THERE’S nothing flash about Suzuki’s GSX1250FA – even the name sounds more suited to a washing machine than a motorcycle – but the addition of a full luggage set as standard might just make it the tourer bargain of the year.
Yes it’s dull to look at, but there’s an old saying about not gazing at the mantelpiece while you’re stoking the fire, and that could be easily applied here. The head-turner here is that it costs a princely £7999, and that’s before you’ve started to haggle. In an era when we’ve got used to being asked the best part of £10k for a 600, and £13k or more for a 1000cc superbike, that number sounds about as 1990s as the GSX1250 looks.
Let’s face it, everyone who’s ever bought one of these will have immediately bolted a top-box and panniers on, so Suzuki’s decision to add them as standard looks eminently sensible.
Perhaps a harder sell will be the V-Strom 1000 Sport, which has also just arrived in dealers. At £9799 it’s cheap compared to a BMW R1200GS, but the incredibly crowded adventure bike market is a tough place to work in, particularly if your bike doesn’t have a BMW badge. The Sport version gets a Yoshi pipe thrown in, along with some stickers, hand-guards, engine bars and a chain-guard. It undercuts the Adventure and Desert versions (£9999 and £10,599 respectively) but lacks their luggage.
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THERE’S nothing flash about Suzuki’s GSX1250FA – even the name sounds more suited to a washing machine than a motorcycle – but the addition of a full luggage set as standard might just make it the tourer bargain of the year.
Yes it’s dull to look at, but there’s an old saying about not gazing at the mantelpiece while you’re stoking the fire, and that could be easily applied here. The head-turner here is that it costs a princely £7999, and that’s before you’ve started to haggle. In an era when we’ve got used to being asked the best part of £10k for a 600, and £13k or more for a 1000cc superbike, that number sounds about as 1990s as the GSX1250 looks.
Let’s face it, everyone who’s ever bought one of these will have immediately bolted a top-box and panniers on, so Suzuki’s decision to add them as standard looks eminently sensible.
Perhaps a harder sell will be the V-Strom 1000 Sport, which has also just arrived in dealers. At £9799 it’s cheap compared to a BMW R1200GS, but the incredibly crowded adventure bike market is a tough place to work in, particularly if your bike doesn’t have a BMW badge. The Sport version gets a Yoshi pipe thrown in, along with some stickers, hand guards, engine bars and a chain guard. It undercuts the Adventure and Desert versions (£9999 and £10,599 respectively) but lacks their luggage.
- Sign up for Visordown's weekly newsletter, Bugsplat, to get the best motorcycle news, road tests and features plus exclusive competitions and offers direct to your inbox. Register as a Visordown member here and tick the box for Bugsplat in your newsletter settings here.
