Hot on the heels of the V-Strom 800 RE, Suzuki has another adventure bike for those who are unlikely to ever get their tyres even a little bit dusty. This one’s called the GSX-S1000GX, and it’s even more road-biased, and it’s packing nearly twice the power.
The venerable GSX-1000 twin-spar aluminium frame is retained, as is the iconic K5 999cc inline-four, here producing 150bhp at 11,000rpm. That package has been spun off into a tourer before, of course, in the form of the GSX-1000 GT, but in this more upright setting there's a sizeable increase in suspension travel - 150mm at both ends, versus 130mm front/120mm rear on the GT.
That suspension is smarter, too, as the GX uses Suzuki's first-ever electronically controlled system. Thanks to the use of a solenoid valve, both the rebound and compression can be adjusted automatically thousands of times a second.There are three main settings - hard, medium and soft - tied to the A, B and C modes of the SDMS-α (Suzuki Drive Mode Selector Alpha) plus a customisable mode and four remotely adjustable preload settings for the rear. The suspension hardware comes from Showa, comprising an inverted seperate function fork and link-type monoshock from Showa.
Demonstrating its road bias, the GSX-S1000GX has 17-inch cast wheels at both ends wrapped in Dunlop Sportmax Roadsport 2 tyres. Rounding off the chassis, there are twin four-piston Brembo monobloc front brake calipers working on 310mm floating discs, and a single rotor at the rear.
The cockpit features a 6.5-inch colour TFT shared with the S1000 GT, and new handlebars that are 50mm closer to the rider and attached with rubber mounts to aid comfort. There’s also a new, 15mm thicker seat to better cosset your rear on the kind of lengthy tours this bike is made for, and on that subject, the seat height is 845mm. You also get hand guards as standard, and a windscreen with a 50mm range of adjustment in three steps.
To go with the snazzy new suspension, the GX gets plenty of other tech treats, including a six-axis Bosch IMU, a low RPM assist for smoother getaways, an up and down quickshifter and cruise control.
Suzuki GSX-S1000GX price, colours and availability
All of this comes to £14,449, which pits the GX against the recently updated and also inline-four-powered BMW S1000 XR. The Suzuki looks like the better value proposition, though, as all the toys are included for that price. Spec the BMW to the same level, and you're looking at a few thousand pounds more.
The GSX-1000GX is available to order now in Metallic Triton Blue, Glass Sparkle Black or Pearl Matt Shadow Green, and the first deliveries will take place just before Christmas.
