All Tests – Suzuki GSX-S1000F Test: looking for sporty bikers, tourists not! – A streamlined GSX-S1000, no more no less

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Suzuki GSX-S1000F test: looking for sports bikers, tourists to refrain !

All Tests - Suzuki GSX-S1000F Test: looking for sporty bikers, tourists not! - A streamlined GSX-S1000, no more no less

Like Kawasaki, Suzuki offers bikers a streamlined version of its new maxiroadster. Except that the GSX-S1000F is not a motorcycle designed for tourism but rather for the Tourist Trophy of the Isle of Man, where Site discovered the beast… Test.

A streamlined GSX-S1000, no more no less

Having arrived very late in the maxiroadster segment, Suzuki now has a very relevant motorcycle. The proof ? The GSX-S1000 won the 100% Japanese comparison organized by Site last month (read our).

GSX-S1000F: availability, colors and prices

  • Availability: immediate in the

  • Colors: blue, gray, or red / black

  • Price: € 12,599 (ABS + € 500)

In front of its compatriots, the new Suz ‘had put forward its expressive engine from the GSX-R1000 of 2005, its conciliatory and efficient cycle part, its complete equipment (standard traction control, optional ABS at 500 €), its muscular look and its price modeled on that of the reference that we will call "Z"…

In addition to this original version, the firm of Hamamatsu also offers a French version: "Version Fairing" ("fairing" in English), not to be confused with the French version, !

Named GSX-S1000F, this new Suzuki is extremely close to the "short" GSX-S1000 (read our). Its exterior is intended to appeal to experienced bikers – the engine still develops 145 hp! – tired of uncomfortable sports but still hungry for thrills … alone.

Because the Suzuki engineers are categorical: the streamlined version of their roadster is nothing like a GT, or even a sporty road, unlike a certain rival that we will call "SX" … In the specifications of Suz ‘was clearly in the lead "Sunday sports outings".

"The GSX-S1000F is almost as sporty as the GSX-R and just as efficient as the GSX-S, plus stability and fairing protection", sums up Chief Engineer Shinishi Sahara."It is a real sports car, but more oriented towards the road than the R … Hence our presence on the Isle of Man".

For the record, our hosts stress that "It was here, in 1960, that Suzuki took part in its first competition outside of Japan"And it was on a Suzuki 50 cc that Mitsuo Itoh became the only Japanese rider to win a TT race three years later….

The notions of duo or long journeys have barely been addressed … and it shows! Aside from the fairing and its dual lens, the changes made to the F are minimal, even imperceptible: it takes a very developed sense of observation to note the appearance of more aerodynamic and aesthetic mirrors..

This sense must be even sharper to notice the differences in suspension settings made when leaving the factory: a little less oil in the fork and a less click in preload at the rear shock absorber. Not enough to whip a Manx cat, in short…

Heavy-duty riders who were planning long trips for two will be disappointed: the Suzuki sporty road sporty roadster does not have passenger handles, is not equipped with more comfortable saddles than those of the roadster and does not offer suitcases or top. -case in its accessories catalog.

Sportsmen, for their part, can blame the GSX-S1000F for its "Piaf" face … Not Edith, no, the Piaf, this little yellow bird by Dan Salel! The headlights and night lights evoke – at least within the MNC editorial staff – the big eyes and small jowls of the bird made famous by its series of postcards and its countless derivative products..

Nothing to do, therefore, with the peregrine falcon look – "Hayabusa" in Japanese – given to the GSX-R1300, or the raptor-shaped optics of the "Gex Mille" … From certain angles even, due to of its optics placed particularly low, the GSX-S1000F has false air of scooter, horror, misfortune !

If tastes differ, the cost is the same for everyone: to benefit from the fairing, customers will have to pay 600 euros more than for the roadster, or 12,099 € (ABS + 500 € also). The full weight increases from 5 kg to 212 kg (ABS +2 kg).

But "when the motorcycle is launched at 200 km / h, the fairing increases the pressure on the front axle by 20 kg", tells us the chief of the European test pilots, Jurgen Plaschka."Enough to negotiate the curves more quickly and more calmly. You will see tomorrow !", he concludes his presentation on the eve of our test.

As agreed, Site settles the next morning at the controls of the GSX-S1000F, all excited at the idea of ​​following in the footsteps of Joey Dunlop, the unmistakable "King of the Moutain" … Contact, engine, action !

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