page_title: Suzuki GSX-R1100
section_title: Model history
hierarchical_section_title: Suzuki GSX-R1100 / Model history
caption_attribution_description: Português: A Suzuki GSX-R 1100W Moto Superdesportiva com aceleração em alta performance de 3,7 segundos dos 0-100 km/h
context_page_description: The Suzuki GSX-R1100 was a sport bike from Suzuki's GSX-R series of motorcycles introduced in 1986.
context_section_description: As motorcycles have evolved, perspectives on the GSX-R1100 have changed. When the bike was new, magazines lauded its power, handling and relative lack of weight. But today's authors who compare it against 1994's introduction of the Supersports bikes, driven by Tadao Baba's development of the Honda Fireblade, can use 20/20 hindsight to be more critical. Recent articles (some in comparison with newer sport bikes) still rave about the powerful 1100 cc engine but otherwise describe the GSX-R1100 as large, heavy, and unstable. Some of these assertions were borne out by Suzuki's year-to-year tinkering with the frame geometry in order to make the bike handle better. The result is that different years have different handling characteristics on the road. Earlier bikes are lighter but the square-section alloy frame is prone to warping under extreme stress while later models are more rigid and offer increased power but suffer from increased weight.
  The original bikes had square-section alloy frames, 18-inch wheels front and rear and a large endurance-style fairing. The early version of the engine was 1052 cc in capacity and with greater similarity to the 750 cc than later versions. The GSX-R1100's frame was somewhat stiffer than the frame on the GSX-R750 - the box section is noticeably thicker when compared side to side. Handling was secure, but not particularly fast. The brakes consisted of two full floating discs at the front gripped by two Sumitomo four-piston calipers and a small fixed disc gripped by a twin-piston caliper at the rear; Suzuki referred to this as the "Deca Piston" setup. Over three years of production there were only minor changes, the largest being the switch to heavier three-spoke wheels on the last J model.
  The 1989 "K" model introduced the 1100 cc engine (the first use of the now legendary, highly tunable and strong 1127 cc air/oil cooled design) together with a new heavier, shorter and stiffer frame based on the previous year's updated and extremely well received GSX-R750J. Magazine testers gave it rave reviews but noted that something was changed between then and the bikes going on sale. The Slingshot 1100K sold in shops suffered handling problems: some claimed as a result of changed geometry, while others said there was nothing wrong with the frame and that it was the suspension units that were improperly set up.
  Whatever it was, the standard bike was considered hard to handle and many modern magazines went as far as to advice buyers to avoid the "K" model (some even calling that year's model a "lemon"). This opinion was reinforced with the death of Suzuki racer Phil Mellor at the Isle of Man TT in 1989 on the GSX-R-1100K race bike. Jamie Whitham also crashed in the same race and it was enough to see the race authorities at the IOM ban the big bikes from racing for several years.
  In 1990, the "L" model bike was again tweaked and the wheelbase lengthened to correct the previous year's handling problems. The M-model (1991) saw the addition of larger carburetors and major cosmetic changes when the fairing was reworked to place the headlights under a more aerodynamic curved cover.
  The "N" model (1992) was mechanically the same but offered more aggressive graphics in line with its time. It was also the last year of the oil-cooled engines as the bike was re-designed for 1993.
  The 1993 "WP" model saw major engine changes with the introduction of water cooling and several significant chassis changes. The move away from oil cooling allowed an increase in power, bringing total output to 155 bhp at the crank and introduced another very strong, reliable and extremely tunable Suzuki engine (Performance Bike in the UK reported on one taken to over 190 bhp at the wheel without the use of a turbocharger or nitrous oxide injection).
  A new stiffer, largely forged, five-sided pentagonal cross-section frame was introduced along with an asymmetrical "banana" swing-arm. Larger Nissin six-piston brake calipers were fitted. The bike's weight also went up slightly, finally passing the 500-pound mark Suzuki had been flirting with 
caption: Suzuki GSX-R1100 1993
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