{"id":148514,"date":"2016-11-02T12:49:11","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T02:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/?p=148514"},"modified":"2016-11-03T06:44:21","modified_gmt":"2016-11-02T20:44:21","slug":"ptr-suzuki-gsx-s1200-weapons-grade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/ptr-suzuki-gsx-s1200-weapons-grade\/","title":{"rendered":"PTR SUZUKI GSX-S1200 \u2013 WEAPONS-GRADE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once in a while, a special bike comes along.<\/p>\n

A bike that re-defines my parameters.<\/p>\n

Parameters that say: \u201cYes, this is proper fast\u201d and \u201cYes, this is really powerful\u201d and \u201cShit, this can\u2019t be happening\u201d.<\/p>\n

Stupid parameters that now lie in a broken pile somewhere in the back of my yard where the weeds grow.<\/p>\n

Worthless parameters which have been destroyed and redefined by the PTR Suzuki GSX-S1200.<\/p>\n

No, that\u2019s not a typo.<\/p>\n

Suzuki doesn\u2019t build GSX-S1200s. It builds GSX-S1000s.<\/p>\n

Phil Tainton builds GSX-S1200s.<\/p>\n

\"14\"

It’s always clobberin’ time.<\/p><\/div>\n

This is the first of them. And if there are any motorcyclists left on this earth, it will not be the last.<\/p>\n

Many of you will know of Phil Tainton.<\/p>\n

He has a facility at Wantirna South, a suburb of Melbourne. From within this facility (called PTR which stands for Phil Tainton Racing, but could just as easily stand for Perfectly Tuned Replicants or Piles of Tasty Rides), Phil takes normal motorcycles and\u2026well, weaponises them.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been doing this for the last 30 years.<\/p>\n

Racing legends like Steve Martin, Grant Hodson, Troy Bayliss, Peter Goddard, Shawn Giles, Craig Coxhell, Josh Waters, Troy Herfross, Matt Moss and Daryl Hurley, have all seen what happens when they turn the throttle on a PTR-built race bike. As have countless lesser lights \u2013 normal riders who understand that truly modifying a bike means a bit more than putting on a tail-tidy and a pipe.<\/p>\n

I am one of those lesser lights. Some years back, Phil conspired with me and Suzuki Australia to create the B-Czar. He took one ordinary B-King and transformed it into a carbon-fibre-clad, \u00d6hlins-sprung, 212bhp rocket-sled that had Shawn Giles shaking his head in in delight after belting it around Sydney Motorsport Park. I gave it to Gilesy to ride because I simply didn\u2019t have the correct amount of skill required to give Phil any constructive feedback. Phil needs to hear more from his riders than a litany of Serbian, Russian, Greek and Italian swear-words, crazed eye-rolling and hyperventilating.<\/p>\n

I ended up buying that bike, primarily so I could hyperventilate, roll my eyes and cuss at it in private. And so I could say that I owned Phil Tainton masterpiece \u2013 because that is what it was. It was like owning a Rembrandt.<\/p>\n

\"11\"

Comfortable, fast, and non-threatening to look at. Almost.<\/p><\/div>\n

And now Phil has created another Rembrandt.<\/p>\n

He has taken one perfectly good Suzuki GSX-S1000 and turned it into something otherworldy \u2013 but not so\u2019s the casual observer would notice.<\/p>\n

Like all great works, the devil is in the details \u2013 and in this case, the details hidden inside the engine cases. And it\u2019s a hell of a devil \u2013 the kind of fiend that has yellow claws and red fangs and huge head-cutting shoulders, and is at your beck and call each time you need that kinda crazy.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a list at the end of this piece which itemises the engine internals. Read it. Try and grok what it means.<\/p>\n

I spent three weeks riding it. And I still can\u2019t quite comprehend it. The PTR GSX-S1200 is so far removed from normal high-powered, road-registered motorcycles, it occupies another stratosphere altogether.<\/p>\n

But as I said, to the casual observer, it\u2019s just another GSX-S1000 with a can.<\/p>\n

\"9\"

This is the shock PTR custom-built for the GSX-S1200. I reckon they’ll throw in the sticker for free if you’re polite.<\/p><\/div>\n

And then you thumb the starter button.<\/p>\n

Straight away you know something is not right.<\/p>\n

And very right.<\/p>\n

The normal even Gixxer idle is not there. Instead there\u2019s this grumpy, but heartbeat-regular GRR-GRR-GRR sound as those amazing internals begin to bathe in cold oil as they steadily warm themselves up for sexy time.
\nThat\u2019s the foreplay. And foreplay is important when there\u2019s so much going on inside the cases.<\/p>\n

With two bars on the temperature gauge and the idle now an even GRRRRRRRR, it\u2019s clobberin\u2019 time.<\/p>\n

But only if you want it to be. That is the beauty of what PTR builds. Unless you decide it\u2019s time see the Face of God, you\u2019re just riding a perfectly fuelled and mild-mannered motorcycle \u2013 albeit one that sounds like it\u2019s going to tear off heads and shit down necks. Most people won\u2019t know what they\u2019re hearing when you ride casually by. But some people will. Those people will hear you ride past and those people will know that what they\u2019re hearing is something diabolical.<\/p>\n

Now twist the throttle.<\/p>\n

\"8\"

Sing, so the world may dance to your song. Or run and hide.<\/p><\/div>\n

There\u2019s no lag. Nothing is spooling up. Fuel is not being looked for by ECUs. Everything is there all at once and all the time. Instant bloody everything.<\/p>\n

It delivers all the really dark stuff that lives on the other side of exhilaration, and it delivers it upon the instant.<\/p>\n

The rear wheel is getting 205bhp (145bhp stock) punched into it and there is 142Nm (106Nm stock) of torque at 9000rpm, with a very slightly curved but mostly flat delivery from 7000 to 11000rpm. So it is totally sweet to ride in a wide-eyed, fast-breathing, evil-grinning kind of way.<\/p>\n

\"gsx-s_ptr_dyno\"

The red line is stock. The blue line is PTR.<\/p><\/div>\n

And that never gets old. And you never get used to it. This is the kind of bike you will never tire of or become blas\u00e9 about.<\/p>\n

Sure, there are any number of stock weapons out there that will turn your brain into crud and your guts into sauce.<\/p>\n

But not like this. Open the throttle on this and you\u2019ll instantly know what \u2018serious\u2019 really means.<\/p>\n

I did not turn the traction control off\u2026, well, I did. Once. Then I turned it back on again.<\/p>\n

The stock GSX-S comes with switchable traction control which you can turn off. And maybe you should now and again. But this PTR thing churns at the road with such vehemence, with such relentless intent, having traction control is kinda mandatory. Ride it in anger and you will see the TC light winking at you like an amber blinker in those micro-seconds you\u2019re actually taking your eyes off the road.<\/p>\n

\"10\"

How to make an already superb gearbox more superberer.<\/p><\/div>\n

I do not know what its top speed was. I would be lying if I said I saw anything more than 240-and-a-bit. But then I don\u2019t care what its top speed might be. I just care that this will out-accelerate everything on the road, in pretty much any gear you happen to be in. You don\u2019t even have to worry about the clutch. There\u2019s a quickshifter that takes care of that nonsense for you. All you have to do is keep the front wheel down and hang on. Maybe think about what prison food is like.<\/p>\n

\"17\"

Are you watching, Vinales? I hope not.<\/p><\/div>\n

Naturally, Phil is not just going to let all that power and glory romp freely about the place making a menace of itself.<\/p>\n

Great suspension is crucial when great power is being provided.<\/p>\n

And there is nothing greater than what\u2019s been fitted. The ride is firm, but not racetrack harsh. Oh it can be made racetrack harsh. Or it can be made to work with comfort and precision for the road, which is where I rode it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost endlessly adjustable and if the bike was mine, I\u2019d spend a bit of time getting it spot on for me. As it was set when I got it, there were no issues. It didn\u2019t push me wide coming hard out of corners, the back-end didn\u2019t chatter when I was being silly, and it didn\u2019t nose-dive like a Stuka when I was death-braking into bends I had no business being in at the speed I was doing.<\/p>\n

\"4\"

I’m thinking bar-ends, but I love the ranga-coloured Renthals.<\/p><\/div>\n

I spoke to Phil briefly about this wonder he had made, and what the hardest bit of the build was to get right.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly the whole thing really,\u201d he laughed. \u201cActually, nothing was exceptionally hard. It was a relatively straight-forward engine-build after I did the numbers and I got the bore and stoke ratio I wanted. Of course, \u00d6hlins don\u2019t make a shock for it. So the one that\u2019s on it I made and developed it on the shock dyno. I got a pretty good handle on shocks these days.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not boasting, either. Just stating fact.<\/p>\n

Here then was a bike, complete, in every sense of the word.<\/p>\n

There is not a rider deranged enough to wish for more power, better suspension, better brakes, or better handling from a road-bike. I\u2019m pretty sure that such a thing is not even possible.<\/p>\n

The stock GSX-S1000 is already a beaut package out of the box. You can read about my time with it HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s brilliantly priced and offers more bang for your buck than just about anything else.<\/p>\n

But this\u2026this is next level stuff.<\/p>\n

\"ptr\"

It’s ten wolves in one sheep’s clothing.<\/p><\/div>\n

Phil Tainton has built a bike that has utterly ruined me for every stock factory offering I have ridden thus far.<\/p>\n

They are all as dust.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t make them bad bikes. It just makes them stock bikes.<\/p>\n

But as I trust I have made clear, this GSX-S is not a stock bike. And cannot be compared against stock bikes.<\/p>\n

They are what they are. This is what this is.<\/p>\n

And it is astonishing.<\/p>\n

From this day forth, everything I ride will be consciously measured against this stroker.<\/p>\n

And it will be found wanting.<\/p>\n

Thanks, Phil. You fiendish, heartless, cruel and utterly brilliant bastard.<\/p>\n

Thanks a lot.<\/p>\n

PS. I love you.<\/p>\n

\"16\"

The road is not a racetrack. Except when it’s a racetrack.<\/p><\/div>\n

THE ENGINE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sure, you could bolt a turbo or a blower to your Gixxer and beat your chest about big numbers. You couldn\u2019t really ride those big numbers, but you could certainly beat your chest about them. Forced-induction is its own thing and has its own adherents.<\/em><\/p>\n

But naturally-aspirated engines that have been bored and stroked\u2026well, they are a glory<\/em><\/p>\n

And please don\u2019t give me some tired old whine about how expensive it all is and why anyone would do such a thing.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course it\u2019s expensive. Going fast has always been expensive.<\/em><\/p>\n

And as to why anyone would do such a thing\u2026heh.<\/em><\/p>\n

Because one can. And because one wants to.<\/em><\/p>\n

And just because.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tell me you don\u2019t know of a dickhead who\u2019s spent more on an engagement ring.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bore: 77mm from the standard 73.4mm RRP $2,200. Complete with a CP forged 13:1 piston kit ready to assemble
\nStroke: 63mm from the standard 59mm. RRP$4,000. Complete with the crankshaft and custom \u2018H\u2019 Beam Carrillo rods .<\/p>\n

PTR billet cams with adjustable gears. RRP$1399
\nThe inlet is 10.6mm (up from 8.65), and the exhaust is 9.2mm (up from 8.60mm)<\/p>\n

Heavy-duty valve springs RRP$264.96
\nPCV Power Commander RRP$540
\nPTR Custom ECU reflash using Woolich Racing software RRP$275<\/p>\n

Yoshimura full stainless R11 exhaust system with carbon muffler. RRP$1,699.95
\nBMC Air Filter. RRP$110
\nPTR fully ported and flowed cylinder head including all seat cutting, machining and assembled ready to install. RRP$1800
\nPTR Custom Remap on Dyno. RRP$390<\/p>\n

\"6\"

The gold standard in front suspension.<\/p><\/div>\n

THE SUSPENSION<\/strong><\/p>\n

None of that engine stuff is any good if you can\u2019t ride the bike. That is why smart people don\u2019t skimp on the suspension. There\u2019s no point in having a 4000Nm of torque and 6000bhp if your chicken-strips are palm-wide plains of shame, is there?<\/em><\/p>\n

PTR front-fork modification with separate compression and rebound circuits. RRP$899
\nPair \u00d6hlins Fork Springs with P\/L Spacers RRP$250
\nPTR Custom \u00d6hlins Rear Shock with compression, rebound and spring P\/L adjustment. RRP$1899<\/p>\n

\u00a0OTHER STUFF<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s fancy bits and pieces all over the bike. I spotted a quickshifter, tail tidy, blinkers\u2026and then I didn\u2019t even bother. The quickshifter is wonderful and very welcome, the rest is bling for bling\u2019s sake. It costs what it costs. Once you\u2019ve spent all that money on the engine and the suspension, you\u2019ll stop caring about little things like blinkers.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Please note that none of the above includes the cost of labour necessary to fit it all up. You, of course, are free to put it all in a box, take it home, crack open a beer and have a go. I shall pray for you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Or you may visit PTR HERE<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once in a while, a special bike comes along. A bike that re-defines my parameters. Parameters that say: \u201cYes, this is proper fast\u201d and \u201cYes, this is really powerful\u201d and \u201cShit, this can\u2019t be happening\u201d. Stupid parameters that now lie in a broken pile somewhere in the back of my yard where the weeds grow. [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":148526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[18,4,208,80,210,209,173],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148514"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148514"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150331,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148514\/revisions\/150331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}