2007 Suzuki GSX-R600 in Ventura, CA

2007 SUZUKI GSX-R600, Two-tone Blue / Black, it started at racetracks far from suzuki's hamamatsu, japan headquarters. a group of dedicated suzuki engineers on an overseas fact-finding mission wandered through paddocks and spectator parking lots, looking at motorcycles and watching races. the racers at these events didn't have factory contracts, and were not paid to race. they came because they loved the competition, the sport, and they rode motorcycles they bought themselves. the race classes were defined by engine size, rider skill level and allowable modifications. the grids for 1, 000 cc machines were packed with gsx-r1000s. the grids for 750 cc machines featured row after row of gsx-r750s. but the 600 cc grids were no longer completely filled with gsx-r600s. after years of trying, the middleweight competition had finally caught up, again. the engineers worked stopwatches, talked to riders and mechanics, filled notebooks with observations and comments. they compared what they had seen at these regional races to what was happening in the world superbike and ama and other national superbike series, and with the results from endurance series in europe and the u.s. by the time they returned to japan, the engineers had a clear plan