Spending 2022 with the NEW Suzuki GSX-S1000GT | MCN Review
welcome to MCN it's long-term test review time and this video is all about the Suzuki GSX s 1000 GT and Emma Franklin who've been running this bike this year haven't you I have yeah Welcome to our video thank you thanks for having me that's all right um so how long have you had this bike so I got this bike back in about late March I think so yeah what's that five six months what kind of mileage have you done it's approaching 6800 so far few it's the most mileage I've done in a long long many years actually so that's Testament yeah definitely this was one of the sort of most talked about bikes of last year when it was unveiled wasn't it and yeah we've ridden it on the launches and in group tests um but the long-term test all about was actually like to live with day to day so I've asked you to compile two lists 10 things you like 10 things you don't like yeah so let's start with your likes first so we'll start at number 10 and work our way up to number one the things you like the most so number 10 styling styling I mean look at it I mean it looks quite modern and fresh doesn't it you know I'm not going to say for a Suzuki but you know they have a little bit of sort of styling they're a little bit conservative so normally yeah definitely this is yeah this is like bang on Trend isn't it with all its sort of like angular alien sort of style looks and people do comment on it all the time and say how good it looks good looking bike I have to agree really okay number nine build quality build quality I know it's another thing that is um you know where you say Suzuki's got this reputation of supposedly having bad build quality but I've ridden this bike in all weathers you know it's freezing cold today salt in the roads and it's done you know a lot of miles and I think it looks really really good I mean I can't really see many areas on it at all no it still looks immaculate it is yeah I mean it does get looked after but it does also you know I'm not one of these people who dry it after it's been you know out in the rain you know it'll probably go back into the garage wet quite a few times I would say but you know I'm not I'm not a crazy person with my cleaning regime but it's still holding up really really well it looks great still I'm giving the amount of Miles you've done yeah which is equivalent to a few years worth of use for most definitely average people say yeah that's held up really well okay tires you talked about the current Continentals yeah Road attack four and the Michelin Road sixes that's right yeah so what do you think of those so I initially put it on the road six is a Fest and they were like they have these Dunlop Road sport twos isn't it that's right yeah not very good yeah not very good I mean they were bad they didn't have any moments on them but they just didn't have that doesn't feel that yeah so well they weren't good they weren't bad um but we went bad we weren't good yeah um but then I put the michelins on because obviously I heard a lot of good things about them Road six roads Force two and tires yes yeah and they felt really really you know they felt warm literally as straight away they've got that real mechanical grip feel going on and so I enjoyed them but then it started to get a little bit nicer the weather and I started to think about track days maybe and they were just a little bit I think the profile at the front was just a little bit too flat a bit flat and I wanted a more sort of racier feel without going at the sports bike and Tire Route so I settled on these which is the Conti Road attack four which still are sports touring tires but they call them like hyper touring okay so um I wouldn't say I mean they're still really really grippy that they don't have that like Monumental super glue style yeah feeling that the road sixes had but that said they're still like you know really good on days like today you know full wet in the dry but key they just feel that little bit more firmer and they've got a more sportier profile front as well so I've enjoyed these a lot and did you take them on track these I did take them on track yeah and they were good they were they were good yeah I mean my problems on track stem to something else okay we'll come on get back yep okay this is one of my favorite things about this bike as well number seven you've put cruise control things you like about it cruise control I mean like I say I've come from sports bikes and I've been hell-bent on sports bikes for years and years and years and then having I didn't think I'd use cruise control and I know everyone says that and then you get it and you just think I can't live without it it's brilliant isn't it you know when your wrist starts to ache a little bit you can just go and it's on and yeah yeah keep you to the speed limits keep you to the speed limits yeah just yeah it's just every home should have one definitely um okay number six dash and the built-in now have yeah so this has got a spangly TFT Dash which is Suzuki's best yeah easily yeah and it's also got smartphone connectivity as well yeah which is Ace and it's got a um a sort of app that um you can access from your phone so you download the app onto your phone and that's Suzuki myspin and then within that there's an all another app like a navigation app that you can download onto your phone and then once it's synced to the dash and it will display the navigation it's called psychic or something and it's a little bit basic but it works you know it hasn't got like countdown to the next turn or whatever so you've got to keep an eye on it but just having that nice clear Sat Nav view on your dash on your beautiful clear Dash has been really good and I use it all the time really hard to come back from it is hard to come back okay number five the performance of the headlights yeah another Revelation yeah I can now see in the dark brilliant can't see that I mean they've got a really nice crisp white light and a really good broad spread of light as well so yeah the first time I rode back I think I was on the a43 coming down from the south coast and it was really dark and I was sort of tentative because it's not ridden in the dark for a long time but on this it was like Wow turns into daytime turns into daytime makes a big difference definitely okay number four paneers panniers total Revelation I'm a convert you said I know I feel embarrassed to say that I totally do because yeah maybe it's 10 and 40 but oh my God panniers where have you been my whole life you know I was one of these people who were just shove everything into a rucksack and it'd be cripplingly heavy yeah you know and I thought that was the best thing to do because pannier's dull and boring and old and but they've been great I mean these they're extra I think they're about a thousand quid extra which is a lot of money and but they've been watertight they can get a full face lid in there so I can just slam it in which has also been cool you know if you go to like a BSB meter or something just slam all your kitten and you don't have to walk around so yeah proper proper eye-opener for me these yeah they're really good there's no frame is there as such so when they're off we've got a clean looking yeah so the back end is like really really nice to look at there's just like a little sort of um locator sort of leg but you hardly see it right number three on Podium positions now aren't we oh yeah Comfort another Revelation yeah I mean when I first got this bike because I had it into the head it was a sports tourer um yeah sort of wide Bars were a bit of a shock um but that was like a super super naked yeah absolutely yeah I was expecting it to be a little bit more sort of elbows in but um I've had a few big days on this there was one time during the summer where I went from I went from Peterborough where I live and I had to go up for a family and do up in Lancashire and then from there on the same day I had to go down to Brands hatch for race meeting and I was dreading it to be honest because I thought that's that's big mileage and I just thought maybe I should split it over two days but I really wanted to get to brands that night and so I did it and it was brilliant so I pulled up at Brands after God I don't know what the mileage was maybe 600 odd miles about that I think wow that might be uh overstating that a little bit but we'll call it 600 yeah why not but yeah I arrived at Brands and people were just like oh you just look so fresh and I felt fresh and you know the next morning there was no aches and pains so that's that's been that's quite a rarity on a bike yeah one thing I would say is the seat is might just be a little bit too soft so it could do with being a little bit firmer because you do get that sort of shuffly bum good position yeah but good position good wind protection yeah really good I mean I did change the screen that's the skid mark screen yeah little flip up yeah and it doesn't suit me as well as the standard screen okay so I'd probably change that back but maybe if you're a little bit taller I mean I'm five foot six in a bit it might work a little bit better that just channels air into my face yeah okay but the aerodynamics are much better on these kind of bites and Tall rounders yeah much louder aren't they these this these slip through the air really quietly which is an advantage of a traditional shape Sports tour like this yeah right number two the engine performance character grunty revvy and really fast yeah it's got it all yeah what would you want I mean it's based on that prodigious the old K5 GSXR thousand engine isn't it I mean what a motor yeah you know it's probably I've heard it defined as the uh the the best in line for motor sort of architecturally that was ever created um so it's just yeah it's got that stomp down below so you don't really need to rev it but because I've come from a two-stroke background I do Revit so it's got the best of both worlds you can still sort of you can be lazy with your you know your gear in short shift it or you can just flail it and yeah just it's awesome and it's got that GSXR character as well which is sort of like quite raspy I wouldn't say it's a smooth smooth engine when you're getting sort of tiny bit raw yeah a bit raw and I like those I think bikes these days this sort of sanitizing things a little bit on yeah if you look at the new Ducatis they've got that Ducati character but yeah this sort of Smooths everything else haven't they but this has still got yeah number one we've touched on it a little bit with the Comfort but the the riding position is the thing you most like about yeah like I say it was it was an eye-opener because I was expecting it to be a little bit more traditional sports tourer but just having those flat bars it's brilliant you just you know you're up tall and you can you've got that leverage as well and yeah yeah if you look at sort of the superbike riders that we've discussed this before haven't they've all got their big sort of yeah and it's for that reason isn't it you can boss it around a little bit more so yeah that's that's my favorite thing about it because it feeds into that Comfort to the overall comfort so you've got control and long distance comfort as well so it has a sports tour it takes all the boxes isn't it it does it does well not all of them no not all of them let's talk about you you dislike so we'll go uh we'll start at the the most minor quibble and we'll go up to the thing you like the least about it so number 10 um this the switch gear it's a bit fiddly not positive and the cruise control buttons on the right hand bar yeah so the buttons are just a little bit and about that it's getting into winter sort of quite the small well obviously they're small but yeah they're just quite difficult to especially with big gloves yeah yeah and I'm pretty curse because you've got a you hit the back button when you're trying to get into the nav menu and stuff like that and you've got to start the sequence all over again yeah and just the uh the cruise control activation button is on is on that handlebar which means I've got a like exactly you shouldn't have anything on the right path yeah when you ride in you should all be on the left I know exactly what you mean yeah that's just a mine equivalent uh okay so number nine we've touched on it um with regards to the screen so you fitted an aftermarket screen but the flip up isn't really for you no I mean the standard screen there was no adjustment to it um yeah that's the thing compared to a Ninja 1000 SX which is adjustable yeah so that was a bit of a oh that was a bit strange for a bite like this but that said I didn't have any need to adjust it because it worked really well um but in the name of Journalism I thought I'd try some other things and so I saw that from skid marks and put it on and it's it's for me it's not not as good as the standard very personal thing isn't it screens how high you sit on the bike definitely yeah okay so number eight OE tires we touched on that again before didn't we we've done lops so like I say there was nothing absolutely nothing wrong with them and it doesn't have any moments with them or anything but there was nothing they're kind of acceptable weren't they yeah yeah they just do a job yeah but definitely if you if you've got this bike just slam some more modern tires or not I mean that goes for most bikes isn't it OE tires aren't the same as The Replacements you buy they're generally built down to a price they're generally built with different criteria in mind to be maybe more stable in a straight line and gripley in Corners so yeah um yeah replacement tires are definitely the way forward absolutely yeah no I agree when we when we've ridden this a few times it never really feels that sure-footed but as you say it doesn't do anything wrong no but there's a lot of room for improvement yeah and it's only once you put those tires on there it makes you realize how yeah how lucky the other ones were okay number seven brakes a bit meh a bit meh no I mean they work really you know I've not had any you know heart and mouth moments but it's that Suzuki thing if they just do they just do what they do without you noticing them which I guess is a good thing isn't it I suppose but maybe it's because I don't have come from more sports bikes and you get that initial bite feel yeah yeah which you don't get which you don't get more wooden feeling isn't it yeah definitely I mean had I had the bike for a few more months I would have liked to experiment with some new brake pads because um I had a Gen 2 Hayabusa in 2012. yeah and that sort of had the same problem and I ended up putting some Brembo um pads in it and it improved it quite a bit so just having that extra sort of bitey pad material and yeah it gave me a little bit more feel and I would have liked to have done that with this because I think it might have yeah it's got the hardware isn't it it's got proper brembos and it's just yeah it could do braided lines maybe better fluid better brake pads but if it had all those things in the price would shoot through the roof okay number six um panniers bit clunky to to get on and off yeah so like we're saying they don't have any framework on them and maybe this is down to me being a pannier novice and but I find that they they are quite clunky because you've got to line up two sort of pins in the top and then also get get a little sort of slot in the bottom of them to link onto that rail um that sticks out and it's just a little bit it's a bit of a wrestling match isn't it and obviously the more in a rush you are um to get them on the less is going to work yeah and I noticed on I think it is the left-hand one there's like a little rubber boot that's on the bottom sort of locating Rail and yeah sort of flew off within oh and you lost it yeah 50 miles shaking so it's a little bit shaky but um it's it's you know I've not I've not lost them and it's all fine and it is just a case of putting another rubber boot on but yeah you want something that just clicks in don't you you throw it on it but yeah a bit more positive yeah but apart from out of pennies are good on there yes uh okay number five things you're not that Keen on is the throttle response especially in its a riding mode yeah I'm a little bit of just leave all the I don't really play with the modes very much I mean I always thought it was a little bit of a gimbick and I think it was Suzuki actually brought in the most right with those yeah yeah something yeah a b and c modes isn't it yeah yeah but I've always just left it on a mode because a must be the best exactly but uh 10 up to 11. yeah exactly you know um but I think I've got used to thank for this because I think you borrowed this bike for something and I noticed when it came back it was on B mode what's all that about and then I rode in I was like oh my God that's why and it's just like so much just a nicer smoother sort of uh definitely for the road definitely you probably want that instant response on the track don't you yeah but it's too much too much yeah yeah so wise you are wise thank you very much I probably just knocked it on to be without realizing okay uh number four no orange fuel warning lights oh I know I'm I don't know why this gets my goat so much but it does why is there no orange water it's pure warning light what's so wrong so you've got a gauge you've got a digital gauge so you've got a gauge yeah which is there and it'll start flashing at you politely when it wants some fuel in it and then a little bit more in politely not quite sure where you are with it though are you no and it's sort of like you've got to look at the gauge to know where you're at and obviously I've never I've not run out of fuel up because I've not had an orange warning lights but it's just something about having an orange light you can see it can't you without looking and it's I don't know I've just been coded to what exactly we've grown up with more analog dashes yeah yeah I know what you mean yeah just it was just a little thing just a little thing okay uh number three the connection with the phone drops out when using the built-in nav can only be re-established when you've stopped this is so annoying and I don't know whether it's this system or my phone yeah and so I can't really say but I've got a Samsung A51 um and like I say you'll be riding along program just sat nav and then you'll notice that the dash has gone back to its normal display with the revs and speed and stuff so you've got to re-establish the connection and you can see in the top bar it shows you whether the phone's connected or not and it sort of Scrolls through and then after a few minutes it's showing that it's connected but in order to stop and get the sat nav screen back on you've got to pull over and stop because it won't let you access the menu until you're stationary so if you're on a Motorway yeah and you need the nav to know where exactly yeah it's it's really annoying but like I say I don't know whether that's the system or just my phone but yes annoying on a Touring bike definitely uh number two uh the vibration from the engine so bad to see it stops you from revving it hard you know yeah some revving bike and enjoy revving this one because it's a bit it's a bit too intense at like 8 000 over eight so you're getting towards the top end of it does Buzz a lot and it'll Buzz through the pegs Buzz through the seats and it just feels like it's angry and it you know you almost feel like you want to throw another gear at it yeah yeah so yeah maybe it needs a little bit of yeah looser gearing it's interesting you say that when we've ridden this bike in isolation it does feel a bit Buzzy but then when we rode against the Kawasaki you realize how Buzzy it is because the Kawasaki is just buttery smooth super smooth and you can kind of place where the bike fits in the world when you ride it against other bikes yeah which is one of the good things about the way we test bikes and MTN 250s and stuff and yeah it highlights how plugged into the National Grid it feels yeah okay so the thing you dislike most about it is the rear suspension fine for the road but no confidence on track yeah I think this reared its ugly head when I upgraded the tires because I think once I did that then that sort of exposes problems with the small forward suspension yeah so like I say I was enjoying it on the road I did mess with the um standard suspect suspension settings at the rear fare so I'll whacked up loads of preloads and I give it a little bit more rebound damping um but it was when I took it to Cadwell park on the Suzuki day that I really sort of like what's this yeah it really not my confidence to be honest yeah it did because I just couldn't couldn't hit an apex and it was just wallowing around it's just getting worse and worse and worse and so that left me with a little bit of a quandary because I was thinking it's good on the road really comfortable you know down bumpy Lanes I thought it was it was really good it was one of the most composed bikes I've ridden but yeah on track it's it was just hard for me to get hold of and yeah it actually actually put me off wanting to do more track days this year because I was like oh yeah and I didn't think it would be like that so um I sent it to Maxton and we put on an nr4 shock which isn't their most racy shock it's sort of like designed for Road Riders yeah um and we've also had a respring and re-valve at the front and on the road I think it's giving it a little bit more air of quality to it like I say it wasn't bad to begin with on the road um but it does feel a hell of a lot more composed and together in this sort of more feel from it now um but I've kind of run out of year to yeah another track day would you recommend changing the suspension to anybody if I was to keep this bike I would I would do it yeah because if I wanted one bike that's made me ride as much as this has on the road this year and like I say I've done my most miles ever well not ever but for a good many years this year yeah um but I also wanted something I could just because it's only like one or two track days a year or something and just have a blast on it yeah you know I I definitely I would upgrade the suspension because I think the shocks uh 630 quid and I think the front forks are about 400 so it's like a thousand pounds extra yeah extra job so yeah I definitely do if and you've got proper adjustability there as well I mean every click makes a difference isn't it compared to standards yeah and this is even we've got an optional um rear preload adjuster fitted now which is a big bear of some owners well yeah this has got the c-spanner job isn't it and the Kawasaki's got a a winding job remote so yeah that needs it so yeah yeah um I haven't prepared you for this but I've just seen some bits on your bike some add-ons I've got some add-ons as well as well as the suspension what are these they're um Oxford uh hot grips oh because this bike doesn't have heated grips a bit of an emission for a sports tour isn't it it is yeah so these would be full whack today wouldn't they yeah they aren't really good actually okay good price as well because often you find that um are we um yeah grips wouldn't melt a snowman's fingers yeah yeah and they're really expensive as well aren't they exactly Oxford ones are good the other thing I suppose is that um to be honest I haven't properly set it up okay I think so I need it's like their electronic system and it's got um accelerometers in it so it knows when it's going but good idea for these conditions yeah I found that it just emptied all its oil out onto the floors but I think that's down to me not reading the manual and setting up okay so overall then it sounds like your your Pros outweigh the cons yeah definitely enjoyed your time with it absolutely yeah it's it's turned my head and it's made me sort of um appreciate a different style of bike and what it can do for your riding I mean I had sports bikes and I was hell bent on them both sort of I spent more time looking at them in the garage than I did riding them and my yearly mileage was just going down and down and down but whereas this it's just got me out riding again yeah exactly so so would you buy one yeah I think I would yeah yeah fantastic well thank you very much for showing us around your bike and thank you very much for watching and stay tuned for more long-term test videos coming up soon
2023-01-12 06:15
