With the influx of hordes of new litre class bikes and the rise in spending power of Indian bikers, the question is now even more pertinent than before; is a litre-class bike, specially a superbike, really overkill considering our less-than-perfect Indian roads and our woeful lack of road etiquette? For that matter, are superbikes actually better for day-to-day riding even in countries with autobahns and freeways that humans don’t have to begrudgingly share with livestock and stray dogs?
This is a hard question to answer, but what isn’t hard to see for all is that the new 2015 Suzuki GSX-S1000F could pretty much be the perfect litre class bike for India. If Suzuki India does decide to bring it here, that is.
Unveiled at the recently concluded Intermot, the Suzuki GSX-S1000F is essentially a fully faired version of the GSX-S1000. As a sports-tourer it is intended to fill the gap between the latter and the mighty GSX-R1000 superbike, something like the Honda VFR800 if you will.
To that end, the GSX-S1000F uses the same purpose-built chassis and retuned 2008 Suzuki GSX-R1000 engine that the GSX-S1000 uses, though it is now wrapped up neatly inside a full fairing. Squint closely around the tank and you will find design clues tying it to the just launched Suzuki Gixxer that we road tested here. The tall windscreen and low mounted headlights give it a slightly scooter-ish look from the front, but the former is removable, if you want.
Like the GSX-S1000F, this faired bike also produces somewhere around 140 PS of max power. Not too little for when you encounter the arrow straight roads of our Golden Quadrilateral, but not too much that you pick your sedan over it for the commute to the office Monday morning. And you can even dial this power down a notch for that too, thanks to Suzuki’s 3-way drive mode selector that we’ve already experienced on its sportier siblings. ABS is an option, while 43mm USD KYB forks and Brembo 4-piston radially mounted monobloc calipers for the front brakes are standard.
There’s also a new push-to-start feature – much like new supercars – that negates the need for you to thumb the starter button until the engine fires up. The entire bike sits lower than the GSX- R1000, which should be welcome for shorter Asian riders. And, here’s the cincher, if it does make its way to our shores, it should be way cheaper than the GSX-R1000’s current INR 16 lakh price tag.
Are you listening, Suzuki India?
Image Credits: Suzuki
The bike is now available. You should totally do a review of this bike.