Suzuki Demo Ride @ Brampton Powersports - July 16, 2011 | Page 5 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Suzuki Demo Ride @ Brampton Powersports - July 16, 2011

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I showed up around 9:05 and got a chance to sign up for 1pm ride on GSXR 600. Everything was well organized, there were about 15 bikes in the line-up, which was awesome. The demo ride was about 30 minutes long, half of it was on the straightaway on the country road ;). Loved the bike. Got a chance to hang out around the store and sit on Hondas, Suzukis and Yamahas. They have an awesome R1 with custom graphics sitting at the door. Overall, great experience, although this one was definitely waaay more busy than Honda demo ride last month.
 
I showed up at 9 sharp, was around 25th in line? I tried a V-Strom DL650 @ 11AM.

It was super busy, lots of coming and going. Wish I'd known, would have arrived sooner.

I had heard from my local dealer (Tri-City) that Suzuki demo funding had been seriously cut this year, and that Suzuki was much more selective in their demos. I would have gone to my home shop's demo program, but there wasn't one... so I drove an hour to Brampton.

Anyways, it was a fun day and I met a few fellow GTAM'ers. I liked the V-Strom, it was fairly fun to ride and did everything pretty well - it even had a bit of snot at the low-mid range. The guy next to me had a blast on the DR-Z. The TU250 looked lonely as it wasn't picked in the first session.
 
The TU250 looked lonely as it wasn't picked in the first session.
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Lonely for a good F-ing reason. Took it out on the last ride for the hell of it, man is this thing "insert negative word" (sorry to the gsx-r's behind for the first bit)

*More reviews and video / pictures of the day will be posted later tomorrow. Road the Sv650 2x and my friend road the GSX-R 750.
 
A good time, at a well organized event. There were lost of ppl, and the line ups were long but suzuki isnt to blame. There were a ton of bikes, and i think i had the most fun on the drz as someone already mentioned.
 
S500K said:
Lonely for a good F-ing reason. Took it out on the last ride for the hell of it, man is this thing "insert negative word" (sorry to the gsx-r's behind for the first bit)

*More reviews and video / pictures of the day will be posted later tomorrow. Road the Sv650 2x and my friend road the GSX-R 750.
Click to expand...

road?
don't they teach people how to spell anymore?
 
I got there at 8:45am, and signed up for the GSX750 at 12pm. Also signed up for the DRZ400SM at 4pm, which is the one I really wanted to try, but I had to leave and couldn't make it back, so i called in to cancel it.

The 750 is pretty awesome. Very smooth, linear throttle. I had a bit of trouble with the clutch engagement point, but obviously that's fixed with an adjustment. Once I got the hang of it, I was riding it as comfortably as I ride my 250. First gear tops out at like 130, took it to 150 in 2nd before I had enough. Couldn't redline 2nd, LOL.

Gave it a WOT punch in 1st gear at one point and felt the front end go light and wobble, with the front tire getting squirmy. Interesting feeling! That bike would definitely wheelie very easily if I had a week with it. Brakes were phenomenal, they felt so nice and had great feel. Gave it a good jolt at one point, locking the front very slightly (coming up to a stoplight, no biggie), and it felt like I was going to go over the front! Obviously I wouldn't, but I'm just trying to convey how powerful those Brembos were.

Ergonomically fantastic, I felt very comfortable on it. Too bad there weren't any twisties, as I really would've liked to put that big piston fork through the works. On Heritage Rd., you could really feel the bumps in the road, suspension was very tight. As I would only ever get a SS for the track, I like that, but you would definitely want it softer for the streets.

The only things I didn't like about the bike was the fact that it got VERY hot in the legs (felt it through my 1pc and my boots), and that it seemed difficult to tip into "corners". What I mean is that sometimes, I'll swerve side to side in my own lane, and my 250 does this very easily and smoothly. The 750, I really had to force it to do it. However, this could be due to the steering damper, and it may just need to be turned down for my own tastes.

Awesome bike, but I'd never ride it on the street. That bike feels at home on the track, the street is an insult to its abilities. I still wish I could've tried the DRZ!
 
I showed up at 1pm sharp! left at 1:01pm sharp.... they lady looked at me and said yea right. Maybe next time.
 
Yeah, got there about 9:25. Signed up for the gsx650f at 1pm. Would have been nice to try the dl650 and the gsxr750.

Another guy there had just sold his gs500 and tried out the gsxr600, he very much liked it, used monster to describe it. As for me, I was enjoying the smooth and quiet from the i4 engine. Actually almost to the point it was kinda hard to judge the rpm from sound. Didn't really matter to much though, shifting was smooth although you really feel it change gears, at least compared to a gs500.

Power was noticeably higher, but still easily handled. Bike pulled enough to my liking from most rpms (4-7k). I never really got to try full out acceleration to keep up with the big bikes, as the rider of the gsxr750 ahead of me was taking things easy, and getting us left behind. Never got above 8k rpm, But it feels like it would keep up on back country rides much more easily.

I did notice three things I didn't like fairly quickly though. Stock grips are very thin, I'm used to aftermarket heated grips, so throttle control while holding sticks was a bit harder. Second, on the left side where your knee rests there are 3 parts its likely to rest on. The furthest forward being the front side fairing. I found it to vibrate the most of anything on the bike. Knee armor or keeping your knee back or out would remedy that. Third was on the right side, I felt some heat on my left shin from the engine. Not to much, and it was a warm day, but noticeable. Shifting my foot out further on the peg seemed to help a lot to reduce this. Might be a plus for me since I ride in sub 15 degree weather a lot. I'd add a forth being weight, I believe its around 530 pounds. I'd definitely give a 650r a try as its 80 pounds less and the same torque.

Does make me really want a new bike, especially when I just checked my valves and 2 are too tight. And I checked them while replacing a cover gasket to try and stop an oil leak. Oh well, real job, student debts and a car come first.
 
Arrived around 9:20 and was able to hop on the SFV650 Gladius at 3. Did the Forks of Credit with a few people while I waited.

Coming off a GS500F, the acceleration difference was felt instantaneously. 1st Gear brings you to about 75kms at 8000rpm, far different from 45kms @ 8000 and screaming on my GS. It was a great feeling knowing that I didn't have to shift as much to catch up to traffic. It was very light and flickable, much like the cbr250r. The seating position was somewhat comfortable but at 80+ speeds, you start to feel the wind resistance on your chest. You find yourself fighting it at 100+.
What I didn't like about it was the torqyness(sp?) of the throttle. You really need a steady had to keep it from jerking around. Accelerating wasn't a problem for me, but I had to give it more focus when decelerating, making sure I don't let go too much before the jerk kicks in. And this is more of a personal preference but I could've used more slack on the clutch. It took me by 3/4s of the ride to figure out how to get it into N. Turns out, 2finger clutching didn't work since the clutch needed to be pulled in ALL the way for N to be engaged.
At the end of it all, my impressions did not match my expectations. I was originally thinking of getting the Gladius after I sold my GS, but I found more weight in the cons than pros.
After sitting on the GSX650r and the SV650, those are looking like my next options, pending on another demo of course=D
LET'S DO IT BRAMPTON POWERSPORTS!!

P.S. anyone know of any Yamaha/Kawi Demo Days?
P.P.S. Great job to all the organizers for keeping all those people happy.
 
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Dayao12 said:
Arrived around 9:20 and was able to hop on the SFV650 Gladius at 3. Did the Forks of Credit with a few people while I waited.

Coming off a GS500F, the acceleration difference was felt instantaneously. 1st Gear brings you to about 75kms at 8000rpm, far different from 35kms @ 8000 on my GS. It was a great feeling knowing that I didn't have to shift as much to catch up to traffic. It was very light and flickable, much like the cbr250r. The seating position was somewhat comfortable but at 80+ speeds, you start to feel the wind resistance on your chest. You find yourself fighting it at 100+.
What I didn't like about it was the torqyness(sp?) of the throttle. You really need a steady had to keep it from jerking around. Accelerating wasn't a problem for me, but I had to give it more focus when decelerating, making sure I don't let go too much before the jerk kicks in. And this is more of a personal preference but I could've used more slack on the clutch. It took me by 3/4s of the ride to figure out how to get it into N. Turns out, 2finger clutching didn't work since the clutch needed to be pulled in ALL the way for N to be engaged.
At the end of it all, my impressions did not match my expectations. I was originally thinking of getting the Gladius after I sold my GS, but I found more weight in the cons than pros.
After sitting on the GSX650r and the SV650, those are looking like my next options, pending on another demo of course=D
LET'S DO IT BRAMPTON POWERSPORTS!!

P.S. anyone know of any Yamaha/Kawi Demo Days?
P.P.S. Great job to all the organizers for keeping all those people happy.
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Yamaha demo days are here, nothing local.
http://www.yamaha-motor.ca/yevents/mcpt/schedule.php
I think Kahuna already had their Kawi demo day in June but they have a couple models on the floor you can demo.
 
Dayao12 said:
I was originally thinking of getting the Gladius after I sold my GS, but I found more weight in the cons than pros.
After sitting on the GSX650r and the SV650, those are looking like my next options, pending on another demo of course=D
Click to expand...

I found the Gladius enjoyable for what it was, a street bike with the right amount of power and style.

LMAO at finding out about neutral at the end of the ride; when I got on, the previous rider had left it in 1st gear with the kickstand down so I had to put it neutral which wasn't difficult. Downshifting took some getting used to on a twin again, but it's totally manageable and not at all jerkable if I did it right. I agree with all your points about the acceleration and wind buffeting, I took it to 130kms on the back road and really had a blast fighting the wind.
I walked away from the Gladius wishing it were better put together, the fit and finish felt so off for me. Here's a fine example of what a Gladius should be:

PA086313.jpg


After 2k in mods....by that time, you're looking into a used Ducati Monster SR2.

I found the gsx650 to be REALLY comfortable, the seat was so plush. It's a sport tourer all the way.
Didn't like the SV650SF for it's sporty ergonomics since I'll be distancing myself from super sports soon.
 
I got there at about 9ish and signed up for the M109R at 1pm. I wanted to try out the m50 but missed my chance as it was taken.

I had a huge smile on my face the entire ride. I had never ridden such a big bike, but it was surprisingly flickable. So much so I scraped the peg around a sharp right-hander once. And of course the thing had power to spare. But coming from a Katana 750 I don't think I drove it too well as it was the first big twin I have ever driven. Overall a positive experience.

It was also awesome meeting a lot of GTAM users and just talking motorcycles. I need to get out more and do that. Thanks Suzuki for the demo bikes!
 
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Dayao12 said:
It was very light and flickable, much like the cbr250r. The seating position was somewhat comfortable but at 80+ speeds, you start to feel the wind resistance on your chest. You find yourself fighting it at 100+.

What I didn't like about it was the torqyness(sp?) of the throttle. You really need a steady had to keep it from jerking around. Accelerating wasn't a problem for me, but I had to give it more focus when decelerating, making sure I don't let go too much before the jerk kicks in.
Click to expand...
I'm happy with my Gladius, but I find the same issues as you mentioned above. I figured I'll just get used to the throttle, but I'd like to know what I can do about the wind resistance on my chest.
 
Got there at about 8:45, was in the first group out. Signed up for the GSX650 first as I figured no chance to get in on the others based on the lineup.
Really liked the bike, handled well moving at speed but noticed the added weight in the slow speed handling. Compared to my 250 it was nice to go to a motor that was turbine smooth. The added power was instantly noticed especially in the mid range where the 250 tends to suffer a little until it gets into its power at 9K or so.

I Definitely think it would make an excellent next bike as it would cover all the bases as my 250 but give me added pop and comfort as well as the room that would make it a good option as a sport tourer. Still have to try the Versys and FZ6R though.
 
Thanks to everyone who showed up and gave their support! Hope you all had fun and got to try the bike(s) you wanted. I know it was busier than Yamahas demo day that had just passed and hope some of you took the time to check out our huge showroom! I am starting another thread called Suzuki Demo tour hit or miss? and would love to hear your comments as to how the even went in your opinion, the good the bad, anything you want to share, we love to hear what the public has to say and try and improve ourselves for next time. It looks like this thread is transferring into a discussion about the bikes that were driven by you guys and all the power to ya! Compare, share your stories and experiences just remember to let us know on the new thread that I am posting how you think the demo tour went so we dont clog up this thread to much.
 
Rate how you feel the demo tour went, on a scale from 1 - 5 ( 5 Being highest) on the Suzuki Demo Tour Hit or Miss? thread. I talked to the some of the PowerSports staff and they were amazed at the turnout, thanks to everyone who came out and apologizes to those who made it to late and were unable to book a bike for the demo run.
 
got there at about 25 after 9 thanks to a traffic slowdown.
Really wanted to get out on a gsxr600 or 750, but would of had to wait around until 3 or 4.
Took out the gladius at 2. really fun bike. was a bit jerky at times when decelerating, and then giving it gas again. had it up to 140km/hr in the country roads...wind wasn't too bad. all in all would be a great city cruiser:)
 
Just posted a new thread about the Yamaha Power Tour coming back to Brampton PowerSports on Aug 13! Check it out!
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