need and nothing you don ’ t . The seat is a little firm . I think I could get away with maybe 1.5 hours in one stretch , but I might possibly hate myself after a full-day ’ s ride - we ’ ll see once I can get out for a whole day . That said , it ’ s not a touring motorcycle , so I can forgive such things , and with only a 14-litre tank capacity , there will be plenty of opportunity to stop and stretch on a long run .
GOOD BITS I love the brakes . Up front , there are two fourpiston Nissin radially-mounted calipers , clamping on 310mm rotors , and , wow , they hail the bike up beautifully . The brakes aren ’ t brutal or sharp , just inspiringly strong . I like the swell of power that comes on around halfway up the rev range . If it ’ s in too high a gear , and you just wind on the power , it ’ s almost like being in a 90s turbo sedan . There ’ s a slight lag before the power really comes on , and then you ’ re doing illegal speeds in no time .
NOT SO GOOD Aesthetically , I ’ m not a fan of that stonking-great
seat / tail section mounted on a massive ‘ stick ’ extending from where the tail light should be in the tail of the bike . This stick extends out past the rear tyre and holds the number plate , rear indicators , and tail light , and looks like it might make things difficult if one wanted to install a tail tidy . I also wish it had cruise control . I know , I know , it ’ s not a touring bike ... but this feels like a missed trick to me ( then again , this comes in at only $ 13,500 plus on roads , so they ’ ve had to cut costs somewhere ).
FIRST FINAL THOUGHTS So far I really do like the GSX8S . Firstly the price is bonkers . $ 13,500 undercuts the competition by a large margin . Secondly , it appeals to me and , sitting in my garage as I type this with thoughts of road trip destinations going through my head , I ’ m excited by what is in store for me and the Suzuki . I ’ m looking forward to testing this bike out over the next six months . I plan on putting it through its paces in a few different disciplines , from commuting to road-tripping . But first , I have a few modifications I need to make , I ’ ll tell you all about those in the next issue .
PHOTO : Greg Smith / ikapture . com . au
The Editor raved about the GSX-8S after the launch , but he got to ride it in the sun on a racetrack . Ray will ride it to work in the rain ... again and again . He ’ ll let you know what HE thinks about it in coming issues of the magazine
KIWI RIDER 63