Nice bike @Mattie660. Quite surprised Suzuki didn't go toe to toe with the Kawasaki z1000sx and have a hard luggage option for your bike this year. Think they'd be onto a winner if they had. Does yours have cruise control and stock heated grips? That's one complaint of the SX. I wish Honda would enter into this market....make a blade a bit more upright, re-tune it for less top end and more low down grunt, comfy seat, cruise control heated grips bit of traction control and engine modes. Price it under 12k and they'd sell like hot cakes. What the hell....why not even call it a Blackbird!? Instead their market research has told them the world wants a daft scooter called the Honda X-Adv and £20k fireblades????
Loz, the mags reckon the R is the ST to go for as the RS is too much for the road (can you have too much?). I still seriously rate the old Street R and can't see it being £4.5k better than my 13 STR ABS, they are mental fun though and can stay with bigger stuff without issue. It is unfortunatelt up for sale now though as I want another Superbike to keep the old 4XV R1 company.
Yeah my head says I have to agree with you there...my mates missus is getting the R for that very reason. However, my heart goes mmmm pretty pretty rs .....& I know it's the sort of bike I'd be nipping into my garage to stroke & talk too...as you do Shame you're selling yours matey, it still looks mint can't see it hanging around for long, glws
Cheers Loz. I'm trying to get back offshore and if that happens then I'll hold on to it or maybe buy the new one but if not it's hard trying to justify 2 bikes when one of them is the best part of £6k and I'll be honest I'm using the R1 all the time as it's so good. Sorry to jump in on someone else's thread BTW.
Sorry no heated grips or cruise control. Overall I think this bike is a good concept, and if Honda were to do the same thing it would probably be better "out of the box". This one needs a few mods to get it there, which will be worth it. Before buying it I had a look round to see if people were carrying luggage on them - plenty of pictures around of soft luggage options. But people commuting want hard cases I suppose - I have seen Givi monokey cases on these bikes. Myself, only need luggage when taking the bike away, so happy with throw over or soft luggage. Should be off to France with it as soon as there is a break in the weather and a few straight days of sunshine forecast - might have to wait until next summer at this rate !
Bit of an update, if I may, after 7 months and 4,100 miles. Very hooligan. Makes gorgeous noises as you wind it on, and certain times as you back it off on the over-run. It is small and nice seating position, easy to manage in traffic, also with this clutch-assist system that gives the throttle a little blip when you are juggling the clutch. it is at heart a hooligan scoot - great fun and even better with a change of tyres and a Power Commander V installed and brake pads changed, which seem to have settled in now. I miss the cruise-missile ability of the Fireblade. On long trips I miss the ability to lay on the tank behind the screen, out of the cold or wind and make long distance across Europe just fly past. On this bike you sit up and are still a bit exposed into a cold wind or rain - looking to crouch down out of the way which is not really possible. So looking to possibly trade this for the full fat, no messing, GSX-R at the end of the summer. Started putting £1 coins in a tin already Trip to France a couple of weeks ago (cold, rain, fog, sun...) A few mods new Dunlop tyres, radiator guard and a Yoshimura R-11.
Just bought a 2018 GSXS FZ having traded in the Tuono. Only done 250 miles on it but so far I am really impressed by it. I don't do touring, but like a long day out. Can't ride sports bikes any more due to neck/back,wrists etc but still wanted something that gets the adrenaline going. Had a Street Triple for a short while but missed a big engine. V4 1100 Tuono a great bike but not comfy enough for my ageing limbs and always felt disappointed I could not exploit it on the roads, especially the wind blast. The GSXS meets my needs, I can ride in comfort, Pootle along like the old git I am or open it up and ride like a hooligan. Tried it on one of my old twisty routes and I was faster than on a sports bike, really great handling, although I need the suspension set up by MCT to improve it even more. Lots of talk about the snatchy throttle, but it doesn't bother me very much and if it starts to it can be easily sorted out. Great value for money bike IMO and has some real grunt and it is so easy to ride.
Glad you are liking your new bike, and agree - I love mine as well. I really like that it will pull well from low revs in any gear. Waiting for an opportunity to overtake it will be ready to go instantly - makes a lovely noise and the brakes have settled in now. JHS Racing did my suspension - what they call a static set up. They adjusted the rebound etc. What made a big difference was changing out the standard tyres to Dunlop Roadsmart III - not so much the grip but they way it tips into a corner and holds the line is much improved. It is a nice way of riding, to leave it in the higher gears and it will still react very quickly if needed - provoke it around 7,000 rpm and it will go like stink ! It is such a compact easy to manage bike - and like you say - a bargain.
Sold the Blade in Oct and bought the Hayabusa Z, ugly as sin and I have to admit it isn’t pin sharp like the blade but anyone who discounts that engine needs to ride one, it’s unbelievable in any gear, definitely more sporty than I thought it would be as well but also comfortable, 100mph is my new 70
Decided against the GSX-R this weekend - I went and told our local dealership that I was not going to get one (despite saving the pennies). The reason is because the riding position is a little bit more extreme than the old 2015 Blade. The seat is a bit taller, the bars seem a bit lower, and it appears to be a bit more difficult to tuck in behind the screen, than my old Blade. Also I have got to like this sitting up riding position, with wide bars - really enjoying that Glad you are getting on all right with the Hayabusa - I did consider that as well, and it would have been ideal for trips abroad. But I also have to consider that it is a bit big for riding around locally here in the Channel Islands. The 2015 Fireblade was a great do it all bike (except for lack of fuel gauge ) but they do not make Fireblades like that any more. So will probably go for a BMW S1000R, on the basis of it being upright and wide bars, it fits me, a bit of an all round upgrade from the Suzuki, price, looks, not too flash that it will attract the crims - and hopefully being a naked and exposed to the wind blast will help me to keep a lid on it (mostly !) when on trips to France.
Hi Mattie, thanks for the tips. I was pleasantly surprised by the acceleration and also that it pulls in all gears even from low down. I love the way it fires out of bends on twisty roads. Waiting for a nice warm day to test it out a bit more. Just had a Puig touring screen arrive but not fitted it yet, hoping for a bit more protection, but have to say the wind blast is not as bad as it was on the Tuono. The looks have grown on me , but to be honest I am more interested in performance, reliability and comfort these days lol.
Saw this Japanese vid - can't understand what he fella is saying - but he finds a straight road - takes his hand off the throttle and keeps changing up until 6th gear just on tick over - but even in something like 30 kmh in 6th gear the bike pulls away nicely without chugging It starts at about 3:20 mins in
Have changed my mind about the snatchy throttle not being a problem now that I have ridden it for 450 miles. Twice now it has caught me out, the last time on the exit of a sharp corner and it was a close call. Have now booked it in for an ECU remap at BSD, apparently they have done quite a few of them and the bikes run a lot smoother and with no snatchy throttle. Disappointing that a new bike needs that but I hear that since Euro 4 emissions a few manufacturers have similar issues.
Same here, I was struggling a bit with it at first, especially holding a line round corners including a few wide corner exits - not at all the smooth cornering I was used to with the Firebalde. Had a Power Commander V fitted and mapped by JHS Racing, which really improved it. Changing the end can to the Yoshimura -R11 also seemed to help, but that was difficult to quantify. Changing the tyres also helped with the cornering, and also having the suspension properly set up. But you are right it should not be this way on a new bike. The whole thing cost quite a bit of extra money to make the bike workable. But other Euro 4 bikes were having problems as well. See how you get on.
