Jayzonk Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 Hey, wondering if anyone is considering Suzuki's new GSX-S1000GT sports tourer. It's getting a lot of interest in Canada and it looks like it's pre-sold out in my province. It looks like a really thoughtful bike. Suzuki is claiming a lot of interesting things here, like extensive wind tunnel testing, injection-molded plastic windscreen (better than heat-pressed they say), really good bags with an integrated mount, a good seat, and good suspension, although not fully adjustable. They really seem like they took the time to refine this bike. For me, I'm not sure that I'm ready to get into the more crouched seating position again, but I do like the approach they took to developing this bike. The reviewers are loving the layout of the bike, the upright seating position, wind protection, the TFT, and the engine for sure. I think the claims about the handling are somewhat neutral, stating that there's nothing wrong with it, but I haven't heard anything exemplary. More tests on that for sure. I like the new Tracer and my older version, but I'm tempted by this Suzuki. Perhaps I'm overlooking the new Tracer 9GT's improvements over the the previous iteration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamajank Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 If I didn't declare 22 the year of the track I'd probably sign up for the Suzuki. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayzonk Posted December 30, 2021 Author Share Posted December 30, 2021 Year of the track? You're going to do some track days?? On what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member betoney Posted December 30, 2021 Supporting Member Share Posted December 30, 2021 It has some nice features but I'm not a fan of all of the body plastics. 1 ***2015 Candy Red FJ-09*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamajank Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 14 hours ago, Jayzonk said: Year of the track? You're going to do some track days?? On what? Right now I'm 90% certain I'm picking up the 2022 KTM RC390. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HGP61 Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 15 hours ago, Jayzonk said: it looks like it's pre-sold out in my province Similar situation with the dealer My friend likes in Scotland. Their initial allocation of 8 bikes expected around march have already been pre-sold and my Triumph Tiger riding pal wants to change up for something with a bit more power. He was contacted by the dealer recently to see if he wanted to leave a refundable deposit with them to secure a bike from the second allocation sometime next summer (maybe) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayzonk Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 On 12/30/2021 at 2:14 PM, Yamajank said: Right now I'm 90% certain I'm picking up the 2022 KTM RC390. Have they improved that engine? The high compression/ high rpm has left them somewhat unreliable, but fine after rebuilds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidood Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 LOVE the look of it and I'm perfectly OK with leaning forward a bit more as it seems to take a bit of weight off my squashed discs. The Tracer gives you a 100% completely upright rider position (unless you have really short arms) and this is my only complaint about the Tracer. What I don't like on the GSX is the little teeny weeny headlights. I think they reduce your visibility to careless cagers, and so that's a showstopper for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayzonk Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 I agree, a few degrees of lean angle on the upper body is actually preferable to a completely upright riding position. I can just move around on the seat to achieve that for the most part, but it's not quite the same as having the bike deliberately made in that configuration. I had a 2010 VFR1200F and it had the perfect setup that way. Totally regret selling that bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayzonk Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 As for the lights, I just keep telling myself that the engineers must know what they're doing when they put those small lights on the bike. What I don't understand is that they could use larger lights and larger light housings to not only improve the lighting, but to add wind protection for the rider. I think what we're leaving out of the equation here is the difficulty in working with LED lights to properly project light down the road. They don't work on the same principles as our older incandescent lights, where the light would radiate into the concave parabola then be directed down the road. They use other principles, but haven't really looked into it much. I suspect that this different way of illuminating the road with LED's explains the smaller lights and housings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamajank Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 5 hours ago, Jayzonk said: Have they improved that engine? The high compression/ high rpm has left them somewhat unreliable, but fine after rebuilds. Not sure other than they claim to have increased the air box by 40%. Other than that I’m an RC noob. A friend of mine told me to be sure to torque everything down after every track day though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayzonk Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 The GSX-S is an interesting move though. If it works for Suzuki, how easy would it be for Honda to follow through with its own inline four 1000cc in the CB1000? Keep the mainframe, change the subframe, design the fairing and you're off to the races. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidood Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 16 hours ago, Jayzonk said: I agree, a few degrees of lean angle on the upper body is actually preferable to a completely upright riding position. I can just move around on the seat to achieve that for the most part, but it's not quite the same as having the bike deliberately made in that configuration. I had a 2010 VFR1200F and it had the perfect setup that way. Totally regret selling that bike. Yeah, I even rotated my risers so the bars are further away but doing that also raises the grips upwards a bit too. I contemplated getting the short risers from Rizoma (?) but I want more time on the bike before I commit...also would be very open to buying a used pair from someone who no longer wants them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidood Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 9 hours ago, Jayzonk said: The GSX-S is an interesting move though. If it works for Suzuki, how easy would it be for Honda to follow through with its own inline four 1000cc in the CB1000? Keep the mainframe, change the subframe, design the fairing and you're off to the races. A Londoner, eh? I grew up 1/2 hour SW of there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ride365 Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 No centerstand, that's a killer for me.....otherwise it's the bike I've been waiting for Zuk to build. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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