It wasn’t the first time I had been told to get a faster bike but I loved my Aprilia and I’d spent a lot of money on her. She wasn’t the fastest bike on the track but I knew how to push her hard and she’d been good to me over the years.
The time had come and I’d spoke to Janette about my plans, it didn’t take long and the phone rang and some block said he was coming round to see the machine. He just didn’t seem that interested in my pride and joy. He wasn’t interested in the Gilies rear sets or the Italian handmade exhausts or the fact that she had a full race intake system fitted. He didn’t even haggle on the price and when I said I had all the original parts he didn’t want them either. Janette came out to say hello with a cup of tea for us each and when she realised the bike was going she burst into tears and ran back into the house.
I’d always been a GSXR man and I loved the fact that they were just out right hooligan bikes. It didn’t bother me that some bike mags slag them off for whatever reason or described them as tractors with a flat. You either love the GSXR or you hate it. I had some great memories with mine and it was the first bike Janette had ever been on. When I first met Janette I arranged to pick her up and we would go out for a blast. I arrived on a GSXR 750 with a helmet over my arm for her. I asked if she’d been on a bike before and the reply was a smiling “yes”. I pulled out of the estate and off we went, I took it steady until we reached the end of town and I opened her up, not horrifically fast but enough to get a move on. The first bend loomed up and I set myself up and leaned into it, Janette on the other hand stayed up right and squeezed the life out of me. I wobbled round the corner like a beginner and struggled to get the bike up out of the corner. “I thought you had been on a bike before” I asked. “Yes but it never moved”. It was the start of a fantastic relationship.
My next bike was going to be the new GSXR 1000 K9 in black. There was something about the black that made her look mean and spelt out DON’T MESS WITH ME. The standard pipes were the first thing to go and on went a set of Akrapovic GP end cans. The sound was fabulous, loud and aggressive, they screamed “Get out of the way” or was it “ 3 more points”.
The catalytic converter was massive and even looked heavy. After some serious searching on the net I found an Arrow link pipe and it looks the dogs nads. Light and easy to fit, now she really does roar. The next change was the air filter and I put a K & N filter in. I had some very quick changes to do like the double bubble screen, tail tidy, R & G crash bungs (all) and fit a black head light cover.
The next change was a bit more difficult but within my capabilities, I’d ordered the new Power Commander V from Bikebits4you, now I just needed to fit it. The instructions were straight forward and fairly easy to follow. It took about 2 hours to fit and I was very pleased with myself, I pressed the starter and nothing happened. What the hell had I done or not done as the case may be. It’s normally at this point that I start throwing things around the garage but on this occasion I thought I would check the kill switch first. The bike was booked in for a complete set up and new mapping at the dyno centre in Edinburgh. So Jnr and I set of early the following morning and the bike was put through her paces. Jnr and I went for a bacon butty as the set up was going to take some time. We picked up the beast some 2 hours later, as we pulled onto the M8 I told Jnr to hang on. The throttle response was fantastic and not a blip on the rev counter.
I wasn’t happy with the brakes from the day I got her and thought it was just me, give it time and I’m sure I would get the feel for them. I approached the roundabout as I would on my Aprilia and braked at the same point, by the time I stopped I was on the roundabout and luckily for me the roundabout was free. I got in contact with Bikebits4you and ordered a set of Brembo front brake callipers. They came with all the spacers, bolts, oil, pads, and they threw in a set Hell brake lines in red. Now she was looking business and I took her out for a blast. I was horrified, the ratio between the master cylinder and the brake callipers had changed. I now had an inch movement on my brake lever before anything happened. The brakes were not working in the way I thought they would. There was only one thing for it, I had to get back in contact with Bikebits4you. As usual Grant was on the ball and my new Brembo 18-20 master cylinder arrived, what a sexy looking piece of kit. It didn’t take long to fit and I was on the road putting them to the test. What a transformation, they were perfect and the stopping power was breathtaking.
The next thing to change was the rear sets, they were silver on a black bike and I didn’t like them. It wasn’t just that, I like my feet up and a bit further back and I find it a bit comfier so I contacted a company called Jesters Trick Bits. They supplied TWR rear sets and they did them in the black edition. Now these really do look nice with red washers and red high lights on the TWR logo. At the same time I changed the clutch lever for a black Titax lever.
Most of the performance parts had now been changed but I had a few more to do. The first one and probably the most expensive one was going to be the wheels. I wanted BST Carbon wheels and wavy discs. After a bit of searching I found a company called HPS and run by Ben Hunter. He supplied everything from the bearings/spacers/light weight sprocket carrier to the gold aluminium sprocket and the bolts. Once the wheels had been assembled they were a straight forward replacement for the OE wheels. I couldn’t wait to get out on the road, the bike felt totally different and so responsive. It didn’t take much to get the front wheel in the air and the braking was fantastic. I can brake longer into the corner without her trying to sit up, she was a completely different bike.
The carbon looked fantastic, so good I wanted more. The silver lower tank panels were looking old, not that they were. I move around a lot on my machine and I use my knees to pick her up early out of the bends and that’s worn out the panels, any way I sent them away to a lad I know (Ian) at BMWMINIS. He covered them in carbon fibre and they look great. The next part to send away was the silver stripes under the bar ends. Once again Ian had done a fantastic job and they looked brilliant. Now it was add ons to protect the engine and frame in case I dropped her. I fitted carbon covers to the engine covers, frame, hugger and swing arm. I changed the air box and the chain guard for carbon and the last thing to change was the rear foot pegs to black ones. The indicators stood out like a saw thumb, there was only one thing for it. I changed them for smoked lenses and that took the edge off them. I put my Foggy eyes on the front as I’ve always done to all my bikes and my silver Suzuki S’s turned up in the post to go on the side of the air box. I think I’m nearly there, just two more parts I’d like to change and that’s the front wheel guard. I’d like to change that for a carbon fibre one, I’ll have to contact Grant again and see what he can do for me. The second one is to change the throttle for a quick action one.
The only thing left to do now is hit Knockhill and see how fast I am, followed by the IOM TT. They are both booked and I can’t wait. Janette says I have enough spare parts in the attic to build another bike, I don’t think so but I don’t think she’s far off.
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