This bike is very good in and of itself. Throw in the price of the bike, it becomes an excellent bike. It looks awesome (I have the Blue/Black model), sounds great (I hate the ridiculously loud open-pipe sound), and has just the right features (fuel injection, floorboards, heel-toe shifter). ...
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This bike is very good in and of itself. Throw in the price of the bike, it becomes an excellent bike. It looks awesome (I have the Blue/Black model), sounds great (I hate the ridiculously loud open-pipe sound), and has just the right features (fuel injection, floorboards, heel-toe shifter). Because it is so good, I notice some of the things I don't like that much more...
These are the things I would change on this bike, although I would consider them to be nitpicks:
- A longer 5th gear or add a 6th gear. I frequently think that I'm in 4th when I hit 60, but am actually in 5th. Since it seems to rev so high (no tachometer so I can't say what the RPMs are) can really knock the MPG down a few degrees, though it still averages out to about 48 MPG, which is great.
- I would have liked a larger tank. 4.1 gallons isn't bad, but I just hate going to the gas station, so a larger range would have been good, too.
- The toe part of the heel-toe shifter needs to be out about 2 inches and down about 1. I have size 12 feet and I find myself feeling a touch cramped in terms of foot position. I'm considering finding a metal worker/chromer to extend it, or simply buy a new one...
- The one design choice I can't stand is the license plate frame position. They went to all the trouble to have a nice, smooth line that runs from the top of the gas tank, down the seat, then up and over the rear fender. Then BLAM!, the clean look hits the vertical wall known as the license plate. I realize Suzuki has to adhere to the lowest common denominator, but they really could have integrated it better.
Anyway, I'm very happy with this bike. It's smooth, shifts quickly and easily, has good power/torque, and is a lot of fun.
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