How about some ride reports...

4923 Views 94 Replies 17 Participants Last post by Symmetry, 9 mo ago

BEARR

Discussion Starter · 12 mo ago

Some guys here have their bikes, and there have been sporadic reports (Roy...thanks for yours) of the bike in "real owner" hands...but not enough. I know mine's coming and will be here soon. If you own this bike and have spent some real time with it...are you still as enthusiastic about it as you were when you were waiting for it? Why or why not?

Thank you!!

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roy826

· #21 · 11 mo ago

Well gents long time suzuki owner buyer amazingly my bike was ordered and delivered on time with bags two days later. To make you feel even worse I’ve had two thank you letters from US Suzuki on the GT and the DRZ I just bought two weeks ago. Yea they know me and they don’t know y’all lol. They also know I rocked their GSXRs on track for a minute lol

Guess y’all should get out more on two wheels where it matters lol Suzuki is paying attention to that apparently 🤷‍♂️

money talks 😬

1Peter

· #22 · 11 mo ago (Edited)

Removed

BEARR

Discussion Starter · #23 · 11 mo ago

roy826 said:
Well gents long time suzuki owner buyer amazingly my bike was ordered and delivered on time with bags two days later. To make you feel even worse I’ve had two thank you letters from US Suzuki on the GT and the DRZ I just bought two weeks ago. Yea they know me and they don’t know y’all lol. They also know I rocked their GSXRs on track for a minute lol

Guess y’all should get out more on two wheels where it matters lol Suzuki is paying attention to that apparently 🤷‍♂️

money talks 😬

If you're saying you need to hand over lots of money to Suzuki to get decent service from them, my response would be that's a lousy way to do business. Even a first-time buyer should get the royal treatment from Suzuki, which isn't what I'm hearing. The tight supply issue, plus inflation is making it a seller's market right now for manufacturers, but before they get too complacent, it would be wise of them to realize that all in nature is balance...and the economic scales are headed for a major re-balancing over the next 2 years. Let's see what happens to corporate greed and complacency then...

FreePenguiny

· #24 · 11 mo ago

Maybe recession will pull msrp down? Let’s sY 12.5k?
Would be awesome for new buyers.
Im already seeing discounted gsxs ads @ msrp with no freight prep

BEARR

Discussion Starter · #25 · 11 mo ago

FreePenguiny said:
Maybe recession will pull msrp down? Let’s sY 12.5k?
Would be awesome for new buyers.
Im already seeing discounted gsxs ads @ msrp with no freight prep

The narrative right now is - "oh, boy" - inflation is peaking. Expect a short term relief rally in the market and a lot of press hinting we're "out of the woods". Unfortunately, that isn't the case. While inflation may have seen a peak, it isn't going to come down significantly until the Federal Reserve catches up and hits its inflation target of 2%. What will possibly occur - to your point - is a notable increase in inventories of goods as households curtail spending. Will that impact motorcycle sales? It probably will...but...most motorcycle manufacturers have been producing and shipping limited numbers of bikes, so while sales may drop, the scarce inventory may keep prices firm.

I've pretty much resigned myself to not seeing the GT at my dealer this season. Probably for the best. Given the economy, Suzuki may be hurting by next year and maybe some good deals will happen.

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Symmetry

· #26 · 11 mo ago

Yeah, it won't be like 2008 when motorcycle inventory was piled sky-high then everyone just stopped buying them all at once. In 2010 I got a smoking deal on a new 2008 ZX-10R because they were still trying to get rid of them... and for a few years after that, too. I don't think mfgr's want to make that mistake again, and they won't have to because showrooms are largely empty compared to normal times.

Symmetry

· #27 · 11 mo ago

New ride report:

I went for a 150 mile round trip ride on Saturday morning to grab/drop a tag for the Maryland Tag-o-Rama game on advrider.com... Twisty back roads, 55mph cruising, some high-speed highway, and a couple WOT pulls in gears 1-4. The GT was right in its element through all of it. I got a real ~43 mpg for the trip.

I did have a few hot starts where the engine tapping was present and went away after 5-10 seconds. It wasn't as loud as it was the first two times it happened, but the same sound. The bike now has ~1170 miles on it. This concerns me for the longevity of the engine. It's getting into the way-too-hot-to-ride season but when it cools down I'll ride more and try to take video of it when it happens, and take it into the dealer to replicate if I can.

I used cruise control a good bit as well, and I feel like it isn't tuned perfectly smoothly because there was a 'very slight' surging most of the time it was engaged. So slight that most people wouldn't even notice, but I'm hyper-sensitive to that sort of thing. I think it's just tuned so 'tightly' that it adjusts very slight variances in speed rapidly enough to become slightly noticeable. It does hold its set speed very well, and that's probably why. It's really not an issue to me, just something worth mentioning.
Other than those imperfections, the bike was absolutely amazing still, and gave me a very enjoyable ride. It's just so easy to ride while still being thoroughly entertaining when I want it to and it has no real bad habits. I'm concerned about the tapping for sure, but if that never becomes more of an issue than it is, this is still easily the best bike I've ever ridden and I don't yearn for anything else (for purely street... the DR650 I bought shortly after takes care of the dirty side of things).

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1Peter

· #28 · 11 mo ago

I am new to the forum & have just put a deposit down on a GT but have noyiced this engine tapping seems to be a common complaint...Is this happening with all bikes or just a small percentage ?

Symmetry

· #29 · 11 mo ago

So far I have a count of 4 people on this forum including myself. Unfortunately it might be somewhat common then, since there aren't all that many people here with them yet. I've been planning on starting a thread about it but haven't gotten around to it yet.

1Peter

· #30 · 11 mo ago

I wonder how many owners are on the forum ? I also wonder if it will sort itself ? Not what i need to hear though ! You mentioned that the bike is the best road bike you have owned, do you mind me asking your age & how many bikes you have owned to compare it with ?

BEARR

Discussion Starter · #31 · 11 mo ago

It would be helpful to get a dealer's technician's opinion. If there's a real issue, they're the ones to send reports to Suzuki and force a response. Suzuki has to be aware of the noise...but they need to explain it, if it's "normal" (i.e., "why" is it normal?).

1Peter

· #32 · 11 mo ago

Exactly, but at least it will be a warranty issue if it turns pear shaped...Suzuki would be better off addressing it quickly in case it turns into a bigger issue & a bigger cost for them...

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Symmetry

· #33 · 11 mo ago (Edited)

1Peter said:
You mentioned that the bike is the best road bike you have owned, do you mind me asking your age & how many bikes you have owned to compare it with ?

Best bike I've ever ridden, even, though my 'resume' isn't nearly as complete as others. Still, neither am I n00b. I've been street-riding for about 25 years (though I started out on a JR50 dirtbike when I was 5 and had bigger dirtbikes later).
On the street I've ridden extensively a few 80's Yamaha Viragos, several other cruisers (Honda, Harley, Suzuki... 90's and 2000's, 250-1800cc's), an '84 GPz500, '01 SV650, '18 KLR650, and I've owned a '96 GPZ1100, '08 ZX-10R, '85 750 Turbo, '14 Ninja 300, '14 CBR650F, and in addition to the GT, also recently bought a 2018 DR650. There are a few others in there I'm forgetting.

There are a lot of really good bikes that I haven't ridden, but none of them are as perfect a fit for me as this GT in ways I don't need to ride to know (the Ninja 1000SX comes very close, but not quite there).

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Symmetry

· #34 · 11 mo ago

BEARR said:
It would be helpful to get a dealer's technician's opinion. If there's a real issue, they're the ones to send reports to Suzuki and force a response. Suzuki has to be aware of the noise...but they need to explain it, if it's "normal" (i.e., "why" is it normal?).

For sure... I just won't be able to make it to the local dealer soon, and they're absolutely swamped with service this season... no appointments there (first come first serve) so I can't just show up and have someone come out and listen. I was going to have them install my heated grips but they said I'd have to leave it in their back lot for 2 weeks before they could get to it... No thanks!

1Peter

· #35 · 11 mo ago (Edited)

Deleted & reposted below...

1Peter

· #36 · 11 mo ago

Symmetry said:
Best bike I've ever ridden, even, though my 'resume' isn't nearly as complete as others. Still, neither am I n00b. I've been street-riding for about 25 years (though I started out on a JR50 dirtbike when I was 5 and had bigger dirtbikes later).
On the street I've ridden extensively a few 80's Yamaha Viragos, several other cruisers (Honda, Harley, Suzuki... 90's and 2000's, 250-1800cc's), an '84 GPz500, '01 SV650, '18 KLR650, and I've owned a '96 GPZ1100, '08 ZX-10R, '85 750 Turbo, '14 Ninja 300, '14 CBR650F, and in addition to the GT, also recently bought a 2018 DR650. There are a few others in there I'm forgetting.

There are a lot of really good bikes that I haven't ridden, but none of them are as perfect a fit for me as this GT in ways I don't need to ride to know (the Ninja 1000SX comes very close, but not quite there).

Yep they were the two bikes i was trying to decide between, or a BMW R1200R/R1250R which are fun to ride & comfortable...I could not afford a new BMW R1250R so had been looking around for a 2nd hand one ! Also tried a Ducati Supersport but it seemed to be plagued with problems & no good for a pillion...I was not expecting to see a GT available until late in the year so when it turned up i put a deposit on it subject to a test ride...The kawasaki was a great bike to ride but i did not like the risers & dash in general because it looked cheap + the seats were very plain, engine covers looked cheap & just looked boring overall compared to the Suzuki imo..It is a well sorted bike though having hand adjustable pre load, easier access to do oil changes etc, but just not me...I sat on the GT & it felt & looked like it was better quality to me which seems to be the opposite of what some reviewers are saying ? Hope it rides well !

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Symmetry

· #37 · 11 mo ago

FWIW, Roy has said his past GSX-R1000's have had the same tapping on hot-starts as well (the cause being the cam chain tensioner... presumed to be the same here) and it hasn't ever resulted in any kind of failure. He doesn't seem to be concerned that his GT does it.
It still concerns me and either way it is not at all right, but his experience gives me some slight relief (hopefully it won't turn out to be worse than that).

1Peter

· #38 · 11 mo ago

Yep it is annoying for a modern bike to be doing this...I wonder if different oil would make a difference ?

FreePenguiny

· #39 · 11 mo ago

I personally have no noise, at 750 miles. But I think I’m switching to amsoil today because why not

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CaptainSlow

· #40 · 11 mo ago

My F was making the noise for a few months, then it went away on its own and it never made the noise again. I did not do anything to fix it. I suspect it was the cam chain tensioner, which eventually tightened itself.

I took a video while it was making the noise, does your bike sound the same?

streamable.com

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Watch "n" on Streamable.

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