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i was just wondering, who or how do they come up with names for sportbikes. i mean what does GSX stand for? why do all sport bikes have names like that rather than names like cruisers. it gets way to confusing talking to someone who doesnt really know much about bikes. 'oh you have the gbw3000? not the bbai6000?' id rather they called the sport bikes by name not random garble.
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03 katanika -
I get just as confused with the 15 different types of "Fat Boys" and "Sportsters" on the road. But I do understand what you are saying.
I thought most sport bikes have normal counterpart names anyway.. like Katana, Ninja, Raven, Hayabusa, Fireblade, etc. -
Many sportbikes have names to go along w/ the monicker of CBR, ZX, YZF, etc. Not all of them make it to the US though, example the CBR is called the Fireblade over in europe but never brought over to the US w/ that name that I know of. Usually the R or RR denotes the racing technology associated with that company.
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GS is the type of four cylinder engine Suzuki made back in the hey-day. X came about when they changed the number of valves on the engine and it became the GSX.
CB is the Honda four cylinder, hence CBR.
R designates the increased level of insurance, usually in the thousands, that you will have to pay extra in order to have that decal.
GSXR is the designation to let you know that the bike's owner is a squid.TiM
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You let the cat outta the bag, all the manufacturer's are gonna be pi$$ed of at you now..better lock your doors !R designates the increased level of insurance, usually in the thousands, that you will have to pay extra in order to have that decal.
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Just from a marketing standpoint I can see promoting the name. But that just works for non-riders. Most people that ask what kind of bike I ride instantly say, "like a Ninja or somethin'?". CBR, YZF, Gixxer, means nothing. I usually just say it's a Suzuki Hayabusa. But I've noticed that R1 seems to be gaining some recognition.sigpicComment
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Not all CBR's are Fireblades; that name is reserved for their 900/929/954/1000. In the countries where it's marketed under that name, it has decals or emblems to that effect, just as the 98+ Katana's get the Katana emblem or decals in the US, but just the GSXF emblem/decals in Europe.Originally posted by WildKat
Marketing names vary between markets, especially since the Chevy fiasco with the Nova in the late 60's/early 70's (Nova means "No Go" in Spanish and the car sold poorly in the Central & South American markets). The slightly differenciated versions also often get differences in minor bodywork (Kawasaki examples: ER6N is a naked bike in Europe, but the Ninja 650 gets full fairings here but is effectively the same bike; the ZZR1400 gets a different seat & rear fairings in Europe than the ZX-14 in the USA -- again, the same basic bike).
Thus, to keep global supply lines feeding the same products, bikes are also given call letters which are global, such as GSXF or CBR, so that there is no confusion that the brake pads for a 2002 Fireblade are the same as the brake pads for a 2002 CBR954RR.
Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoetComment
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I am happy paying touring bike prices for my Daytona.Originally posted by WildKatYou let the cat outta the bag, all the manufacturer's are gonna be pi$$ed of at you now..better lock your doors !R designates the increased level of insurance, usually in the thousands, that you will have to pay extra in order to have that decal.
TiM
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There was a thread about this wayyyyyy back..
I remember digging up most of the "code"..
Sexwax has it about right.
Although I have alway associated the "R" in CBR to
designate the water cooled engine..Comment
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