Suzuki GSX-S 1000 F

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• 17950 km - June 11, 2021
  Coming soon! If all goes well, coming next Wednesday. The Fireblade will be traded in and the Bandit is up for sale.
  Why this particular bike? Well, I was looking for an optimal mix of all the things I liked most about all of my bikes so far. Every bike is a compromise, so you're always looking for a sort of "best of"; and that list changes over the years, so never a dull moment... My list of wishes and requirements at this point in time:
  
  • An insane engine that revs like the Fireblade - although I still think I liked the ZX-12 engine the best because of the midrange torque it had over the Fireblade. So a 150+ bhp, K5 GSX-R1000 derived engine, tuned for more midrange torque, sounds like a great idea.
  • Full fairing, but a bit more relaxed (and larger) than the Fireblade.
  • Not too heavy. The Bandit was too heavy really, and so was the ZX-12. The GSX-S should be somewhere between the Fireblade and ZX-12.
  • Designed for fast road riding. The ZZR's, Blackbirds, ZX-12 and Bandit were not meant for tight corners. And the 999 and Fireblade were extremely accurate, but at the expense of comfort. And I'd like a bit of both :-)
  The only other candidate I seriously considered was the Kawasaki Z1000SX. Meets all the criteria listed above (although it is a bit heavier), and looks great, but from what I gathered it is a bit more of a touring bike that goes very fast - while the GSX-S is more of a very fast bike that can be used for touring. Small difference, but I liked the Fireblade so much that I suspect I'll prefer the latter philosophy :-)
• 17950 km - June 16, 2021
  Got it! It looks great (the red paint is just as nice as I had hoped), and it fits - at least when standing still :-) Haven't ridden it yet, but the insurance has been arranged, so I'll take it for a spin this afternoon. Even though it is 29 degrees Celsius outside...
• 18250 km - June 20, 2021
  Took it out for a couple of rides over the last few days. I like it! And I must say it look great as well, better in person than on pictures - that's a bonus :-)
  Some first impressions:
  • Great: The exhaust is civilized, even without a db-killer, but not too quiet. So a big improvement over the Fireblade.
  • Great: Wind protection is perfect for me. No weird turbulence but you can still feel the air rushing by, which I prefer over a "car-like" experience that a real touring screen would provide.
  • Great: Brakes as just fine - also the rear brake, which feels (and works) a lot better than the Fireblade and Bandit.
  • Great: Very little vibration in handlebars or footpegs. A lot less than both Fireblade and Bandit.
  • Great: Gearbox and clutch, both work perfectly.
  • Good: The Pirelli Angels STs are fine; a bit more movement on ridges and road repairs that I'd like, but no problem. I should have checked the tyre pressure beforehand though - front was 2.5 bar but rear was 3.1... Setting that to 2.5 front and rear did improve things.
  • So-so: At high speeds the bike is a bit sensitive to crosswinds. At one time this caused a slight speed wobble - nothing dramatic but I didn't expect it either. Maybe better rear suspension would help.
  • So-so: Very direct throttle response. A known issue on this bike, and it is manageable, but smoothing this out would be nice. Also the on-off effect is a bit annoying, as expected. But both are about a bad as on the Fireblade (maybe a bit worse), so I can live with that for now.
  • Bad: Rear suspension. The front is fine but the rear is a pogo stick really... Both the Fireblade and the Bandit were a lot better at handling the speedbumps around here - the GSX really hurts your back if you go at even half the speed I managed on the Fireblade. So that has to be fixed. I checked all the suspension settings, and they were all set to factory settings.
• 18xxx km - July 9, 2021
  For the rear suspension, the factory setting is: preload 4, rebound 1 turn cc.
  After playing around with it, I settled on this setup: preload 6, rebound 1/2 turn cc.
  That's the best I can manage with the standard shock I think. It's surely not perfect; quite stiff and a bit uncomfortable on bad surfaces, but at least the pogo effect is almost gone and fast corners are stable and precise.
  Still some speed wobble issues though. Maybe adjusting the front fork will do some good, so I guess I'll try that someday, probably...
• 20081 km - March 25, 2022
  Only the second outing this year (I took it for its first run of the year two weeks ago) - the weather has not been great.
  The bike runs absolutely fine - all very confidence inspiring, except for the small issues mentioned before. And the rear shock is really getting on my nerves (and it hurts too... ), so I will add that to the to-do list.

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Options & Extras

• Pirelli Angel ST, good as new
• Yoshimura R11 slip-on (without db-killer)
• Barracuda licenseplate holder
• Tankpad
• Tankprotectors (side)
• Barracuda led indicators (front and rear)
• R&G Bobbins


• Battery charge lead for the Optimate III charger
• SW-Motech EVO Tankring (for both EVO Daypack and EVO Trial tank bags)
• Datona front wheel chock & rear wheel paddock stand Xtreme, both black

To do (in this order)

• Fuelling: I can live with it, but an improvement would be nice - so maybe ECU remapping, Power Commander V, Throttle Tamer, TPS adjustment, etc. The ZX-12 and the Fireblade both had similar issues, but the GSX is quite a bit worse in that respect.
  I'll probably try this option first:
  Change the throttle tube to that of the 2019-2020 model GSX-S 1000 (which is the same as for the Katana 2020). So replace 57110-21H02-000 with 57110-07L00-000. Some more info here and on Youtube.
• Heated grips: Use the ones from the Bandit, those are fine.
• Suspension: Front is fine I think, but the rear certainly isn't. I have played around with the rebound and damping settings, but I got that as good as it will get, and it's not good enough. So a rear shock upgrade like a Hyperpro SU10-1AJ is an option.
• DB-killer: Yoshimura Parts No. 138-138-4398.
• Tyres: Change to Michelin Power 2CT. The Angel ST's are fine but more of a sport-touring tyre than my favourite 2CT's, and while the grip and feel they provide is OK, they might contribute to the instability issues.
• License plate holder: It works itself loose while driving, so it tilts upwards - looks like a silly design flaw to me... And the cables for the rear indicators look like a blind person installed them :-)

To do (maybe)

• Fuelling: Another option is a Woolich ECU remap, e.g. at Druijff Racing.

Manuals

• 2016 Owner's Manual (html and pdf).
• 2018 Owner's Manual (pdf).

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