Suzuki GSX S750 Track Ride Review

Gallery Introduction Track ride The rest First impressions

Introduction

The GSX S750 is Suzuki's answer to the likes of the Kawasaki Z900, the Ducati Monster 797, and the Triumph Street Triple. But, in reality, its biggest challenger in India will be the Honda CBR 650F.

The S750 should come at a price of about Rs 8 lakhs ex-showroom. And this should help it get numbers from two quarters. On one end, there are the KTM owners looking for a quicker, more engaging motorcycle, not to mention a friendly loan / EMI structure to actually make the leap.

The other side would include motorcyclists in their 50s getting back onto a saddle after a long hiatus and many years of battling the corporate ladder. For this bunch, ease of riding, confidence, and electronic help will be key, but not without the speed, sound and style.

So, the 750 has a lot of boxes to tick, but since we are on a race track, we have decided to primarily concentrate on four things - ease of handling, electronics, braking and performance. The rest - design, comfort, cruising, commute, ride, ergo, fuel economy, price etc - we will tackle in detail when we ride the bike on the road post its official launch.

Track ride

Fast and friendly.

That's the best way to describe the GSX-S750. It's easy to mount; there's enough space for the rider; the tank is easy to hook into; and the bars being wide and upright, feel comfortable and natural from the word go.

And when you start rolling, you can feel the bike's over 200kg kerb weight, but for a very short while. Flick it side to side, and it takes a bit of effort at the bar, but the S750 is more than willing to flip-flop past that initial push.

Then when you start gunning it, 200kmph comes up without effort. The engine revs smoothly, willingly, and with such a lovely exhaust note, it's impossible not to indulge yourself revving the motor to the redline in every gear. Not that you need to, because even though the S750 borrows its engine from the K5 GSX-R750, Suzuki has reworked it to deliver a strong mid- range.

After being a child for the first couple of laps,wringing the Suzuki for all it was worth, I did back off. Eventually, I did settle into short-shifts and began carrying a gear higher than ideal through corners. But, not once did I feel that I was struggling at exits. And because it has seamless traction control, I was giving it a fistful at exits with only a flashing TC light and a grin inside my helmet to show for it.

But, the real highlight of the GSX-S750 is its handling. For the lack of better words, it's sweet, forgiving, involving, exploitable, and tremendous fun. The bike itself isn't very fast, but you can carry surprisingly high speeds into corners. Its ability to turn-in fast and consistently - not to mention with a lively front end and grippy tyres - it allows you to experiment with lines, lean angles and corner entries. And that makes the S750 a good track bike too. Especially for those who aren't track regulars.

And lest I forget, the brakes on the S750 are good too. There's bite, there's progression and there's feel. Plus, these feel light even when you call for a hard stop which should save your right wrist some ache and pain. There's also not much in terms of brake fade, even on a track like the BIC.

The rest

Now, to the more regular bits.

First, the looks. The S750 like the S1000 is more about brawn than sophisticated lines, which is exactly what you want from the street brawler. The quality for the most part is good. So is the paint finish, and the S750 looks like an expensive motorcycle. But then, there's the chassis extensions around the engine, which look poorly finished and ugly.

Seating ergonomics aren't too demanding, the throttle response isnt jerky, the clutch pull is a bit heavy - there's no slipper assist clutch here;, the all-digital clocks are easy to read even on the move, and it sounds fantastic at full clip! It also gets a three level traction control system and ABS.

First impressions

As first impressions go, I quite like the GSX-S750. On a track, it's fast, it's fun, and it's got the handling to keep you the right way up and happy almost all the time. It's not too pricey either.

Sure at Rs 7.45 lakhs, it is almost Rs. 15,000 dearer than the Honda CBR 650F, but the Suzuki has more going for it. As for the Z900, well that's a question we will only be able to answer after having ridden the Suzuki on the road. But compared to the Street Triple S, which is almost Rs 2 lakhs more, the Suzuki seems like a steal.

Photography by Kaustubh Gandhi