Suzuki GSX1250FA
£2500-£6000 96bhp 145mph 257kg (kerb) 1255cc inline four “Should be called the Suzuki WYSIWYG”
Tiger, Tiger, burning bright – you bring the petrol, I’ll set it alight. Blummin’ things, all wheezy triple motor and crumbling Bakelite switchgear. You want a Suzuki GSX1250 FA, for a fraction of the price, ish.
The 1250 FA was born from the £6970 2009 Bandit 1250 GT – a Uk-only, Suzuki Gb-modified bike with fugly aftermarket fairing lowers and hard luggage as standard. In 2010, the Japanese factory built its own version, dropping the Bandit name and luggage but with a bespoke full fairing and new clocks. It cost £7120.
But today a GSX1250 FA is blimey-how-much? Three grand nets a sub-20k-mile, seven year-old, 145mph, old-school all-rounder that runs well over 100k on its under-tuned motor (94bhp and 66lb·ft from an engine capable of half as much again). And many come with luggage.
It’s a plain, solid, dutiful bike from a previous era (the 1990s); not sexy or whizz-bang but an honest, basic lump. No traction control, no USD forks, rudimentary damping adjustment at the back only, plain clocks, crude ABS, throttle cables, manual gearshift. How did we cope in 2010?
But it works. Smooth, torquey and well-balanced, the Suzuki bounces back again and again like a rubber boomerang. It’s utility to the power of ten. I can’t pretend it’s more interesting or fun than a Tiger 1050 Sport, but it’s got a better pillion seat. Sealed the deal.