So I swung by the bike show yesterday fully expecting to just look around, and I walked out having left a deposit on the new GSX-R1000. There's somthing about seeing one in person that no writeup prepares you for. The blue and red paint job is even better live, and the whole stance of the thing just looks right to me. I know there's a bunch of hate online about it but I genuinely don't get it. The numbers coming out of it are plenty for the street and the odd track day, and building it on that older generation engine design means proven and reliable instead of untested and flashy. That's honestly what I want in a bike I plan to keep for years. Sat on it in the showroom for a solid ten minutes. Bars feel a touch higher than the old one, which my wrists will thank me for at my age lol. Exhaust note obviously wasn't a real test indoors but I've heard what these motors sound like with a proper pipe and I'm not worried. Anyway, delivery estimate is sometime spring. Counting the days allready.
Put a deposit down on the new GSX-R after seeing it in the flesh
Nov 06, 2026
Last reply: 8 hours ago
3 Replies
I did the exact same thing a few years back with a CBR1000RR. Went to the dealership just to kill time on a Saturday, sat on it once, and put money down before I even got back to my truck. My wife thought I was joking when I told her. The delivery wait was honestly the worst part, mine took almost two months, and I must have walked into that showroom another three times just to look at it sitting there.
Regarding the online hate, ignore most of it. People on forums will tear apart anything new regardless of how it actually rides. I had the same worry about mine and five years and about 30,000 km later it's been the most reliable bike I've owned. Only non-wear items I've touched were a reg/rec that failed at year three and one clutch slave cylinder. Oil, tires, chain, done.
One thing I'd suggest for the first few weeks: resist the urge to start buying mods right away. I dropped a fortune on exhaust and flashy bits in the first month before I even knew how the bike actually suited me. Ride it stock for a bit, then spend where it actually matters, ussually suspension setup for your weight. The slightly higher bars will seem like nothing now but trust me, that small change adds up over a long day in the saddle.
Funny reading this because I did the opposite with the same bike last year. I had the deposit down too, sat there staring at the spec sheet every night for a week, then a buddy let me take his for a spin before mine arrived and honestly it talked me out of it. Nothing wrong with the bike, it's just that on real roads around here it felt like alot more bike than I actually use. I cancelled the order and picked up a two year old one off a guy at work for way less, and it came with the full exhaust and a tail tidy already done. That thing still turns heads at every gas station stop and I don't lose sleep over the first stone chip. My wrists are also a decade past wanting clip-ons at aggressive angles, so I get where you're coming from there. Either way I still stop and look whenever one rolls past, that paint does something to people even after seeing it a hundred times. Spring delivery is a rough wait, hope it shows up early for you.
Gotta push back on the 'forums hate everything new, just ignore it' take from the CBR guy. That's not always the case. When a bike gets hammered online this early, it's usually because actual owners are reporting real problems, not just bandwagon nonsense. I got burned on a bike a few years back that had the same 'haters gonna hate' chatter around it, and every single complaint turned out to be legit once mine was out of warranty. Sometimes the crowd is just wrong, sure, but I'd at least read the specific complaints and see if they hold water before writing them off.
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