#gsx-s1000

Naturally, I reached for my Aerostich. The sport-tourer’s uniform of choice, it seemed like the right thing to wear when the invite to test Suzuki’s newest sport-tourer – the 2022 GSX-S1000GT+ – popped up in my inbox. It offers full-body protection from both the ground and the elements, is easy to take on and off, has loads of pockets, and has room underneath for layers (including an airbag, in my case). I felt like I made the right decision when I hopped on the bike. 

It’s always fun to read the armchair quarterbackings of our beloved MOrons in the Comments whenever a new motorcycle springs into view, and the latest iteration of Suzuki’s naked GSX-S1000, harumph, was no exception. Some hate the angular new styling, some defend it. Some lament the demise of Suzuki in general, some admire the company’s resourcefulness in doing less with more. Repeatedly. And everybody knows how they could do it better.

Just a few years after it was (re)introduced, Suzuki has announced an updated version of the Katana, which is based on the updated 2021 GSX-S1000. Suzuki says the new Euro5-compliant Katana now makes approximately 150 horsepower. Better still, the new engine makes a broader spread of torque across the entire rev range. This is done via new intake and exhaust camshafts, new valve springs, a new exhaust, and a new airbox.

The 2022 Suzuki GSX-S1000 has undergone a thorough restyling and is said to boast engine changes that deliver more broad range torque in the low- to mid-range where the GSX-S had been criticized in prior tests. These updates also bring the GSX-S up to Euro 5 standards. When we compared the last GSX to its predecessor, it had gained smoothness at the throttle but lost horsepower and torque in the process. Hopefully, this trend hasn’t continued with the 2022 model, but only time will tell.

The 2020 Suzuki GSX-S1000 line returns with its popular long-stroke GSX-R1000 engine. Not much has changed other than colors. Read on to find out. Price and availability not released at press time.

Judging from the roll-out, Suzuki really wants us to like its new 2020 Katana. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been to Japan for a bike launch, probably because I never have been. For this one, they spared no expense – flying a bunch of us to Tokyo, shooting us via Shinkansen bullet train to the Kyoto Brighton Hotel, and renting out the Arashi Yama Takao Parkway for us to ride up and down upon unmolested for a day. When we weren’t cleansing ourselves with the remote control Toto Washlets in every room (the bidet, it turns out, is for saps), we were touring the local temples and noshing expensively on the Miyazaki beef. They kept dragging us away from the hotel, though, to visit a guy who forges katanas, to tour the new Suzuki factory in Hamamatsu and the Suzuki Museum.

As a lifelong supporter of the underdog and a proponent of keeping things cheap and stupid simple, I was a big fan of the Suzuki GSX-S1000 right from the start. Basically, we’re talking 2005 GSX-R1000 with much improved ergonomics, more supple suspension, EFI, and other conveniences of modern life that make deploying 144 screaming inline-Four horsepower a kinder, gentler and more comfortable experience every time you leave the house.

I must have a prodigious amount of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up!

Suzuki’s GSX-S1000 is another one of my personal faves; I like the way it looks, nobody can argue with the way the 140-plus horsepower four-banger goes – and the price is right too. Where else are you going to get that kind of grunt in a beautiful blue package for $10,499? Gabe was spot-on with his recent column.

Motorcycle shootouts are a relentless procession of putting the screws to a couple or numerous models selected for similarities in performance, style, purpose, price and, of course, engine displacement. Two of our most recent shootouts, the Gentleman’s Hooligan Comparo and Japanese Mega Standards Shootout, pit four excruciatingly similar models from Kawasaki and Suzuki against one another in two separate competitions. At 999cc and 1043cc the GSX-S1000 ABS and Kawasaki Z1000 ABS were the Goliaths, while the 749cc and 806cc displacements of the Suzuki GSX-S750 and Kawasaki Z800 ABS were the Davids. Is it possible for David to defeat Goliath? Which motorcycle is the true king of Israel?

Almost two years to the month, we took our first ride aboard Kawasaki’s new-gen Z1000 ABS ( 2014 Kawasaki Z1000 ABS – First Ride). We were initially impressed, scoring the Z1K a 93% in its single-bike review. Then came our 2014 Streetfighter Shootouts ( 2014 Super Naked Street Brawl, 2014 Super Streetfighter Smackdown) where the Z rounded out the bottom. In all fairness, the Z1K was matched against the most exotic of European nakeds boasting more performance and costlier prices. Even then the Z1K nearly stole third-place podium finishes from the Ducati Monster 1200S.

Suppose you wanted a nice new orthopedically correct naked bike, but you didn’t want all the latest fly-by-wire techno-gadgetry that accompanies the best of them along with the $15,000-plus price tag. Well, you’re still out of luck, really, because Suzuki’s all-new GSX-S1000 does use the traction-control system (first seen on its latest V-Strom 1000) to tame its mighty GSX-R1000 Four-cylinder. And ABS is a $500 option.

We’re not even halfway through the 2015 calendar year, and many motorcycle manufacturers are revealing their 2016 models. Well, Suzuki isn’t going to miss out on the party. The TU250X returns at last year’s price with new colors, while an old favorite, the Bandit 1250S ABS, reenters the Suzuki model line after being announced at Intermot last year as a 2015 model but failing to make an appearance in America until now. The real excitement for Suzuki fans, however, will most likely be around the new GSX-S1000 family.

Would I glance at this bike every single time I walk through my garage and smile?

There’s a lot of hype surrounding the 2015 model year. With so many new models coming from almost every manufacturer, it’s hard not to be excited. And of all those new models slated to arrive within the coming months, this week’s Top 10 lists the ones your MO crew are most anxious to ride.