wind the throttle open and the engine is ready to rock . There ’ s not a lot of point revving the motor hard , it doesn ’ t surge again – the power is very linear all the way through to 9000rpm . The GSX sports a longer stroke than other engine ’ s in this class , one of the reasons why it such a great midrange , but no real kick at higher revs . The low-end and mid-range make this an excellent town bike that ’ s truly zippy off the lights . Suzuki claims 4.2l / 100km , my bike returned 4.7 with a mix of hooning , motorway and town riding .
TECH Most noticeable is the 5-inch TFT LCD display , which is one of the best laid out displays I ’ ve seen on a bike . The unit is your interface to the traction control and rider modes , and automatically switches between day and night modes . A nice touch is it can be set to stay on either one , whatever your preference . Suzuki says it has used a technique called optical bonding to make the display , which ensures its easy to read in bright conditions - I never had a problem even in direct sunlight . There are daytime running lights along the side of the ‘ beak ’ that look pretty cool too .
As well as the engine modes , the GSX-8S comes with three levels of traction control ( it can also be turned off completely ), as well as a bi-directional ( up / down ) quick-shifter fitted as standard . A quick-shifter at this price point is a real plus , and it works very well ; short-shifting through the gears at 6500rpm or so without the clutch is a treat .
ALL-NEW CHASSIS If you took a look at the spec ’ sheet and were a little underwhelmed , I ’ d totally understand . Nonadjustable front suspension , rear only adjustable for preload ; there ’ s not much to drool over . But it turns out the GSX has an awesome front end , with powerful Tokico radial brakes which don ’ t overwhelm the forks . Truly good considering it ’ s non-adjustable . Things at the rear are ok , but not as worthy as at the front . It ’ s on the softer side , which is fine , but there ’ s some harshness there , most noticeable over sharp-edged bumps . On some of the bigger bumps I found myself flinching in anticipation . Nothing you can do about it , but an aftermarket shock could work wonders . It ’ s not ‘ needed ’, but it got me wondering . Holding front and rear together is a taut , responsive , but incredibly forgiving chassis and
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