What do the letters stand for?

[justsomeguy]

What do they stand for?
GSXR
CBR
ZXR
YZF

[FJRider]

Models... eg. 1st GS... then GSX... then GSXR... (Shortened and simplified explanation)

[White trash]

Well for Suzuki it started in the sevenies with their first inline, four cylinder GS750. In later years, when they added two valves per cylinder to make it four, they gave it an "X"

Last letter has traditionaly denoted the style of fairing but that doesn't work with the late model GSXs

S will mean a half fairing eg: SV1000S, SV650S GS1000S TL1000S
R would denote fully faired eg: TL1000R, GSXR

Maybe.

[Taz]

Do they have to mean something??

[FJRider]

Only to the owners...

[98tls]

This ought to be interesting,over the years (many of them) ive heard lots of different answers many of them entertaining and whoever said them at the time was adament they were correct:yes:few years ago i had a problem with the bike and thought bugger it i will try my luck and rang Suzuki NZ,the bloke they thought i should talk to was busy so they took my number:bye:i thought "why would the head honcho at Suzuki NZ bother to ring me back about a problem with an old TLS" but 10 minutes later ring he did,after talking to him about my problem i said "one more thing whilst your here":innocent:and asked him if he knew Suzukis real meaning on the S and R on the TL.The answer was way different than anything i had ever heard,but he assured me it was the correct one.

[McJim]

Well for Suzuki it started in the sevenies with their first inline, four cylinder GS750. In later years, when they added two valves per cylinder to make it four, they gave it an "X"

Last letter has traditionaly denoted the style of fairing but that doesn't work with the late model GSXs

S will mean a half fairing eg: SV1000S, SV650S GS1000S TL1000S
R would denote fully faired eg: TL1000R, GSXR

Maybe.

And F would mean touring fairing? GSX750F (the missus' bike)

[Grub]

GS?? = Suzuki
CB? = Honda
ZX = Kwaka
YZ = Yammy

Seriously, that's it. The marketing departments need a point of difference to identify a family of bikes ... and we as riders/customers all get to understand their parentage.

They may have meant something once, but even that is largely unlikely. The car industry is the same, to get car names/models they use focus groups that start with hundreds of options. One of the criteria is that they can't be confused with another brand and that they sound cool enough to buy.

[98tls]

Fwiw this is there idea.http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_gsxr_stand_for

[Taz]

My ducati SuperSport is a 900ss. I have no idea what the "ss" stands for :lol:

And my GS stands for Gelande Strasse......... But some say Gelande Sport.

[98tls]

My ducati SuperSport is a 900ss. I have no idea what the "ss" stands for :lol:

And my GS stands for Gelande Strasse......... :laugh:I had a 89 Duc 750 Sport which i found to rather inaptly named indeed although it did have the odd moment of glory on the Rimatuka hill..

[awayatc]

What do they stand for?
GSXR
CBR
ZXR
YZF

Grand Sport eXperimental Racing
City Bike Racing
Yamaha Zinger Four stroke


Kawasaki started logically with Kawasaki X (cross) Enduro etc....but got just into model names after......
kawaZaki....? maybe? nobody knows

[terbang]

The GS on the BMW´s stands for Gelände/Straße or Off road/Road. My Cagiva doesn´t have ¨letters¨ its just a ¨Navigator¨ though the engine is from a TL Suzuki.

[justsomeguy]

This ought to be interesting,over the years (many of them) ive heard lots of different answers many of them entertaining and whoever said them at the time was adament they were correct:yes:few years ago i had a problem with the bike and thought bugger it i will try my luck and rang Suzuki NZ,the bloke they thought i should talk to was busy so they took my number:bye:i thought "why would the head honcho at Suzuki NZ bother to ring me back about a problem with an old TLS" but 10 minutes later ring he did,after talking to him about my problem i said "one more thing whilst your here":innocent:and asked him if he knew Suzukis real meaning on the S and R on the TL.The answer was way different than anything i had ever heard,but he assured me it was the correct one.

Yes, yes, yes and the answer was????????????????????????????

[Storm]

Try googling it. There was a smiliar question raised and theres a website somewhere that spells it out eg my sg350n
is explained thusly
S=street
G=four stroke
350=capacity
N=Cafe racer model

Sorry I cant tell you exactly where all the info is. I'd try brand specific websites/fan sites as they'll probably have a list somewhere. Best of luck :)

[cowboyz]

Grand Sport eXperimental Racing
City Bike Racing
Yamaha Zinger Four stroke


Kawasaki started logically with Kawasaki X (cross) Enduro etc....but got just into model names after......
kawaZaki....? maybe? nobody knows

I thought years ago some guy sat round for ages and thought up the name Ninja. It sounded like a good idea so they named a bike the ninja. Then he got fired and never got replaced. Without someone doing his job the name stuck for the next 405784585 models.

[Griffin]

What do they stand for?
GSXR
CBR
ZXR
YZF

Check this thread for more possible answers

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=75203

[AllanB]

ss on the Ducati was for Super Sport

R on the models started to refer to their 'racing' street models or a sporty version of a existing model and continues today.

GT is Grand Tourer (GT750 Kawa as a old example).

[scumdog]

Harley are SO much easier to figure out...

[terbang]

Harely are SO much easier to figure out...

Yup just stick em in the cross+hairs and... Casserole on the way.
Way easier than all that FLXHERS type stuff eh.?

[FJRider]

Yes, yes, yes and the answer was????????????????????????????

Something along the lines of how to keep an idiot in suspense... he'll tell you later :whistle:

[Mikkel]

I thought years ago some guy sat round for ages and thought up the name Ninja. It sounded like a good idea so they named a bike the ninja. Then he got fired and never got replaced. Without someone doing his job the name stuck for the next 405784585 models.

Ninjas are totally awesome! :D That guy wasn't per chance Robert Hamburger was it? ;)

ZXR - easy, you take the two most AWESOME letters in the entire alphabet and then you chuck an R on the end of it to let people know this is a racebike...

[madandy]

What do they stand for?
GSXR
CBR
ZXR
YZF

Generally Shite Xcept [when] Racing

Complete Bike Research

Zery Xtreme Racer

Yamahahahaha Zoom Factory

or not.:sunny:

[EJK]

GSX-R is a word u fool!
You pronounce it Gee-ix-er or Geek-sir

:dodge:

[R6_kid]

No, you say it either 'gicks-sir' or 'jix-sir'. There was a large debate about it some time ago, and i think the outcome was that if you say it wrong it means you're a homo.

[Griffin]

Ive only ever heard it pronounced as Gixxer (Gik-sir) - I think if someone used ANY of those other possible pronunciations I would be asking them to clarify what they were talking about

[vifferman]

No, you say it either 'gicks-sir' or 'jix-sir'.
Jism-er, perhaps?

[EJK]

No, you say it either 'gicks-sir' or 'jix-sir'. There was a large debate about it some time ago, and i think the outcome was that if you say it wrong it means you're a homo.

Lets create a poll about it and see how many homos we have on KB :niceone:


It's pronounced Geek-sir

... no its 'gicks-sir'...

.... No! You guys are wrong! its Gik-sir!
:girlfight:

:laugh:

[Badjelly]

No, you say it either 'gicks-sir' or 'jix-sir'. There was a large debate about it some time ago, and i think the outcome was that if you say it wrong it means you're a homo.

Yes, yes, yes and the right way was???

[gunrunner]

GS?? = Suzuki
CB? = Honda
ZX = Kwaka
YZ = Yammy

Seriously, that's it. The marketing departments need a point of difference to identify a family of bikes ... and we as riders/customers all get to understand their parentage.

They may have meant something once, but even that is largely unlikely. The car industry is the same, to get car names/models they use focus groups that start with hundreds of options. One of the criteria is that they can't be confused with another brand and that they sound cool enough to buy.

Vmax = Velocity Maximum