Suzuki GSX-S1000F
Picking up the pace in Spring reveals the loveable side of the Suzuki GSX-S1000F
I’M FEELING A bit bad. Last month I said the Suzuki GSX-S1000F was an easy bike to like but a tough one to love. Since then, it’s wormed its way into my affections and I’ve found myself enjoying it more and more. It’s not Stockholm Syndrome – more a case of familiarity breeding contentment. The more I ride this bike, the better it gets and I find satisfaction becoming affection.
Of course, it helps that the roads have dried up significantly and the local farmers seem to have temporarily stopped spreading mud across my favourite B-roads. This has seen my speeds creep steadily upwards, from the excusably enthusiastic into no-talking-your-wayout-of-it territory, before (on a good day) dipping into distinctly deeper waters. I’m not saying that fast bikes are more fun, but this is one bike that is very easy and highly entertaining to ride quickly.
In many ways, that’s because the GSX-S is all about the sportsbike-derived engine. It’s a savage, howling, delightful thing that only improves when given a longer lead as the traction control is dialled back and the throttle held open. At peak, it delivers a mighty 143bhp, yet it’s biddably bland and easy to ride at low speeds. But come on, that’s not what it’s about – the harder this engine works, the better it feels. At high revs the stock exhaust produces a sweet wail that falls on the right side of that fine line between joyful and hooligan-ish. It can also deliver a short, sharp race-bike growl on every blipped downshift.
Of course, an engine is only as good as the chassis into which it’s fitted. The big Suzuki’s is good and does forgive you for just sitting on the saddle, thumbing the starter and riding off. In fact, it’s so pleasantly competent you could be forgiven for thinking all it has to offer is on show from the start. But with drier tarmac encouraging me to open the throttle more freely, I decide to spend a little time coaxing more refinement from the adjustable suspension. That’s
when it slowly dawns on me that there’s a bit more to this bike than first meets the eye.
Obviously, I’m not the average jockey-sized bike tester so I begin setting the suspension up with a bit more preload on the rear shock, which helps. There’s no compression damping at the back and frankly the rebound adjuster is of little use. Standard position, which feels slightly underdamped with a post-bump wallow, is only one turn out from the fully stiff position. Not much scope for firming things up there, then… I knock it up to the max and it does feel a bit better on smooth roads – but it’s not the whole story.
Making it harder at the back has definitely knocked ride quality slightly and seems to have made the bike (or is it me?) a little nervous on rougher surfaces, especially rippled and patched ones. That’s the thing when you start to dig down towards a model’s race-track roots: it feels like it should be left on race-track smooth roads. I’ll live with it, but I think the compression stroke (the way the back reacts to each bump) needs fettling too: if that was more controlled, the rebound would then have an easier time of things
I spend less time on the fully adjustable forks, mostly because those feel pretty good straight out of the box. I increase the preload slightly, add two turns of rebound, then two of compression, then another, then go back half a turn. Everyone is different – both in terms of size and riding style – but I’m pleased at how quick and easy the bike is to set up to my liking. As I start to write this story up, I suddenly wonder if the difference is genuine or just psychological – have I tricked myself into imagining these small changes are making real improvements? All it takes is another quick spin down my favourite B-road to confirm that, small as they are, these changes have made the bike incrementally but noticeably better.
Now I actually do start looking for excuses to get the GSX-S out. Little errands to run. People to visit. As the first flowers of spring emerge beside the hedgerows, I start getting off the A1 to take the longer way to work, with the occasional cheeky detour to Two Flags Café (the best bacon roll for miles around). This is on the bike I said was alright, a pleasant enough thing, but not one you particularly look forward to riding.
Okay, I’m still not 100 per cent sold on the looks and I still prefer my Kriega luggage to the tankbag and tailpack that come bundled with this Touring version. But apart from that I have to admit I was wrong: the Suzuki GSX-S1000F is a bike you can learn to love. It might not shine on a short test ride – even living with it for a few weeks in poor weather didn’t show it at its best. Perhaps you you can’t hurry love… but you can ride it pretty fast when you want to.
“I was wrong: the Suzuki GSX-S is a bike you can learn to love”