Suzuki RF900

Owner - Steve Harrison
Bike - SuziToo
Details - 937cc 4cyl 4 stroke sports bike. Originally released as a super sports model but as it can't compete with Blade's and R1's it's now classed as a sports tourer.

Somewhere on Mull ...

At the backend of '97 I finally gave in to the urge for a change of bike. The GSXF was sold and I had money burning a hole in me pocket.

Originally I was thinking of a new grey import Bandit 1200 or second hand Yamaha YZF750. I had looked at a couple of "greys" and a few bike shops but nothing really tickled me when Dav (mad TURBO rider) and I decided to take a trip to Newcastle to see what Westgate Road had to offer.
The first shop we walked past had a gorgeous purple RF900 in at the right price and I fell in love. We of course checked out the rest of the shops but to no avail and I soon found myself signing up for the first bike I'd seen that day.

One long week later she was mine.

The ride back was an eye opener. With under 3800 mile her wheels she was taught and wonderfully fast. What an engine, no flat spots or hesitation anywhere and at 7000rpm the world went backwards. If you have never ridden a big sports bike before the way they accelerate from 100mph is incredible.

The tyres however weren't too clever. BT54's might be fine for commuting, and to be fair never let go, but they did not inspire confidence. Time for some Metzeler's then (who have a great website with a cute little database that lists recommended tyres for each bike). MEZ1/MEZ2 in the standard sizes did the biz, later I tried MEZ1 180 on the back which looked good but it seems to slow the steering down and will no doubt get destroyed in no time. This did indeed turn out to be the case and the rear was dead in under 3000 miles. The front lasts about 6000 the same as the MEZ2 rear.

Top speed is supposed to be over 160mph, it averages 45mpg - about 160 miles to reserve and might do 200 miles before your pushing if your that brave.

Other than tyres my only modifications are a black screen, my piece to token tartery, and a nonfango 3 piece hard luggage set cos it was cheap. In fact it was very handy for all the touring and rallies and to my eternal shame often found myself riding about with a topbox on. Other than aesthetics I've only found two drawbacks, the extra width and the horrendous fuel consumption at high, as in 100mph+, speeds. At usual touring speed of 70-80 is does about 40mpg, which ain't too bad.

I have recently removed the boxes to avoid a) huge fuel bills, b) getting stuck in traffic and c) the risk of grounding out on the more enthusiastic corners.

Servicing is every 4000 miles. The only thing to have gone so far was one front brake disk which warped (the moral here is to clean your brakes on a regular basis), a pattern part bolted straight on everything is now back to normal.

I've now had the RF900 for about two years and cannot fault it other than the usual vibration you get from all Gixer based motors. It's big, fast and comfy, the perfect all rounder.

And it can still show a clean pair of heels to a blade and ZZR11, eh Andy B. and Martin :-)