Let's get the speed bits out of the way first of all, because it is very simple. The 1000 is the fastest bike here by some way. The 750 is next, with the 600 trailing the field. At all the reference points we had the three bikes were separated by between 12 and 25 mph, always in the same order. At one or two points the gap would have been bigger had the 1000 not hit its speed limiter at 186mph. This was a bit of a surprise, because I was convinced that the 1000 would not be able to get the power down and would ultimately be slower than the 750. I know that I had some traction problems in places, but the fact that the 1000 was still quickest speaks volumes about the rate at which it builds up speed. Very impressive. To be fair to the others, the largest gaps were in very high speed sections and the speeds were still pretty respectable - 164mph isn't too shabby for a 600, even if the 750 was doing 172 and the 1000 186 at the same point - and in many places of course the gap was far smaller. So an ultimate performance victory for the 1000, but what about personal opinion?

Simon The GSX-R 600 is a cracking little motorbike that goes like stink, handles beautifully and had me laughing out loud on several occasions. No, really. I love sports 600s, and this is the best one I've ever ridden. But the Nürburgring isn't a regular racetrack where corner speed is king. It's a public road, albeit a rather special one, and in many ways it's like open roads here. And that means there are many occasions when you want, or even need, to just roll on the throttle and get on with it, rather than having to make like Fred Astaire on the gear lever. With a 600, even one as good as this, that just isn't going to happen. Too much of the time it was off the boil and regardless of how early I got the throttle open and how committed I was in my approach it just didn't have the grunt to make up lost ground on the faster parts of the track. It's a great bike but for me, here, it wasn't enough.

On the other hand, the GSX-R 750 is as agile as the 600 but has enough power to let me leave my dancing boots at home. Most of the time anyway. Now I have to try to remember that this is my bike and I have the advantage of 11,000 miles to get used to it. It is also not entirely standard, with suspension changes made to suit me, all of which means that this part of the test is a little unfair. Despite my familiarity with the bike, though, I was still amazed by it's sheer ability to put down what is, after all, quite a lot of power. I have only once, ever, managed to provoke anything more than a slight squirm from the back, and that was a particularly ham fisted exit to a slow corner with worn tyres. The fact that both the bike and I carry original bodywork is a testament to the predictable way that it let go, even then! Sure, you still have to work quite hard to go seriously fast, but unlike the 600 it is rarely a chore and never frustrating.

Talking, as we have been, about power brings me on to the GSX-R 1000. I am still trying to get my head around the fact that, despite sometimes struggling to get power down, despite being later on the throttle than the other bikes and despite my own initial misgivings, at pretty well any point on the track this bike was significantly faster than anything else. The only place where I felt the 1000 lost out was on turn in and mid corner speeds, and then only to the 750. Part of that is down to familiarity, part to suspension. But as the Nürburgring consists mainly of corners, the difference showed in overall lap times. There is no doubt in my mind that the 1000 is a pretty vicious weapon. In fact, at times, it scared the hell out of me. There is also no doubt that it would be very, very easy to get into serious trouble with it. For this circuit I have to say that it is too much for any but the most skilled rider, at least in standard trim. It's too easy to wheelie and slide, and the turn in isn't sharp enough. But my word it's fast.

In conclusion, the simple fact is that although at any given point on the track the 750 may not have been the fastest of the three bikes, overall I could lap quicker on it than anything else. So I guess that makes it the best bike here. The 600 was a hoot but ultimately proved frustrating with it's lack of grunt. But I can't help wondering what the 1000 would be like with the same suspension setup as the 750 has.

Adrian The GSX-R 750 rides and handles like its little brother the 600 and has almost got the power delivery of any current 1000 superbike. It does not suffer the traits of being overpowered like the 1000, and therefore becomes a much more useable bike and one that you can take liberties on without too much threat of any kick back!

I rode the GSX-R 600 first, then the 1000 and finished up with the 750. I thoroughly enjoyed the 600 as a rev-happy headcase of a bike which shouted out loudly "Give me some more."

The GSX-R 1000 threatened you with all sorts of comeback if you got it even slightly wrong. It was hard to ride with any real confidence and when you came back in after a few laps, instead of getting that "Beat me with a stick" feeling the 600 gave you, it was more like "I've just been beaten with a plank!" In saying that I did find that the 1000 was as mild mannered as you wanted it to be and it could be ridden any way you liked. Given a bit more time with one (say a month) I could get used to it, set it up the way I want it and well, tame the Tiger! Perhaps.

For me the dish of the day is the GSX-R 750. Even though I'm used to a 1000 at the 'Ring, and probably will continue to ride one there, the 750 was indeed the bike of the test. It inspired confidence and was a just a pleasure to ride. It's a shame that with the dawning of the 1000cc 4cyl category in WSB next year the 750 4cyl market is restricted to just 2 attainable bikes from Suzuki and Kawasaki, and that there are no plans from any Japanese manufacturers to make a new 750 superbike.

Stuart The thrust of this feature as I understand it is to decide whether or not you need a litre bike around the Nurburgring, or whether a smaller machine can give you all you need. On paper of course, the 1000 has it all, more of everything, so surely that's what we should all buy? The 750 being in the middle must surely be the ideal compromise? The single purpose 600 giving thrills with economy?

However as with most things, what's important is what's most difficult to define or quantify, and that is 'feel'. An old biking friend of mine has a collection of old, really old bikes. These can be just as much fun to ride as the new stuff, because they are so involving, with all kinds of levers to remember, manual oiling, pushbike brakes and no clutch. The 1910 Triumph has a top speed of about 25 mph (that's a wild guess, it feels like 25, it hasn't got a speedo either), and so 24 mph is right up there at the edge of the envelope. The actual speed itself doesn't matter, but the feeling that you are pushing the machine as far as it will go is great fun.

Unfortunately, I never got the feeling that it was pushing the 750 or 1000 anywhere near their limits. I know that's not a very tough thing to admit, but let's be honest, it would take an exceptional rider to do that. Conclusive proof that I'm getting old? The 600 on the other hand, made me laugh because I felt I was wringing its neck and felt I was getting the most out of it.

The bigger bikes need to be treated with a huge amount of respect. I read a quote from a racing driver who described lapping Brooklands at over 100 mph in the 20's as being 'like leaning too far out of an upstairs window'. I got that feeling a couple of times on the 1000. The 600 is like a roller coaster ride, wave your hands in the air and scream, because you know that it's all ok really, exhilarating rather than frightening. 150 mph is still enough MV squared to really hurt, but there's never that awful icy cold moment when you realise that this is for real and it could really really hurt.

End result, the only reason why we buy bikes is because they are fun. I had more fun on the 600 than the other two, so the answer to the question posed at the beginning is no, I don't need a litre bike to have fun. Top of my list is the focused, frantic, thrash happy 600. If I were going to pay any of my own hard-earned cash for any of these, it would have to be that one.

Read our Photographers viewpoint on the GSXR1000 here!

Overall conclusions This is difficult because all three of the bikes are, in isolation, arguably the best out of the box sportsbikes on the planet. So whichever one comes out on top, there are no losers here. If I vote with my heart instead of my head then there isn't a clear winner - each bike get a vote each. But that makes for wishy-washy reading so I guess I should put my steely eyed racer head on and go for the bike that took me around fastest.

Which means that, by a narrow margin, the 750 is the winner with 2 votes against the 600 with just 1 and the 1000 seemingly unloved.

Unless, of course, you go purely by the as objective as possible scores awarded by the testers. In which case, the 750 still wins with 86.6% hotly pursued by the 1000 with 84.3% and the 600 trailing with 81.3%

However you cut it, there's not a lot to choose between them and whichever you get you'll enjoy. Trust me.

SB