Five bikes...
[NEW BIKES ]
Well, as eco as any 230bhp petrol-powered endurance race bike can be…
TYRES
Prototype Bridgestones using more recycled and recyclable materials than usual race rubber. You suspect this is where it could all go wrong…
ENGINE
GSX-R1000R race engine tuned to use 40 percent biofuel. If that’s bioethanol, the octane rating will be far higher than pump fuel. There’s no reason the bike should be slow.
FAIRING
This is made from recycled carbon. Mudguards are made from flax (aka linseed) fibres.
When Suzuki pulled out of MotoGP and the Endurance World Championship in 2022, the bigwigs muttered about going away to ‘invest in carbon neutrality’. We assumed they meant batteries or hydrogen, but it would seem not – as this green-tinged prototype GSX-R1000R will race at the Suzuka 8 Hours.
It’s been tuned to run on special fuel produced by Elf that contains 40 percent bio-sourced material (the maximum currently at pumps is 10 percent bio-sourced ethanol), and the engine is lubricated by bio-sourced Motul oil – the brew is secret, but it’s some mix of vegetable oils.
The mudguards are made from flax fibres (linseed stalks, apparently) and the fairings are made of recycled carbon. Even the Bridgestone slicks use a larger quantity of recycled and recyclable material than normal race tyres. The Yoshimura exhaust contains a catalyser to absorb some of the pollutants. So, why not an electric bike? ‘I think for the big ‐displacement motorcycles, we still need to c
