Today's selection of middleweight Japanese motorcycles seem to be following in the footsteps of Yamaha's middleweight range, albeit several years late to the party. For example, the Honda Hornet CB750 has been likened to the MT-07 in numerous occasions, with a lot of reviewers unanimously agreeing that Honda's new naked bike has dethroned the machine from the dark side of Japan.
Indeed, if we look elsewhere in Honda's lineup, we'll also find the Transalp XL750, yet another bike that seems to be a direct answer to Yamaha's Tenere 700. Meanwhile, over on the Suzuki corner, the story is pretty much the same: a 270-degree parallel-twin-powered duo consisting of a naked bike and adventure bike. This time around, three out of four of the Japanese big four are producing machines with 270-degree crankshaft-equipped parallel-twin engines.
Yamaha has covered all the bases with its CP2 engine. The MT-07 is its naked bike, while the XSR is its neo-retro, pseudo scrambler machine. The Tenere 700 is of course, the adventure-enduro machine, and the Tracer 7 GT, available only in Europe, is the brand's answer to the middleweight sport-touring segment. Lastly, the YZF-R7 is the supersport and spiritual successor to the YZF-R6.
Speaking of the YZF-R7, parallel-twin-powered sportbikes seem to be all the rage these days, and indeed, it's clear to see why. The Aprilia RS 660 is a formidable contender in the middleweight segment, and new bikes from a variety of Chinese manufacturers are hitting the scene, all packing parallel-twin engines. What if Suzuki has a new sportbike based on the GSX-8S in the works, perhaps, a GSX-8R? Indeed, enthusiasts the world over have gone ahead and imagined the bike even before it's come to existence. A video from YouTube channel Mich Superbike showcases a speculative rendering of the bike. Check it out above.
Well, as it would turn out, Young Machine, a popular Japanese motoring media company recently published a speculative story about a purported sportbike based on the GSX-8S. As you've probably figured out by now, Young Machine has a penchant of predicting the future, and the notion of a GSX-8R is now stronger than ever, given the extinction of the GSX-R1000 and GSX-R750 in multiple markets. Needless to say, there's a gaping hole in Suzuki's global sportbike lineup, simply because it doesn't have one.
Should Suzuki produce a GSX-8R with the same running gear as that of the GSX-8S, then there's no doubt we'd have quite a potent sportbike in our hands. After all, the 776cc parallel-twin from Suzuki is quite a punchy mill, with 82 horsepower and 58 pound-feet of torque on tap, it would very easily one-up the YZF-R7 in terms of performance.
