Jack of all trades or master of none? After nearly 2,000 miles in the seat PH2's Jon still isn't sure
With the weather drawing in I returned the GSX-S1000FA to Suzuki before it got hammered by salt-covered roads. You can spray as much anti-corrosion kit on a bike as you like but it still doesn't stop fasteners and the like getting all crudded up. And I'd hate to return a bike looking all tatty. As it stood only the hero bobs and tyres took a beating, and only then after a track day at Silverstone. That, and nearly 2,000 road miles, should have given me enough to come up with a definitive verdict on Suzuki's oddball.
GSX-S is good on the road; now time for the track!
On the road the GSX-S proved very competent and a deceptively quick bike. Once you get over the jerky initial throttle response the mid-range is excellent and the gearbox is nice and slick, but the suspension is still a bit of a nuisance. On fast A-roads it is fine. Hit the back roads with any pace though and any undulations upset the damper and make for a poor ride and battered posterior. On long trips the lack of a decent fairing never stopped winding me up, likewise the reflections that made the instruments unreadable on the rare days the sun came out. But, with its comfortable flat bars can it be classed as a sports bike as Suzuki likes to claim? Only one way to find out.
Suzuki kept reminding me the GSX-S is a 'relaxed sports bike', so with this in mind I booked a slot on a track day at Silverstone. The first thing I noticed, which I hadn't on the road, was the lack of ground clearance. To be a 'sports bike' the GSX-S needs to be able to handle more lean before the huge hero bobs start to scrape.
Certainly fast, but ABS and damper let it down
Then there were the brakes. You can't switch off the GSX-S's ABS system and a few times it cut in when it definitely didn't need to, throwing me into a bend faster than I wanted. I've ridden the 2015 GSX-R1000 with ABS on track and it was fine, so Suzuki can make ABS work on track, but on the GSX-S it is too intrusive. But the biggest annoyance was, once again, the damper, which left the back end bouncing like a pogo stick. Once in a bend the GSX-S was really good, the engine more than powerful enough to keep up with sports bikes. At a sensible pace it certainly didn't disgrace itself.
So, would I buy a GSX-S1000FA? Here's the problem. To buy one you need to know what it is trying to be and, I'm sorry, I still can't work that out. If I was after a relaxed sports bike I'd buy a 2015 GSX-R1000 over the GSX-S as it is faster, more competent on track, almost as comfortable and has a better fairing. The problem with this is the fact the GSX-R has been updated for (late) 2016/2017, but getting a used GSX-R is fairly simple and new examples of the current bike are still out there.
Cleaning up before a return to Suzuki
If I was after a relaxed road bike then yes, the GSX-S is certainly a good option. But if I was using it on the road I'd probably get the naked version over the faired one as it looks better. But there are loads of more fun, relaxed, naked road bikes out there such as the Triumph Speed Triple, BMW R1200R, Kawasaki Z1000 or Yamaha MT-09. Would I buy the GSX-S1000FA with sports touring in mind? Probably not. It's pretty poor two-up and the luggage facilities are zero so a Yamaha Tracer, BMW R1200RS or Kawasaki Z1000SX would be my choice. So where does that leave the GSX-S1000FA?
If someone came up to me and said 'I really like the GSX-S1000FA and want to buy one' then I'd say go for it. But the truth is there are better, more versatile machines on the market. And some are even cheaper.
FACT SHEET
Bike: Suzuki GSX-1000FA
Run by: Jon Urry
On fleet since: August 2015
Mileage: 1,853
List price new: £9,999
Last month at a glance: Yamaha says 'relaxed sports bike', but what is it really?
