[ChicagoAJ]

Hi folks, my name is AJ and I'm from the Chicagoland area. I've been looking into a GSX-S1000 for a few months now. I've been riding for 3 years on the street and a while longer on small dirt bikes. I'm on my 3rd bike in as many years, I currently ride a 2016 Yamaha FZ-07. My last two bikes were small Hondas; a CBR250R and a CBR500R, great for commuting but very, very boring.

Due to a ton of issues I've been having with my 6 month old Yamaha, I'll be looking to make the switch to a GSXS either mid to late next season or over the winter of 2017/2018. Before anyone asks here's the list of problems I've had with the FZ (if anyone is curious):

1) Oil leak at 2k miles from the weep hole (fixed under warranty) - bad seal was to blame
2) Chain ate through the chain guard and swingarm (fixed under warranty) - bad chain was to blame, slack was always good when I would adjust it
3) Coolant leak at 3,800 miles from the weep hole (fixed under warranty) - out of round impeller shaft/seal to blame
4) Sidestand switch died on a trip, had to bypass it to get home (fixed under warranty) - I left the bypassed plug on but kept the new plug for when I sell it
5) Bent a rim on a pothole (fixed out of pocket) probably a freak accident. No idea when it happened, noticed when I was cleaning the chain and tires on day
6) Swingarm dust cover worked itself out of the pivot, water got in and ruined the bearing (fixed under warranty) - bad seal

So after wasting a ton of money on extras, I'm going to give this bike a shot next season. However, the warranty ends mid March of 2017. So once it starts costing me money for stupid repairs, it's gone. So I'm here for the time being to read up on issues, common problems, complaints/praises, and probably just be a lurker until I pull the trigger on one.

Thanks for having me!

 

[Manuel]

Hey ChicagoAJ, your avatar is familiar! Welcome! I just did what you are planning and let me tell you, big upgrade!


Never had any issues with my FZ, but I am very happy with the change. It is a different level bike, on all fronts.

 

[ChicagoAJ]

Hey ChicagoAJ, your avatar is familiar! Welcome! I just did what your are planning and let me tell you, big upgrade!


Never had any issues with my FZ, but I am very happy with the change. It is a different level bike, on all fronts.

Yea, I really want to, like really want to... I spent about $2000 on stuff for my FZ and sold some of the stock stuff. So it would suck to lose a couple grand on top of another couple grand in depreciation too. I have the money to get a GSXS outright, I just hate losing some in the process - if that makes sense. Wish I didn't spend anything on the FZ, then I'd have already made the switch!


Any problems with this bike besides the throttle issue that seems to have been fixed?

 

[Manuel]

I get what you mean, it's good that you take the path of reason. Only you know when you're ready. Only thing I can say is don't let the running cost of the FZ get exponential. From what you're describing, it could be a lemon...

I was in a similar position...tons of upgrades on the FZ, no prospect of recovering at least a decent portion of the money spent and no pressure to get a new bike. But I had the chance to test it and the deal was fair. 5 years warranty and some factory accessories sealed the deal. You lose some, you gain some, you know the game...

In terms of problems with the Gixess, I have not discovered anything yet (it's early, I only have about 300 km on the bike) and I am hoping it will stay this way. Time will tell. What I noticed, if that can be called an issue, is that aftermarket parts availability is kind of poor. We'll see how that will evolve. But this time I will take a more reserved approach

 

[m0n4g3]

I've put on 3000k's on my bike now, with quite an extensive list of mods, but no REAL show stoppers.

The throttle issue is pretty common on all bikes IMHO, yes even the FZ/MT-07 had that issue, gsx-r', sv's... So it's COMMON, and really just takes slight amount of work to get it mostly sorted, and if you want it all gone, it's reasonably cheap to get the ECU flashed (IMHO, if you are going to go down this route, by a flashtuner, and then get someone to tune it for you on a dyno, as then you are not locked to a PARTICULAR person to do the tuning).

Yes aftermarket parts are limited at the moment, but it's getting better!

K&N said no we are not doing filters for your bike.... guess what we have them!

The good thing is quite a few GSX-R1000 parts fit our bike, so we can always use aftermarket parts for theirs on ours (springs, 2009-20014 air filters, levers, etc etc).

Anyway, TL;DR, there aren't any show stopping issues at this point in time, and with a bit of money spent on it, the bike is an ABSOLUTE monster in terms of power, with only just the exhaust done, and dyno tune.... can't wait till i get my suspension sorted for me.

 

[ChicagoAJ]

Well I had a whole huge reply typed out and when I hit the reply button it never loaded.

Long story short, I plan to get as much money back before my FZ sells from taking off the Akra full exhaust and ECU flash. Should get me about $500-$700 back. That'll be nice. Not sure if it's a lemon or not, could be. I don't have any doubts that it would run for 20,000-30,000 miles without an issue (the leaks aren't even bad enough to drip), but I was a mechanic for 8 years and once I see something some new having dumb issues it completely puts me off.

I'm pretty used to jerky throttles as I have the R6 throttle tube on my bike, some bumps are killer. I'd likely get the GSXS flashed too, everything runs so much better and smoother with a flash, it's incredible.

Anyway, thanks for info guys. I'm going to a Suzuki dealer in the next couple weeks to check out the S1000(and F), who knows, maybe they'll make me a deal I can't refuse.

 

[m0n4g3]

Get the nakey! Fairings are for.... well yeah!

 

[bsharp581]

Welcome! I switched from the FZ09 to the GSX-S1000 about a year ago and never looked back. Just turned 5,000 miles on her the other day and haven't experienced a single issue so far. It's definitely a bike that does disappoint in my book! Best of luck in your search.

 

[ChicagoAJ]

Welcome! I switched from the FZ09 to the GSX-S1000 about a year ago and never looked back. Just turned 5,000 miles on her the other day and haven't experienced a single issue so far. It's definitely a bike that does disappoint in my book! Best of luck in your search.

Sure hope you mean it doesn't disappoint!

 

[m0n4g3]

It could disappoint...... disappoint your opinion of everything else out there!

 

[ChicagoAJ]

Well folks, it's looking like I'm going to be picking up a blue GSX-S1000 tomorrow. A local dealer quoted me $9,000 US dollars out the door plus over half of that for my trade. If everything goes well and sticks to those numbers, I should be reporting back tomorrow with pictures of it! They also offered me free winter storage.

So if I do pick it up tomorrow I'm going to try to sneak in 500-600 miles before bringing it back for its winter nap.


Fingers crossed!

 

[ESXB0Y]

Well folks, it's looking like I'm going to be picking up a blue GSX-S1000 tomorrow. A local dealer quoted me $9,000 US dollars out the door plus over half of that for my trade. If everything goes well and sticks to those numbers, I should be reporting back tomorrow with pictures of it! They also offered me free winter storage.

So if I do pick it up tomorrow I'm going to try to sneak in 500-600 miles before bringing it back for its winter nap.


Fingers crossed!

That is great news! I reckon you should shun the winter storage and just fit a snow chain on the front wheel and one of those paddle tyres on the rear and go nuts! (Just replace the desert with snow in this clip)

 

[ChicagoAJ]

Hahahaha, that would be quite the sight. Don't think I'm going to though, lol.

 

[ESXB0Y]

Fair point. Brand new bike and all. Maybe next winter?

 

[Slower and Slower]

That is great news! I reckon you should shun the winter storage and just fit a snow chain on the front wheel and one of those paddle tyres on the rear and go nuts! (Just replace the desert with snow in this clip) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NItJ2BcrTgk

I was thinking of just a lot of nails in some old tyres so you could Ice Racing across the Great Lakes to visit our Canada GSXS Membership.
The Russians seem to like Ice Racing a bit.
Then I saw ESXBOY's better post, so don't do it by halves; the nails would need sharpening too much in comparison.
Rob.

 

[ChicagoAJ]

Well guys. I pulled the trigger this morning. Traded in my FZ-07 for a 2016 GSX-S1000A. I originally didn't want ABS but their only non-ABS blue bike had a huge chip in the gas tank. They offered to swap tanks, but I said screw it and just opted for the ABS bike. I'd like to think I got a pretty decent deal out the door for the bike, got it for $9,460.10. Ended up with 5 grand for my trade so I only had to pay a bit over 4 grand out of pocket. Title should be here in a couple weeks!

What a joy to ride, thankfully I have absolutely zero throttle snatch. It's actually smoother than my TUNED FZ-07. Already have some rear spools, an Evotech rad guard, and fender kit on the way.

Going to spend some time adjusting the mirrors, taking off the front reflectors (anyone know how those come out?), and taking off all the warning stickers in the next couple days. I ended up getting winter storage thrown into the deal too, so I'm going to try to sneak in 500-600 miles before dropping it off for winter storage. That saves me the hassle of the first oil change and saves my garage from some clutter!

 

[ESXB0Y]

Great news! Fastest colour too.

The front reflectors just unscrew. I just got replacement bolts from my dealer for a couple of bucks to replace them.

Enjoy the ride!

 

[ChicagoAJ]

Great news! Fastest colour too.

The front reflectors just unscrew. I just got replacement bolts from my dealer for a couple of bucks to replace them.

Enjoy the ride!

Yea, I plan to do the same - I likely won't get to do anything to it this year. I'll probably hit my mileage limit in the next week or two before any of my parts get here, hahah.

 

[Slower and Slower]

C AJ, See you get orange indicator lens - we get white ones in Australia, but otherwise looks the same.
Am I correct that your headlight fangs don't light up in the USA model ?

The mirrors here are very tight on the ball pivot, actually to the point of feeling seized. I found it easier to spanner the mountings rather than twist the mirror, and the mirror would budge if I rotated it in the vertical plane before twisting up or down.
It was like this on a few bikes that I checked against mine in the shop.


Rob.

 

[mints]

Sure hope you mean it doesn't disappoint!

Hey Bud, do me a favor...pm me...I bought your old FZ! haha Want to know more about it. Thanks.