Steve’s favourite Gixer is his 1991 1100M model, with the oil-cooled 1127cc engine. “It gives me a kick every time I ride it,” he says. Next to it is the water-cooled 1997 1100WV that he calls his ‘fast truck’, and rode home from Fleetwood on a bitterly cold February afternoon.
Holy smoke! - continued
Steve’s attachment to his favourite bike started when he bought it from a friend 12 years ago.
Since then he’s sold it and bought it back again, and now says: “It’s the one out of all of them that I’ll never part with.
” The latest of the trio is a 1997 GSXR1100WV, with the watercooled 1074cc engine, that he treated himself to as a 39th birthday present in February last year. “Claimed to produce 156bhp out of the crate, this one is what I call my high-speed lorry,” said Steve.
“It’s awesomely fast, but doesn’t feel as agile as the oilcooled GSXRs.”
After collecting it from its previous owner in Fleetwood, Lancs, he had a memorable ride home to Lincoln in freezing fog that forced him to stop for petrol and coffee three times – and it was dark by 4.30pm. Back in the garage is a longer-term project in the shape of a GSXR1100H that he bought from a girl in Hull almost three years ago.
The big Quill can on the 1100M looks and sounds just the part “Mechanically, it’s identical to the G model, but has different graphics and, for some reason, a different front mudguard,” he said. “Early GSXRs have iffy side stands, and the day after I took it to my sister’s for storage, she phoned to say it had fallen onto its side. It suffered some panel damage, and there’s a nice big dent in the tank, but mechanically it’s absolutely sound.”
So there we have it – as fine a collection of Gixers as you’ll find anywhere. But it could all have been so different when the old tin church (that had been sold for the building of a mosque) caught fire with parts of it only three feet from his garage wall. “When the police told everyone to get out at about 1.30am, the flames were higher than the rooftops,” said Steve, “and after they’d brought the blaze under control, firemen went into my garage with thermal imaging cameras looking for any remaining hot spots. “I’m lucky to still have my bikes.”
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