Could this unpretentious thing of blueness be one of the bikes of 2015? Maybe not in the aesthetical pleasures department but dynamically, the Suzuki GSX-S1000F is a superbike-derived weapon that genuinely surprised us. It doesn’t brag a gazillion horsepower, nor does it boast any wiz-bang chassis components, but that hasn’t halted Suzuki in producing a very capable and flexible steed.
After a collective few days at the press launch on the Isle of Man, a trackday at Silverstone, and several hundred UK road miles, it’s fair to say this was a pretty comprehensive assessment – and one that the GSX-S nailed, so long as we avoided any beauty contests. Some stuff we didn’t cover in the video…
It’s too sporty to be a sports-tourer: with its 17L fuel tank and genuine GSX-R chromosomes, you’ll be filling up every 100 miles like any other sportsbike under touring conditions.
Suspension set-up is on the firm side: another reason not to call it a sports-tourer, although the damping control and stroke action is beautiful, meaning an excellent road protocol. There’s also a wide range of significant adjustment.
It’s pretty handy on track, too: having spanked one round Silverstone at Suzuki’s all-star trackday recently, only the hideously long hero blobs and slightly too agricultural (for the track) ABS prevented any meaningful/fast lap times.
