Suzuki GSX650F Forum - www.GSX650F.biz

8000 mile – 6 Month review for 2008 GSX650F
No real changes to review since 4000 mile review – except in blue
Do you want a bike that is cheap to buy / own / maintain, fast enough for most mortals, easy to ride and looks like a bike that costs twice as much? Then buy a GSX650F !!!
In Blue of course if you want the Fastest one…. :^P
Overall this has been the best bike I have ever owned with no major complaints and the minor complaints can be fixed easily with aftermarket parts.
Bike is ridden daily for commuting to work (40 mile round trip on the highway) and week end rides of between 70 and 300 miles. I have been averaging 45-50 mpg and have gone 200 miles on a tank. I normally fill up at 150-175 miles. I have a real problem riding at the speed limit – cruise speed is about 90 mph.. Bike wants to rev all the way to 12,000 rpm like an angry hornet, especially after the switch to the 2 bros exhaust.

Engine: Enough power to get you a ticket, not enough for true speed junkies.
A little noisy at idle – who cares when you hear this thing scream at 11,000 rpm. Highly recommend switching out stock exhaust to save weight, more power, looks (how can you miss the bazooka on the side of the bike?), did I mention the 2 bros exhaust sounds wicked!!

Fuel Injection: Best in the business, smooth power right off idle and linear all the way to redline. Bike starts easy hot or cold (no more choke!!), idle is solid. After installing 2 Bros exhaust, idle fluctuates when cold but returns to normal after riding for a few seconds.

Brakes: Work very well for normal street use. Some serious fade when ridden hard and at very high speeds on mountain curves. Not bad considering the bikes weight. Front brakes make a noise at low speeds when applied (fast clicking??) – maybe it needs an anti-rattle backing plate for the pads?? I will be upgrading the brakes to braided lines, wave rotors front / back and upgraded pads when the time comes to rebuild the brakes. At 8000 miles, brakes have about half life left in them – rotors look fine. Brakes holding up well considering how hard I ride this bike.

Tires: Stock Bridgestone Battlax tires are holding up very well considering I ride in very hot temps (110° F+) and plenty of high speed corners. I raised the tire pressure to 40 p.s.i. F/R since the tires felt squishy at speeds over 70 mph. Nice that Suzuki put common size sport bike tires so we have many choices for tires. I plan on going with the Michelin Pilot Power C2’s when the time is near. This may be soon since I have 2 plugs in the rear tire from nails. At 8000 miles, front tire is pretty worn, back tire has a flat spot in the middle – Changed tires at 8500 miles to Dunlop Sportmax - great tires. Bike feels easier to flick around and they stick like super glue.

Seat: Too hard and flat for long distance, 30 inch seat height is not what it seems since seat is so wide. I have a 30 inch inseam and I am on my tip toes. I have almost tipped over a few times since I can’t flat foot when at a stop.
I installed my new Sargant seat and no numb ass after 100 miles. Did a 650 mile – 1 day ride and I felt great. Awesome seat – highly recommended.

Clutch / Transmission: Smoothest shifting bike I have ever owned but does clunk when shifting to 1st while bike is rolling. Hydraulic clutch, nice touch on a bike this cheap, works well in traffic and no worries about a broken clutch cable. Use caution when downshifting – back tire will break loose if you are going to fast. Aftermarket has not caught up with a slipper clutch that I know of. Sometimes the bike loses what gear it is in (gear indicator goes blank). Just let the clutch out a little and it will come back. When coasting in 6th gear bike will surge – be careful!! It might surprise you – shift down to 5th gear to avoid the surge.

Riding Position: Almost perfect for my height (5ft 7in) and reach. Upright seating position works well for long distance comfort. Wind blast when sitting upright can be tiring after 100 miles or so. Still able to tuck in like a true sport bike, yet wrists don’t hurt after 20 miles. Windshield has good aerodynamics when tucked but could be a bit taller when sitting upright. Foot pegs are at a good height for comfort and cornering. Could be a little wider – did someone say they were going to try Buell pegs?

Handling: If you want ultimate handling in corners, buy a Ducati 1098S, if you want long distance touring comfort: buy a Goldwing. Want a true sport touring bike: buy a Yamaha FJ1300 but be prepared to cough up serious money for any of those bikes. I regularly keep up with 1000cc super sport bikes in corners, very stable at high speed sweepers and hairpin corners. High speed straight line stability is excellent – no vibration or head shake at top speed of 138 mph on speedo (130 mph actual considering 7% error). I don’t need a faster bike for the sake of my DL and public safety.

Other: Dashboard display is very nice, east to read in full sun light. Digital speedo, analog tach with shift light, gear indicator, gas gage, 2 trip odometers and a clock. Red backlight is very easy to read at night (brightness is adjustable).
Put grip puppies on to help with some vibration at speed. Need to put on an aftermarket horn since the stock one sounds like a clown car. Head light needs a HID upgrade, bright light works ok at night.

Maintenance: Fairings are easy to take off and only have a few socket head screws holding them on. Gas tank comes off easy with automotive style connectors and no spilled gas like the “old carb days”. Required maintenance is considerably less than any bike I have owned. Oil changes every 3500 miles (I change mine at 2000 or less), replace spark plugs and throttle valve sync at 7500 miles, replace air filter at 11,000 miles, valve check at 14,500 miles, change coolant \ clutch and brake fluid at 2 years, replace clutch and brake lines at 4 years. Chain adjuster is very easy to use – had to adjust chain at 2000 miles.Oil changes done so far: 600 miles – Suzuki 20W50 regular oil and Suzuki oil filter; 2000 miles - Suzuki 15W50 synthetic oil and K&N oil filter – 4500 and 6500 miles Honda HP4 20W50 and Suzuki Filter. Oil change at 9300 miles with Golden Spectro oil 15W50 Full synthetic and Suzuki filter. 6500 miles changed spark plugs, used stock NGK’s. Only the spark plug wrench from the tool kit will work to remove them. Changed Air filter with Suzuki stock unit – still waiting for K&N to provide one that does not require modification.

Good to know Dwayne. I've got 1300 on mine now and all is well. Glad that it lasts at least 8000 miles.

I ride mine hard as hell too and it's good to know that the brakes hold up well.

It's posts like yours that make this forum well worth reading.

Great review ,right down the middle and not one sided .

had mine 2 weeks now and covered 2000 miles ..

agree with the other reviewer's comments ... speedo shows 138 but GPS says 125 ....

still tends to hit neutral when upshifting from 1 to 2 on move ..

H

hey exkawiowner ... how do you adjust the brightness of the instrument backlight ?

no sign of any way to do this in my UK owners manual !

cheers

H

Lighting mode, light brightness and preset engine rpm shift light can be set using the selection mode. To enter the selection mode, press and hold the SEL button and turn on the ignition. Hold the button for more than 2 seconds to change the mode. Push the SEL button and the brightness indicator comes on in the odometer/trip meter area. Pushing the ADJ button will change light brightness in 5 steps. Looks like this "ooooo". Turn off ignition and change will be made.
Let me know if this is ok or I can scan a copy of the pages and send to you.
Best regards
Dwayne

Dwayne ...

I thought this only changed the brightness of the shift light ... I set my shift light to max brightness ...

H

It changes the brightness of the whole display

so it does ! I never knew that ...........................

cheers

EXKAWIOWNER,
It's not often I agree completely with someone's review but yours was spot on!. I will be most curious about your brake change. I am seriously thinking of changing the front pads and brake lines this winter. I have read so often how great steel braided lines are. Do you still like the Two Brothers. I would love to save the weight but I do not want a LOUD bike. And I also believe I will loose my little rubber tab stop for the centerstand that is built into the stock bike.

GALFER Stainless-Steel Braided Brake Lines....has anybody change their brake lines?

[quote="Applewins"]EXKAWIOWNER,
It's not often I agree completely with someone's review but yours was spot on!. I will be most curious about your brake change. I am seriously thinking of changing the front pads and brake lines this winter. I have read so often how great steel braided lines are. Do you still like the Two Brothers. I would love to save the weight but I do not want a LOUD bike. quote]

Thank you Applewins for the kind words - I tried very hard to be matter of fact instead of from the heart. I love the 2 Bros exhaust, the sound never gets old at 10,000 rpm full wail - get the optional silencer end cap if you want to tone it down.
I am getting pretty close on the front brake change (10,000 very hard miles) - back brakes still look pretty good. I will update the post at 12,000 miles - at the rate I ride it will only be a few months or less!!!

Great review.
I also replaced my tires at about 8k, it seemed a little premature, but i had i nasty nail in the rear that made the decision to change easier.
I got the Michelin Pilot 2CT tires and what a difference. The bumps are smoother, the turns are stickier, stopping seems better (since I have locked up the brakes on my bike once before). The way my old tires looked, i think any tire would have made an improvement but, not as much as this. I have rode about another 2.5k miles on them and have no complaints.

Hello , great review
My moto is 5000 km (8000 m) , and i felt about the same, great company to ride , i´ve road for a midle trips (500 km) in the road , and in the city the moto is realy great.


THE BEST BIKE MONEY CAN BUY

A mile is more than a kilometer my friend

5000km is around 3100 miles

thats right , i´ve made a mistake !!!!

5000km is exact 2699.7840172786177 !!!!

so you are wrong too...

godd rides for all