new R1...

Overall you're getting a properly prepped, tweaked and trimmed GSX-R1000 K9, set-up for your needs by the best Suzuki tuners in the business. All that and a tidy paintjob too.

For more info and availability contact Crescent Performance on 01202 820170 or at www.crescent-motorcycles.com