40 years of Suzuki GSX-R to be celebrated at MCL

Four decades of one of the most important and iconic lines of sportsbikes will be celebrated at MCL [Motorcycle Live] 2025, when Suzuki marks the 40th anniversary of GSX-R.

The 1985 GSX-R750F transformed the world of sportsbikes and laid the foundations for every sportsbike that’s followed since, through to the reveal of the new GSX-R1000R 40th Anniversary Edition earlier this year. To mark the milestone, a dedicated display will celebrate arguably the most significant and legendary motorcycling lineages in history.

The lineup will feature a number of models from the GSX-R’s history, including a 1985 GSX-R750. Other notable inclusions include a GSX-R750 SRAD and a K5 GSX-R1000.

And, to kickstart the MCL celebrations, Suzuki will host a special VIP event on the morning of Saturday 15 November – the opening day of MCL 2025 – which will take place on the Suzuki stand an hour before the show opens to the public. The event will celebrate both the anniversary and the launch of the new GSX-R1000R, with attendance by invitation only and open to customers that have placed a deposit on the 2026 GSX-R1000R 40th Anniversary Edition.

Hosted and compered by renowned presenter and broadcaster Grace Webb, it will include insight into the new GSX-R from Paul de Lusignan, Suzuki GB’s director of motorcycles, followed by talks with 2024 Endurance World Championship winner Dan Linfoot, who also recently won the 2025 Bol d’Or with the Yoshimura Suzuki Endurance Team, and 2004 British Superbike champion and former GSX-R test rider, John Reynolds.

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VIPs will receive a goody bag, the chance to meet and talk with Linfoot, Reynolds, and the Suzuki GB team, and get a first look at the GSX-R1000R 40th Anniversary Edition in the metal before anyone else in the UK.

Suzuki GB marketing manager, Jak Tyrrell, said, “I think it’s fair to say that no other range of motorcycles has moved the game on in the way that GSX-R has over the last four decades, or has played such a big part in the motorcycling journey of so many riders over the years. 40 years is an incredible milestone, and we’re really excited to be able to celebrate such an anniversary at MCL, talk with owners old and new about their GSX-R history, all ahead of the arrival of the anniversary edition next year.”

In 1985 the GSX-R750F became a landmark moment in production sportsbike design, delivering genuine track performance on the road to the masses, combining a lightweight aluminium chassis with a race-derived, oil-cooled four-cylinder engine. The GSX-R1100 followed the following year, doubling the GSX-R stable, becoming the big-bore sportsbike of choice.

Evolution became revolution with the arrival of the GSX-R750 SRAD in 1996. Based on the dimensions and ergonomics of Kevin Schwantz’s 1993 Grand Prix World Championship-winning RGV500 and with a new twin-spar aluminium frame and compact, high-revving engine, it brought the GSX-R closer than ever to Suzuki’s factory race bikes.

The first GSX-R600 followed in 1997, and, with the discontinuation of the GSX-R1100, the first GSX-R1000 was released in 2001, again moving the sportsbike game on a stage further, with a power-to-weight ratio that redefined superbike standards. It won the British Superstock championship in its first year with Aussie Paul Young, and again in its second and third years of competition. The 2005 GSX-R1000 K5, four years later, built on that foundation and brought further advances, winning the World Superbike Championship at the hands of Troy Corser. It remains revered today, 20 years on.

The 2011 GSX-R750 and 600s were widely-praised following their release, with the 600 going on to win the British Supersport Championship in its first year with Alastair Seeley. The GSX-R1000 underwent its final evolution in 2012 before being completely redesigned for 2017.

Incorporating MotoGP-derived technology – most notably with a clever variable valve timing system – the L7 GSX-R1000R was again widely praised for its track performance but also its civility as a road-going superbike. It won that year’s Senior TT with Michael Dunlop onboard, and after finishing runner-up twice, it won the 2019 National Superstock 1000 championship courtesy of Richard Cooper.

Where GSX-Rs – and the 1000 in particular – have dominated is in the Endurance World Championship. Unlike sprint superbike and superstock racing, endurance racing is not only a test of performance but reliability, and the GSX-R1000 has won the world title 15 times, its latest coming in 2024.

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Suzuki is looking to make it 16 world titles in 2026, and the new GSX-R1000R 40th Anniversary Edition goes on sale in the UK in the spring.

For more information on the GSX-R1000R 40th Anniversary Edition click here. 

At MCL Suzuki can be found on stand 3D25 in hall 3A.

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