Suzuki GSX650F Forum - www.GSX650F.biz

Hello all,
I am still bike-less. (Eternal waiting for my house to sell)

I am looking at
Wee Strom: I like the concept of it as a comfortable bike to ride long distances but it seems kind of clumsy. Would be easy to tie on a big duffle bag. But the engine hangs down and it cries out for a skid plate.
GSX650F: A sport bike with comfortable seating position. Fuel injection is appealing. I am leery of the shim valves.
SV650: V twin engine is appealing
Gladius: highly rated but lacks a windshield.

Kawa Ninja 250- might be too small to ride all day
Ninja 650: nice little bike, the windshield seems small
Ninja 500: old school, but easy valve adjustment (like my Concours). Priced to sell. But it's a little small, my legs are bent a lot to stay on the pegs.
Kawa Versys: more comfortable, better ergos. Kind of $$$$ though.

Honda and Yamaha don't make comparable bikes (middleweight), they seem to concentrate on all-out sport bikes.

Can you get ABS on the GSX650F? It's available on the Wee Strom and SV.
Can you ride the GSX650F on long trips, is there vibration? Or is the 4 cyl. smooth.

I think that's all the Questions I have for now
Thanks and I hope to be riding soon!!!!!!!

Good questions. Presently in the US you can't get a GSX650F with ABS. On long trips its pretty comfortable and little or no vibrations. Seat is a little hard, however, there are a number of seats out there that you can replace it with, in additon there are gel covers. Power is good, not anything like a gsxr, however, more than enough to use on the street. You can cruise at 90+ with no problems, top speed is around 130+. Gas mileage is excellent and I average over 46 per gallon. With a few inexpensive mods this bike is very attractive. I have attached a pic for you to see. The most expensive mod I have added was the Two Brothers exhaust. Much better looking and sounding. I get a lot of compliments on mine. Good luck with your decision. You should be able to find a 2008 in the dealerships for less than $6500 out the door.

Interesting. In Canada you can't get an F without ABS.


Dave

Honda hornet 600 .

Yamaha FZ6N ..FZ6F.

OR the new Yamaha XJ6 ... diversion .
Naked ,3/4 fairing , full fairing .

Google for specs .

Here is a video of the XJ6 I just found to show you pictures and a review.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU0x4covbic&feature=fvw

Funny thing is , where I grew up is where this video was filmed on the harbour in Sydney ...my old house , ,work {where he's doing the burn out }and even a mate in the background is in the video.
Had a laugh when I seen it

As I've owned both the ER6F (the ninja 650R) and the GSX650F, here are my thoughts with those 2

Note: Where I refer the ER6 in the post, it means Ninja 650R as they are the same bike

Now it should be remembered I had the 2008 version of the ER6 which does differ from the 2009 version in a few places, mostly in that there is more vibration damping on the newer model

The ER6F is a good bike, no doubt about it but when comparing it to the GSX650F the Suzuki wins in a lot of places.
Firstly it's better value for money (and cheeper in Oz, not sure about where you are)
You get preload adjustable front forks, more adjustment on the preload for the rear and rebound damping adjustment on the rear also. All you get on the ER6 is preload on the rear and for someone my size (just over the tonne) I had to have it set 1 from the top for everyday riding and on the top mark for spirited. The GSX650F I can have set on 4 (about mid way) for everyday and 5 for spirited (plus I put the rebound up a bit also)
You get analog gauges on the ER6 (remember 2008 model) whereas on the GSX650F you get a digital speedo and a fuel gauge. The ER6 comes with a low fuel level light only.
Peak HP and tork are about the same on both bikes, but the GSX650F has a much more usable tork curve and will allow you to use lower revs without complaint. The ER6 will demand you change down 2 if not 3 gears at times to do the same thing. Obviously for more spirited acceleration the Zuk loves a kick down also.
Due to the ER6 being a parallel twin it can be quite viby at speed causing numb feet and hands in some (I suffered and so did my wife) This does not happen on the GSX650F - at all
Fuel economy on both bike was about the same maybe favoring the ER6 but only by a bees nutsack. This is made up for on the Zuk by having a 19 litre tank compared to the 15.5 litre tank on the Kawa.
The ER6 doesn't have the ability to easily have a center stand fitted, so you are restricted to the side stand and will need a race stand to do any rear wheel work including chain adjustments, cleaning and lubing. The GSx650F doesn't come standard with a centre stand, but can be fitted with one real easy
I think general servicing on the GSX650F is easier than on the ER6
Now it's not all doom and gloom for the Kawasaki. In my opinion the ER6 had a nicer gearbox, just smoother I thought. That may be due to our GSX650F only having 1200 kms on it so far and still needing a bit more time to loosen up. The thing I absolutely loved about the ER6 box was the positive neutral finder. If you're stopped and in first, click up as hard as you want, you will ALWAYS find neutral, not question.
I felt the ER6 was way more flickable that the GSX650F due to being lighter, having said that the Zuk is not that far behind.

SO there ya go, If you have both on your list (which you have) IMO scrub the ER6 off as the GSX650F does it better.

Only my opinion tho.

You mentioned the valve adjustments on the GSX650F. The ER6 uses the same method of valve adjustment being shim under bucket

cheers

Thanks dhula, that's good info!
Overall, because of the grin factor with my 4 cyl Concours, I think the GSX650F would be a better bike for me.
I sat on the Kawas the other day- Ninja 650 was too small. Versys was OK because it sets higher.
I still like the Ninja 500 in concept, but it was too small (my legs were bent too much).

Is the black 650F really faster than the blue one?

So it looks like either the GSX650F or the Wee Strom. The Wee Strom has that V twin motor jammed in there, it looks like it would be hard to work on. But it has comfy ergos.

Thanks again

You listed things you liked about the other bikes, but the Wee has all of them too (FI and comes in an ABS version and is a v-twin). Just thought I would point that out Also, yes a skid plate is easy to add, but not necessary if you aren't going off pavement. My husband rides a Wee and I ride the GSXF if you want comparisons. I have ridden his bike a time or two. They are very different animals though....sound different, handle different and feel different seating position wise.

I'm going to agree with Kath on this one, the Wee is a nice bike. I traded mine in to get the GSXF, though, and don't regret it one bit. The only real issue that I had with the Wee was buffeting at speed, but a smaller shield took care of that for me. Other people tried other things, with varying levels of success. Outside of the buffeting, it's a rock solid bike. Check out the VStrom Riders International forum for all of the information that you could want on the Wee.

One word of caution on the GSXF - despite what you might have heard, the blue is faster!

I owned the Wee Strom and moved from it to the GSXF. I would still own the Wee were it not for the irremedial wind management issues. Not only was buffeting an issue (that I couldn't fix with 3 different windscreens) but it also got blown around badly in crosswinds. After long hauls on the Wee I felt as if my head had been in a paint shaker...it was fatiguing. The GSXF is dead steady in crosswinds and the clean flow of air across the windscreen is not an issue at all. It's a much better mileage muncher.