It could be time for pure supersport lovers to rejoice.
One by one, the great supersports of our time fell: the CBR600RR, R6, ZX6R, and GSX-R600. Well, technically, some of these bikes continued to be produced and sold in a few countries—the US being one—but development essentially ceased.
Sportbikes need to be sold in the EU if they're to continue being developed by the OEM, just look at any bike that ceased production in the EU and continued selling in the US. The ever more stringent Euro emissions regulations have made it nearly impossible for manufacturers to continue producing sportbikes in the fashion they once were. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that riders were growing tired of peaky powerbands and extreme track-focused ergonomics but, as is always the case, you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
Thankfully, it seems as though Suzuki could be about to re-enter the European ring and get back to doing one of the things it did best: developing reliable, near-unbeatable value for money, high-performance supersports.
In a recent interview with Motorcycle News, the President of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Toshihiro Suzuki, stated, “We cannot tell you the detail, but we think it’s important to bring supersport motorcycles to the market, adapting to the new regulations... We think it’s important, because it’s Suzuki’s heritage.”
