Evening hooligans,

Information is relatively scarce on these bikes out there but I want one bad and I finally found a dealership willing to consider a trade on my GSXR for a 990. My only thing is they list the bike as being the SuperDuke 990 R but I have done a little bit of picture hunting and from what I can tell, this is actually a regular 990. Can anyone help me confirm what it is I am going to look at? Also if anyone could outline what the difference is between an SD 990 and an SDR 990 that would be awesome, I tend to think that the R model would be my best choice as I am a fairly aggressive rider with an occasional trackday in my future. At the same time however I will be occassionally taking the girlfriend with my on rides so rear seat comfort is a bonus.

From my understanding the R is a more aggressive model with a firmer seat, suspension, exhaust, tuning, etc. Am I on the right track?

Hi there and welcome.
To be sure you need to find out what year it is as older R's are different by having a single seat, slightly more powerfull engine, different suspension, akra down pipes.
In the suspension department the fork is higher spec, the rear shock is longer and the fork angle more agressive hence the steering damper.
The later models have a dual seat and there was no non R version.

EDIT

Thanks for the info, this bike is a 2008. What category would that put this under? As far as I can see it still has what some would classify as passenger pegs so I guess that makes it a twin-seat R potential?

Nope that is a normal one. in 08 full R's had the single seat, orange frame, akra downpipes and so on. (called full fat R's on the forum by some members).
Only later than 2012 (not sure about exact year, someone will elaborate for sure) have the dual seat.
This one is a real 08 R ( and a nice one too!)
It has some mods like other cans but you get the picture.

I have an '07 SD exactly like in your picture. It's a great bike and not really any different in performance and riding from an SDR, doesn't matter what the SDR owners say! They get an an orange frame, minor engine mods and suspension differences but don't have a dual seat. I have a full exhaust system and airbox mods that have upped the HP and torque to equal the SDRs anyway so really it's more about what you do and how you ride that makes the better bike. The SDR full-fat bikes have the more notorious throttle jerkiness as standard until something is done to rectify the problem. I have the single seat and SDR suspension and so really it's a hybrid - which is easy to do because everything is interchangable between models.

So don't be put off thinking it's an inferior bike, it's really not.

Mine is an 06 bike just like the one you picture. Arka end cans make it sound nice and shed many lbs. they are worth doing and a revised rear sprocket makes it even more frisky.

It power wheelies in second, has great brakes, pretty good road suspension, can take two up although I never do, has been 100% reliable and is an all round hoot. I quite like the look of the orange frame on the R but most testers thought the Std bike was a better road ride, less skittish and with smoother fuelling. I keep mine as a hooligan tool for fun and the only thing I might eventually swap it out for is a tricked up 1290 when they nose dive through the depreciation curve and present themselves at meagre prices.

If you read the reports from 1290 owners who have upgraded already they say the new bike is much like the old bike just with bigger balls. As long as you don't over pay I'm sure you will have a great time on the std SD so go for it and have fun.

Use this as ammo against them to get an even lower price than a standard should be.

Also you are going to have to change out the standard silencers because those are really heavy and restrictive.

Nearly every decent SD on the market has a set of aftermarket pipes so you could try and negotiate the cash you are going to have to spend off the asking price.

When you check it out have a close look at the allen bolt head that fixes the tank at the front. If it looks really worn or scratched round the area then it may have an expanding tank problem. Nothing to worry about too much about but it could be caused by your type of fuel used. It's just something more to negotiate on.

Varinn,

That is just like my bike. It's an 08 SuperDuke. 08 had a black swingarm, 07 is a silver swingarm. That is not a Superduke R.

Ride hard,

Awesome guys, thank for the responses. I suspected it was not an R model and will absolutely use that in negotiations. I may hunt down some R components at a later date but as long as the cans are easily replaced with Akros and the suspension is adjustable then it's ok for the time. Test ride tomorrow, will see how it goes!

I used to live on Cortez, off the coast of Vancouver Island, a ferry or two from Cambell River. I love Vancouver.

Here is what an 08 SDR looks like…

Speedfiend.

The SDR is no more exclusive than a RSVP Factory or any "s" version of a standard bike. They are very common and the difference are as much cosmetic as performance enhancing. But I wasn't saying anything bad about them, I was making the point that the standard SD bikes are not inferior base models that only work well if specced up, they are great in their own right and shouldn't be seen as inferior. For many people they are the better bike anyway for road use and pillion capability. Each to his own.

Anyway, the mark one '06 owners all adamantly believe at their bike has benefits that were subsequently lost on all later models. And the post 2012 SDRs do not have any of the engine mods or single seat so are really standard SDs with orange frames.