Former MotoGP Rider Has Five Suzuki GSX-8R Models Dedicated to Him

The first brand new Suzuki sports bike in over a decade, the GSX-8R landed earlier this year in the UK and is a parallel twin that will rival the likes of Yamaha’s R7.

Suzuki doesn’t make a whole raft of new motorcycles very often, but the GSX-8R is a bike that could have a bit of everything for everyone. See our review of the Suzuki GSX-8R here. Based on the GSX-8S naked bike, the GSX-8R takes riding on track even further as it recently made its debut in the National Sportbike Championship, which is a series that’s under the British Superbike umbrella.

The Suzuki GSX-8R which landed in UK dealerships in February, has now seen a limited edition Capirossi model drop, although no one can get their hands on it except for the former MotoGP rider himself.

Capirossi was one of several riders to wear the famous Suzuki light blue colours during the Japanese brand’s title-sponsorship run with Rizla in the mid 2000s. And although he never won a MotoGP race for Suzuki, the current Dorna Sports Race Direction representative, was a key member of Suzuki from 2008 to 2010, riding a GSV-R.

The 82bhp GSX-8R model, featuring a 776cc liquid cooled parallel twin engine and tubular steel chassis, has been dedicated to Capirossi as an ultra-limited edition example of five.

“I tried it out for the first time here in the square,” Capirossi was reported as saying to Gazzetta dello Sport in the Piazza Castello in Turin, Italy. “It’s beautiful, very agile and fast.”

This is not the first time Capirossi has had an exclusive bike made for him as his limited edition 2003 Ducati GP3, which was the first Ducati MotoGP bike made, sold for a whopping £201,250 at an auction at Silverstone last month.

A bike that’s likely to be seen more and more in the coming years on the racing scene, the GSX-8R first made its racing debut in MotoAmerica earlier this year, as part of the Twins Cup series. The bike has already enjoyed success with Rocco landers taking the GSX-8R to victory on four occasions so far in 2024.