OLD SKOOL-COOL

Two decades on from its launch, we take a blast down memory lane with Suzuki's game-changing K5 Gixer.

- BIG MAC

It's hard to believe it’s already been 20 years since the iconic Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K5 was released - and it’s even harder to believe that it’s also been 20 years since I last rode one. Somehow, despite having had the privilege of riding pretty much every significant bike in the past two decades, the only time I've ever ridden a K5 was when it was first released to the world in, as the name suggests, 2005. So, with it reaching this ripe old age, I thought it was about time I had my second go, to see if the first and only impression it made on me back then - which has stayed with me ever since - is repeatable and still valid.

That the 2005 GSX-R is simply referred to as the K5 speaks volumes about the level of iconic status it achieved. There are very, very few examples of bikes that are referred to by a nickname - other examples include the Blade or a Slabby - but I can’t think of any bike that’s referred to simply by its model year or internal code. When you say ‘K5’ to another biker, they instantly know exactly what you're talking about, which is cool on many levels. Not a 600 GSX-R, not a 750 GSX-R, but a 1000cc game changer - and there’s that often-overused phrase right there.

The K5 came along when things had been fairly static in terms of sportsbike performance and tech. Prior to the K5, Suzuki was itself in a cycle of incremental gains following the debut of the GSX-R1000 in 2001. The K1 and K2 were followed by the K3 and K4, which were small-step refinements rather than in outright performance, which was very much the pattern of all the manufacturers then. But with the K5, Suzuki moved the bar enough to put daylight between it and the rest of the competition – and not by any particular technological leap or breakthrough in a particular design philosophy.

BUYING ONE? THEN YOU'LL WANT TO KNOW THIS... C-EXHAUST VALVE