ZX-9R, CBR, FZR, RC51, VFR, GSX-R

From what I know, which ain't much, Zs and Xs don't stand for anything, just sounds cool. V indicates engine type, as in V-four or V-twin. R is for race or racing, G is for Gran, S is for Sport, and F is for Formula(?).

VFR stands for V-Four Racing, VTR is V-Twin Racing, CBR is City Bike Racing (CB coming from the original CB series of street bikes), and RC is Racing Corporation, as in Honda Racing Corp. I learnt dem last two one here on SBW!

Bring on the corrections!

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Pete
-Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.



[This message has been edited by Pete (edited June 30, 2000).]

Here is my theoretical analysis on this stuff...

Kawasaki. Gp550 became GpZ 550, the Z was the sporty version which carried through to the Ninja series which used the Z in the model numbers (ZX600) Thus i can only assume that Z stands for "sportbike". In addition to the Z Kawi used "R" to indicate that a particular bike was a bad ass racer, i.e. 600R, 750R, 1000R, (these bikes ripped in thier day). As the AMA racing circuit competition became stiffer these "R" bikes became less and less competitive. So by the time the ZX6 was introduced it no longer carried the "R" designation as it was ANYTHING but a race bike. The ZX7 was introduced with this reality in mind and didnt have the "R" either. Behind the scenes kawi WAS involved in racing though and teh R was reserved for race prepped bikes. By the time we all began to demand a better sportbike Kawi was ready to introduce the near race ready models, ZX7R (later RR) ZX6R and ZX9R, and now ZX12R. Make s sense to me.

Suzuki began the sport/street line with the GS line (GS500, GS750, GS1100) some of these were E models and some were L models. The E models were sportier. These were "Sport Standard" bikes. Big, powerful road bikes that were popular in the day. After the "sporty demand" went through the roof the E model wasnt cutting it, so Suzuki introduced the GS-X models which was the first true "sportbike" from them. We can only assume that GS indictates the "Sporty" line and X means "even more sportier than sporty" The GS-X bikes were very popular but after the FZR yamahas and Ninja ZX models begand selling like hotcakes suzuki upped the anti with the GSX-R lineup whicj was more "race" ready than previous relatives.

Yamaha i have no clue about except the precursor to the FZR was the FZ, thus R stands for a more modern sportier model, (racer?)

Well, this is my take on history, if anyone has any HISTORICAL correction please enlighten us historian types!!!

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Fear Green.

hey i said it was my *theory* and thats all it is, aint we allowed to speculate?



Seriously though, if anyone else has ideas on this topic let us hear em!!! It would be interesting to learn somethin about this stuff.

(my jibberish is better than your jibberish)



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Fear Green.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Aril, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mr.TrevorClever:
I don't think any of you know what you're talking about, because Kyle's '76 Z50RR doesn't fall into any or your jibberish.

TREvor

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

yaa huh! its a Z (as in fast) 50 RR (race replica!)



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Kyle J.-
email:[email protected]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Aril, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GreenNinja:
Here is my theoretical analysis on this stuff...

We can only assume that GS indictates the "Sporty" line and X means"even more sportier than sporty"<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

W00! H00! Gotta love it!




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Robert Basil
It ain't easy being green - Kermit the frog
But it sure is fun! - Robert Basil

Ok here is my theory.

The letters coorespond to engine model and application.

for example, take Honda's "jibberish"
CB would be their inline engines. Now you have CB-750 & 250- regular street bikes. Tune the engine for race and add R = CBR. Notice they didn't have CB included in their V-twin engines. Those are VT's or VTR's.
Suzuki does the same thing with the GS and TL lines. ie GS500, GSX, GSX-R.

Now 'X' seems to stand for projects or special systems on bikes. Example here would be CBR XX - think they had beer on the brain, so they used two.

Take a look at your bikes full name such as R6 is really YZF-R6CL or YZF-R6L - Generation (engine) model and version.

They letters and numbers could just be BS marketing too, I don't know.

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You get the best thrills on two wheels!