Now it's one thing to believe that your new born child is destined for good things in
life and another to go ahead and name him Shahrukh or Salman for that matter. As is
the case with Suzuki's brand new street fighter, cause not only have they pronounced it as
their flagship model in India, they've also gone ahead and named it after their most iconic
liter class superbike, the GSX-R1000. Now that is a tall order if you ask me and I was
a little bit skeptical when it came to the all new Suzuki Gixxer. But that was before
I took it for a spin.
No matter how powerful, good looking or well equipped a motorcycle,
it's still only as good as the confidence it inspires in the rider and that's exactly
where the Gixxer will blow you away.
It's two years of development become apparent the
moment you swing your leg over. In fact the first time I rode the Gixxer, it was raining
cats and dogs and still that only served to highlight just how good the front end is.
The meaty 41mm forks have been setup to provide outstanding stability even on changing road
conditions.
It is stiffly sprung, but the damping sees you roll over potholes, with ease and it is
supremely communicative
in letting you know exactly what's going on the road, just like the chassis and the sticky
MRF tyres which empower you to exploit the Gixxer's sporty riding dynamics.
Then come the ergos, they have been designed to suit riders of all shapes and sizes, but
more importantly they hold true the sporty image of the bike.
So the rider's triangle in terms of the distance between the handle bar, the foot pegs and
the seat, it gives the Gixxer a sporty stance unlike any other naked in this category.
So there's a lot of room for the rider to move around, you know to scoop back and duck
and also to lock the outside leg at the tank and on the foot peg to carve out corners with
confidence.
And it is quick on its feet, it is nimble and eager to change direction like a street
fighter should, making short work of riding through traffic.
And supporting this character is the engine. This is by far one of the smoothest 150cc
engines that I've experienced. It is practically vibe free until you're close to the limiter
and there too the only thing that you feel is a light buzz on the foot pegs.
Gearing is on the taller side, therefore the bike is at its punchiest between 6000-8000
RPM. Yet there is enough juice above 4000 RPM to get around the city without frequent
gear changes.
And Suzuki's fuel saving technology, the Suzuki Eco Performance did come handy as we able
to extract a fuel economy of 40 Kmpl despite riding the bike hard.
I also like the gear box as well, it is precise, well weighted and allows for smooth gear shifts
irrespective of how you ride the Gixxer and the exhaust note is surprisingly throaty,
especially for a engine of this capacity adding the perfect background score when in the mood
to keep the throttle pinned.
And it doesn't hurt that the Gixxer looks as good as this especially in the signature
GSX-R blue.
Look at the tank, the alloys, ofcourse the exhaust and the two piece rear mud-guard.
Switch on the ignition and you also have a shift and gear indicator, in other words,
Suzuki has left absolutely no stone un-turned in making this as sporty as possible and is
indeed a package very very well put together.
Except perhaps, the brakes, the front has really good feedback but lacks bite and for
the rear you only get a drum unit.
The plastic quality could've been a little better to match the overall quality of the
bike and even though the tyres, the chassis and the ergonomics encourage you to carry
a lot more corner speed. The lowered foot pegs don't give you the liberty to exploit
it.
But to be honest, if you think about it, that's more of a compliment than a flaw because its
this riding dynamics and the smooth refined engine of the Gixxer which makes it the game
changer that Suzuki set out to build to start with.
So as far as verdict goes, it is safe to conclude that the Gixxer with its peppy performance,
its fantastic riding dynamics and a very attractive price tag does live up to the GSX-R tag.