Suzuki GSX650F Forum - www.GSX650F.biz

Well I have had my Suzuki for 3 years now and have put around 11,500 miles on it commuting to work. My 21 year old son just bought a 2010 FZ6R about a week ago, due to a screw up with his motorcycle license I actually got to ride it the 50 miles home from the dealership, the trip was on 4 lane city hwys and 2 lane country hwys with some driving in the twisties with elevation changes of about 800'. Here is what I immediately noticed from my ride. The bike is definitely more flickable thru the turns than the Suzuki, not to say the Yamaha was better but took less effort to make it handle, the brakes are hard to compare as mine are well used now and his were brand new. I do think the Yamaha's were better, part of that may be the weight though. The bike is way lighter and much easier to push around in the garage or parking lot. The seat is not very comfortable compared to the Suzuki since it is 2 piece and much lighter in the padding area. The overall ride is in no way comparable, the Yamaha is overly firm and actually jolts you on bumps compared to the plush ride the Suzuki gives you. The day I drove it home we had 20-25mph wind gusts which blew the lite weight bike all over the road and when it moves around it is very unnerving to say the least, in this comparison the Suzuki is at least 5X the bike in the same situation. The Suzuki also offers better wind protection with its fairing shape than the Yamaha's.
As for power there is no comparison, the Suzuki has much more grunt lower down than the FZ6R and actually pulls much, much harder from 3000-6000rpm which is to its advantage carving corners at a moderate speed without rowing the old slushbox. I can't say how the Yamaha would be in the higher revs as it is new and the revs were kept to 6000rpm and lower. The Suzuki also has a better feeling gearbox as far as shifting, even comparing mine when it was new. The Yamaha does have a temp gauge which is missing on our bikes but other than that I prefer the Suzuki gauge cluster over the Yamaha's. There are 2 points on the Yamaha that really irk me, the brake pedal is a cheap looking stamped piece of steel that looks like it goes on a 40 year old CB350. The rear pegs are supported on 2 long (about 18") forged aluminum spars that flex really bad when a passenger uses them to climb on. One point the Yamaha beats the Suzuki in hands down is the side stand, much easier to use and it works way better. The Yamaha also has a dip stick for the crankcase versus a site glass, which is nice. The Yamaha also has a manual clutch, something I haven't had on a bike since 1982 and I much prefer a hydraulic unit after all these years. The mirrors on the Yamaha work a little better but also have a cheaper look to them, they are also foldable like car mirrors, they can be rotated forward to narrow the bike up when storing in a garage or other tight area.

All in all the bike is decent but the only thing I found better than the Suzuki was the brakes and the ease of handling when both pushing it around or driving, that and the kick stand.

I will ride it again over the next few months and add to this.

I'm not sure what you think of as grunt, but the GSX650F does not have it. Will it pull in the lower rev ranges without bogging down? Depending on the gear you're in, sure. Does it have grunt from 3000 RPM, even if you're in the right gear? No way in hell. I appreciate that you love your bike. I love my bike too. Does it have a wide power band? Yes. Does it have "grunt"? I'm sorry, but no. It's a 650, not a 1250.

Why do you feel the need to compare our bike to other bikes? I don't get it. All that matters is that you enjoy riding your bike, and that you actually ride it.

Obviously he's comparing other bikes to the our's because our bike is just plain better.

And as far as grunt goes, our bike is tuned much lower than the FZ6R.

Of course it doesn't have the torque of a 1250, but the torque is much higher at lower engine speed than the FZ6R.

But we will have to wait for a future comparison to see how the higher strung FZ6R performs in a higher range.

1) - There are a lot of guys that have come here over time and asked how our bikes compare to similar ones, I posted my impression of one of those I have actually ridden.

2) - When comparing bikes for power or grunt you generally compare apples to apples not apples to oranges. Comparing a 1250 to a 650 is not a comparison at all. And yes I have ridden plenty of big displacement bikes in the last 30+ years of riding. And grunt is usually in my book the engines ability pull in a lower gear and rpm without shuttering or stalling and yes mine does that quite well for its displacement compared to the above Yamaha. The Yamaha shuttered several times riding it, that my 650 would pull in higher gears and lower revs quite easily.

My view and impression were simply put if you do not understand it then move on!!

Yamaha's new FZ8 is designed to have power at low RPMs which the FZ6 lacks. Its a nice bike, testers like it. My local Yamaha dealer wants me to buy that instead of Suzuki 650.

I told him to pick up the Suzuki franchise which was abandoned in my town last year. He prefers to try for the virtually abandoned Kawasaki franchise, but stalled while haggling over price. Oh well.

The FZ6R is a whole different bike then the FZ6(S) its got a low hp engine (78bhp) vs the 98bhp of the rev heppy FZ6. The FZ6R is a budget bike just like ours, the FZ8 is designed because the market wants more low end torque thats why all the 750-800cc bikes have around 100-110bhp but have about 30-40% more low end torque then the 600cc bikes.

The FZ8 replaces the FZ6(s) not the FZ6R and is pretty pricey for what you get, the Speed Triple/Kawasaki Z750 and the new GSR750 are all €1000 cheaper then the FZ8 (8999 vs 9999) The FZ6R costs 8999, to much for what you get IMO.

Thanks for the review. I always appreciate another perspecitve. Still lovin' my bike.

Great Review!! Before I purchased my Suzuki GSX650F I was trying to find more comparisons between those two bikes. I almost bought the FZ6R (being a long time Yamaha fan). But opted for the Suzuki, since I found a better deal and it seemed to be a more substantial bike that I could keep for a while.

Especially after your review I am very glad I went with the Suzuki. Thanks!!

Thanks for the review. Mo info is always betta.

Grunt? I spent 2 hours on a Burgman 650 on Easter Sunday. It does not wheelie but it does go 0-30-60 so fast in one shot at one RPM ( low in the 4ks) that it feels like speedo is wrong. Checked against cop radar stand it its not wrong.

Shaky chassis though.