Suzuki released the great grandad of the Hayabusa, the GSXR1100, in 1986. This one pays homage to the legendary Skoal Bandit grand prix racers of the era… Photos: Alex Cooper
When Suzuki released the GSXR750 in 1985, it blew minds. The square aluminium tube-framed Suzuki was the starting point for a run of bikes that continues to this very day. Suzuki then created even more noise in 1986 with the release of the GSXR1100.
Suzuki used the same magic formula for the 1100 that they used on the RG250, RG500 and GSX-R750. This Skoal Bandit replica belonged to avid GSXR fan, Sydneysider, Simon Butler…
The frame differed from the 750 but only because it received extra bracing. Steering head rake and front-end trail figures at 26-degrees and 116mm were slightly more relaxed than the 750 and combined with the longer swingarm fitted to the 1100s, the 1460mm wheelbase made for a nicer bike on the road.
Bike magazine Bike Of The Year 1986, no small achievement and well deserved.
With a horsepower figure claimed to be as high as 128hp@9500rpm and torque peaking at 74.5ft/lb@8000rpm, the 1986 1100 should have felt like a GSXR750 on steroids. The reality was that the first GSXR1100s struggled to register much more than 105 rear wheel horsepower but they only weighed in at just 197kg (dry).
197kg and 125hp, the GSXR1100 was the first true hyperbike. At 2115mm it was a long bike, also very stable.
On the dragstrip, a good rider managed to click off 10.8 second ETs at 127mph on a completely stock ’86 G-model, proof that Suzuki had worked out the power-to-weight equation pretty well. Top speed was reported as being 155mph [249.44km/h] when tested in early 1986.
Inspired by Roger Marshall and Paul Lewis’s racers, Simon Butler built this stunner way back in 1996. He had owned the bike since 1991… Years later in 2008, we happened to photograph the bike for Rapid Bikes magazine. Pic: Simon Butler.
The 1052cc engine featured the same oil/air cooling and Twin Swirl Combustion Chambers as the base model 750. A set of 34mm Mikuni BST CV carburettors was standard equipment on the 1100 with a familiar-appearing four-into-one exhaust on the other side of the DOHC-equipped cylinder-head.
This is Paul Bailey’s Aussie raced 1100 with 17in wheels.
One interesting departure from the specification of the 750 was the fitment of a five-speed transmission. The 750’s carried six-speeds but according to popular myth and rumour, it has been claimed that Suzuki engineers felt that the extra torque of the 1100 negated the need for the extra ratio and they decided to add width to the five pairs instead.
Jeff is building a Skoal Bandit GSXR750F at the moment and has been further inspired by Simon’s 1100. Simon sold the bike around 15-years ago. Pic: Simon Butler.
As mentioned, the double cradle chassis was 750-derived. Continuing the commonality of parts were the 41mm conventional front forks with four-way preload and three-way compression adjustment. The rear shock had preload and four-way compression adjustments. The 18-in wheels fitted to the GSXR1100 was a deliberate move on Suzuki’s part to enable larger brake rotors. At the time, the 110/80-18 and 150/70-18 tyres were fairly fat.
The original G and H-series GSXR1100s were groundbreaking machines that allowed Suzuki to offer a bike suitable for the Isle of Man Unlimited TT and also capable of covering the big distance rides that Aussie rallygoers felt the need to cover at high speed in a weekend-long frenzy of speed.
“I had read the Roger Marshall book and also seen pictures of the Paul Lewis RG500, so I decided to get my 1100 resprayed”…
I forgot to mention the early-morning desperates on legendary Aussie roads like the OPH or Reefton Spur. The later J-models were slightly improved versions of the original and considered by many to be better but they’re not the original, are they?
The endurance styling was a huge hit on the 750 and 1100, particularly the twin headlights. This stunner was painted in Skoal colours just like the 750. We think it looks fantastic.
The Skoal Bandit model was a re-painted GSXR750 with only 50 produced in the UK to celebrate the (Aussie) Paul Lewis-ridden Heron Suzuki race bikes that were sponsored by Skoal Bandit and the 750s ridden by Roger Marshall and Kork Ballington. All 50 were sold with certificates of authenticity and a genuine article is worth a healthy house deposit these days.
Aussie racing legend Paul Lewis raced the RG500 GP racer in Skoal Bandit livery, so Suzuki GB released 50 certified GSXR750F Skoal Bandits to celebrate the team.
Former owner Simon Butler created a more powerful replica of that 750 bike in the 1990s with the stunning repainted GSXR1100 you see here. Inspired by Roger Marhsall’s book, Roger and Out, Simon built this awesome 1100 Skoal…
Kork Ballington on the Skoal Bandit GSX-R750…
We actually met Simon a few years ago when he kindly donated some old motorcycle magazines, books and brochures to the BikeReview archives. One of those books was the very copy of Roger and Out that inspired this exact Skoal Bandit 1100. Little did we know at the time that we had also photographed the same bike years earlier…
“I bought the 1100 back in 1991,” says Simon Butler, who also had a collection of other desirable bikes such as an ELR Kawasaki, RZ500, ZXR750R, and a Macintosh Suzuki to name a few… “I had read the Roger Marshall book and also seen pictures of the Paul Lewis RG500, so I decided to get my 1100 resprayed in 1996 in Skoal Bandit colours. I even had a custom plate SBR 11” adds Simon…
QUICK SPEC’S 1986 SUZUKI GSXR1100
ENGINE
1052cc, DOHC, air/oil-cooled, 16 valve, inline four-cylinder
CHASSIS
Square-section aluminium tubing and aluminium castings, 41mm conventional fork and Full Floater swingarm, Dual 300mm rotors and four piston calipers, 197kg dry
PERFORMANCE
102Kw [128hp]@9500rpm, 101Nm [74.5ft/lb] at 8000rpm
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