new Suzuki S1000GT

[2and3cylinders]

On 10/1/2021 at 2:10 PM, micah2074 said:

I wouldn’t hesitate to head out on a cross country ride today. 

I wonder if you'll say that 20 years hence regardless of what bike you're on 

I only have 50k and can't complain how it preforms, my abilities are another story.

[micah2074]

2 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

I wonder if you'll say that 20 years hence regardless of what bike you're on 

Hopefully I will…

[1moreroad]

On 10/1/2021 at 1:51 PM, knyte said:

I feel this way about most tech haha

That said, ABS is certainly a nice-to-have.  CC is right up there, too.  A low-tech throttle lock = so far so good, but yeah...a true on-chip CC would be fabulous.

I will never turn tech down and I appreciate the ABS and TC on our bikes. That said, I've never cared whether a bike has a particular tech from FI on motorcycles to disc brakes on bicycles. Very nice to have but lack of it will not stop me from riding 2 wheelers. 

And heated hand grips is always the most important piece of tech on any motorcycle after the engine and wheels.

[PhotoAl]

Love the disk brakes on my bicycle.  Live in a hilly area and they stop so much better plus work in the rain - LOL almost rear ended a car with wet conventional brakes.  However have quit riding on the street due to too many crazy soccer moms in SUV and suburban cowboys in pickups.  

[2and3cylinders]

10 hours ago, PhotoAl said:

Love the disk brakes on my bicycle.  Live in a hilly area and they stop so much better plus work in the rain - LOL almost rear ended a car with wet conventional brakes.  However have quit riding on the street due to too many crazy soccer moms in SUV and suburban cowboys in pickups.  

When I bicycled 150 miles a week, solely for exercise and cross training for motorcycles, I chose the quietest residential routes as possible.  Yes dodging vans, SUVs and trucks was always trying but I ended up being taken out by another bicyclist!  I was spinning for my health (exercise is work I don't get paid for to me) and 14 years later I'm still suffering from the several injuries I incurred in that incident. 

My wife said no more bicycles!  But motorcycles are OK with her if she doesn't hear about them.

50 years street riding and racing and nary a scratch, knock on plastic.  I know it's a fool's scenario and every year the risks increase but experience and continued training is everything.

Bicycles IMO are much more dangerous, at least on the street and maybe even in the dirt but there speed can kill you quicker.

[jthayer09]

Looks like a lovely bike but I wonder if it'll have the same problem as the Ninja 1000SX in that insurance companies will treat it as a litre bike: the insurance was something like $1100/year with my $300K limits and comprehensive + collision. I pay $260/year for the same insurance on the '21 T9GT. Also I've come to really love the centre stand and the versatility of the CP3 engine. I don't believe the Ninja 1000SX can take a center stand as it lacks any mounting points.

I really hope the Suzuki will work with insurance companies to have the S1000GT properly classified; super interested in if it'll take a centre stand.

[3sum]

I agree about wondering on the insurance question. Luckily it doesn’t have something like Ninja in the name so at least that’s going for it. I too looked at a N1K years ago when it came out and no matter what company I called, premiums were outrageous. 

[Wintersdark]

Yeah, for me personally I'm all for extra safety features.  I'll never buy another bike without ABS, for example, because it's an ENORMOUS safety upgrade - one that outpaces nearly all gear at reducing motorcycle fatalities.  Which is funny, because you'll find militant ATGATT people who don't care about ABS, which is patently stupid.  I mean, I'd rate helmets higher, but that's literally it.  ABS both prevents accidents, and of motorcycle accidents that do happen there's a 22% lower fatality rate.  That's HUGE.  And no, nobody brakes better than modern ABS on a street in emergency braking situations.  Nobody.[/endABSpreaching]

 

But what comes stock on a bike?  

• ABS is a must for me (but is also mandated by law on new bikes, so it's a given).
• CC is strongly appreciated due to age and gimpy body issues, however I'm perfectly ok making due with a $5 Aliexpress throttle lock, so it's not something I'd turn down a bike for lacking.  I do definitely value it though, and would pay more for it.
• TC is nice but in no way a dealbreaker, unless it's a very, very high power bike.  Anything up to around 120HP really doesn't need it at all, and even beyond... If I'm buying a really high power bike, I'd prefer to have it for safety but I'd not buy one as an only bike, and not be interested in riding it in inclement weather, so... Eh.
• Other electronics, riding modes, electronically adjustable suspensions, etc, I do not care even a little bit about.  I don't dislike them (I'm definitely no "Tech is bad!" guy) but I'm totally indifferent to them.  Take the Tracer's dash and config menus - I don't think I've opened mine in over a year.  I'm gonna set the bike up the way I want and just leave it alone after that.  My Tracer sits in A mode unless it's literally in snow.
• Heated Grips: These are 100% mandatory for me on all bikes, but I give literally zero $%#&'s whether they come stock or not - A set of Oxford Heaterz works on any bike, and costs around $100.  Lots of other features fall in here too: If they're not stock, I'll just mentally add them to the purchase price when buying a bike, and literally get them the same day.  

 

Basically, with stock features, for me to care about it it has to be something that's not readily addable aftermarket, particularly for things that are reasonably inexpensive.  I mean, sure, the Tracer's built in heated grips are cool and all and it's nice to not have to have the additional controller mounted somewhere, but the flipside is the Oxford controller mounted on my Tenere 700 is actually easier to use than the god awful wheel on the Tracer, so.... yeah.  Aftermarket cruise is definitely a thing, but it's much spendier, so I'd prefer it to be built in.

 

[nhchris]

I run heated gloves on my FJ and other than the ugly wires they require I love em.
And I think they are probably warmer than grips since back of hand as well as palm has heat elements.

Just don’t try to wave at another rider!

And I too intend to demo the GSX R1000 GT ASAP.

Edited October 5, 2021 by nhchris

[Wintersdark]

20 hours ago, nhchris said:

I run heated gloves on my FJ and other than the ugly wires they require I love em.
And I think they are probably warmer than grips since back of hand as well as palm has heat elements.

Just don’t try to wave at another rider!

And I too intend to demo the GSX R1000 GT ASAP.

Errr, I must be missing something obvious?  Why not wave at another rider?  You're not plugging them into leads on or handlebars are you?

 

but yeah, heated gloves beat grips "hands down", because in very cold temps grips alone will warm the inside of your hands while the outside freezes.  Both work together well however, particularly as most heated gloves focus heat on the outside surfaces to allow good tactile feedback through the gloves.  

 

 

[maximo]

On 10/2/2021 at 4:50 PM, 1moreroad said:

 

And heated hand grips is always the most important piece of tech on any motorcycle after the engine and wheels.

Once I got heated gloves, heated grips suddenly felt like an incomplete replacement. Now all my bikes are wired for heated gear, and my cold weather gear has the cables in the liner, so the only time I use the heated grips is if I'm riding in warm weather and do something like the Sonora Pass, where it'll be cold for a few miles. I really notice the cold on the back of my hand, tho. 

[nhchris]

11 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

Errr, I must be missing something obvious?  Why not wave at another rider?  You're not plugging them into leads on or handlebars are you?

 

but yeah, heated gloves beat grips "hands down", because in very cold temps grips alone will warm the inside of your hands while the outside freezes.  Both work together well however, particularly as most heated gloves focus heat on the outside surfaces to allow good tactile feedback through the gloves.  

My gloves run off fused wires from the batt that exit front of the seat.  So yeah, I’m tethered and waving stretches those connections.

 

[PhotoAl]

I have heated gear but generally don't ride when it's that cold.  The glove liners attache to the jacket liner which helps on the wires.  Heated grips are a must for me, almost every trip there has been a point where they were very nice to have.  Have bee caught out in rain when the temperature dropped from 65 to 55 then down to 34.  Heated gear was at home but winter gloves  plus heated grips kept me going.  Did 350 miles that day with all but 75 in the rain!  Depending on where I'm going I always pack winter gloves plus a heated jacket but when going out in the morning and its 45F or going thru a high pass and the temperature drops, heated grips help stave off the cold.  Rain and cold on unfamiliar roads and not knowing how slippery the pavement is makes me desire a bike with IMU for ABS and traction control.  When it's nice and dry and I know the roads it's not as important but still nice to have.  

I'm surprised Suzuki did not put an IMU on the bike but they have been slower to add ABS and traction control on their sport bikes.  

[2and3cylinders]

I have an old TM Synergy carbon fiber element lightly insulated heated vest with collar I re-wired for a universal coaxial connection (that work with my Warm N Safe single & dual Heattrollers) and a Warm N Safe Gen 2 panel type heated jacket liner which connects to my Warm N Safe heated winter Sport gloves that are a little (more than a little actually) bulky but I always carry Gore-Tex Medium duty gloves, and with the heated grips behind the KTM hand guards it usually needs to be below 45F before I need the heated gloves. But the older I get the less I can withstand cold weather, riding or not.

G-d I miss San Diego in the 70s...