I remember… GSX-R750M

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Bike Reviews

By JeffWare - 19 January 2023

Memories: Jeff Ware Photos: Heather Ware

Some bikes have a bigger impact than others. Some bikes mean more to some for others. The model GSX-R750 was one of those…

THE FIRST TIME…

Like most of my early bike memories, my M model experience was etched into my brain during an Old Pacific Hwy, NSW, Sunday morning spin. I was riding my RZ250FN and it was 1992 – winter. It was freezing cold and, being a poor HSC student trying to keep an RZ running on my meagre Austudy money and some odd jobs, I had no cash then for winter gear. So I remember being particularly freezing on this Sunday. But it was sunny…

I rode this original bike about ten years ago.

GSX-R750Fs and Gs were the most popular bike of the time. They were seven odd years old and pretty affordable for the average rider. Most of my mates rode them. There were a few 1100s around – man, did those things have my respect…

Propaganda from Suzuki in 1991…

Not a huge amount of updates but enough to make it special

I never liked the J, K or L models. They were ugly and had no appeal to me. But the M model was so, so cool.

That massive glass headlight – a signature M feature.

I was having a good run, keeping the RZ in the powerband and scraping the ‘pegs like any mad 17-year-old, when this blue and white blur went wwwoooaaaa – straight past me like I was standing still.

Still one of the best looking 750cc sportsbikes ever made.

I pulled up at the old café that isn’t there anymore and saw the bike. I parked and walked over. The huge stainless steel exhaust ticking… melted Michelin Hi Sport tyres still warm.

Unrestored and original, not many around like this.

I sat down. No money for coffee or a drink back then… I picked up an old bike mag that was in the pile there for customers to read and there it was – a launch report from the year before on the M model GSX-R.

Race style clocks looked awesome for the era.

Mikuni 38mm CV carburettors, a great carb.

I read about the bike but I was too nervous to talk to this legendary owner who had just blown me off the road with his speed…

Tokico brakes and 17in front wheel with 120/70-17

17in wheel with 170/60-17 rubber.

WHAT MADE IT SPECIAL…

Sure it was porky – 15kg heavier than the 1990 L model but, that modern glass headlight, slimmer rear cowl with trick twin taillights, shim valve adjustment and a massive 170-section rear tyre just turned the bike into a modern classic…

It worked, as this brochure hooked Jeff.

WOULD YOU…

Like to own one? Hell yeah. But they are hard to find. Not many ended up on the track but plenty were crashed on the road or butchered into streetfighters or 7/11s (750 with 1100 engine). But I would love an original blue and white one in my shed. For sure…

Jeff was lucky to live his dream by riding one on the Old Road in 2012.

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES…

Slim. I rarely see one for sale yet go back 20 years and they were everywhere. But now, getting on 32-years later, they are virtually non-existent. Or locked away in a shed. Couriers loved them so finding an example with less than a million kilometres on the clock would be tough…