2/4/23
While inline-four-powered sportbikes have not gone the way of the dodo, and most likely (and hopefully) won’t anytime soon, those track-ready screamers are no longer the market movers they once were. Now, parallel twins are arguably one of the most popular powerplants, and there is a new crop of sportbikes powered by affordable-to-build and friendly-to-use twins.
In 2023, Suzuki introduced it’s GSX-8S naked sportbike to the market, and it wowed us with its torquey and lively engine. In fact, it won a Cycle World Ten Best award. Common sense said that a fully faired R model would be following soon, and now it’s here: the 2024 Suzuki GSX-8R.
Cycle World Editor-at-Large Blake Conner gladly accepted the assignment to ride the 8R on the winding roads above Palm Springs, California, as well as to burn laps around Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. After two full days on the bikes, Conner said this about the $9,439 GSX-8R: “…the 8R provides a level of performance that exceeded our expectations both on the track and on the street.”
You can read his full review here.
While Conner was on the GSX-8R, In-Market Editor Bradley Adams was riding a different sort of twin, well a pair of them actually. Adams put Kawasaki’s twin-battery-powered Ninja e-1 and Z e-1 to the test around downtown Phoenix.
Not meant to replace ICE motorcycles but to compete with other electric mobility products like scooters and ebikes, these units have a short 41-mile range. However, they are the size of the Ninja 400 and Z400 motorcycles, giving them better stability. Are they a viable option for those looking to skip the daily starting line of the rat race and ride to work in the big city? Find out here.
As always, there’s more than we can fit into this email. Check out cycleworld.com for additional tests, reviews, and news.
Ride on,
Justin Dawes
Executive Editor
