Today (March 2025), a brand-new Suzuki GSX-S1000GT will cost you £12,899, and you can get it on 0% PCP or HP until the 31st of March. That is an attractive offer, but what makes it that good a deal?
Back in April 2022, the Suzuki GSX-S1000GT had just been released, and while talking with Suzuki and poring over the specifications, I heard my favourite words …. “Would you like to road test one?”
Obviously, we said yes, but what surprised me the most was Suzuki’s response to a suggested 3,000-mile road test to Portimão in Portugal and back: “Sounds good—see you in a couple of weeks.”
For context, I should point out that another manufacturer we tried to work with thought 500 miles was a bit excessive for a road test. Anyway, that is a different story—back to Suzuki and the GSX-S1000GT.
That road test was three years ago. Looking on Autotrader, if I wanted to buy the 2022 model GSX-S1000GT today, I’d need to find around £8,500. So, not only was it an invigorating bike to ride, but it was also a motorcycle that would hold its money.
Depreciation as low as 10% a year is impressive, considering VAT (Sales Tax) is 20% of the purchase price in the UK.
We thoroughly enjoyed the 2022 road test, perhaps a little too much, as we shredded the OEM rear tyre and had to limp the last part of the road test home in rain mode. Buying a tyre in Spain was more complicated than it should have been, but again, that is a different story.
Where Can I Find …
- Suzuki GSX-S1000GT – Official Page
- Half Term Report – The Editor’s Report Card
- Portimão & Back – 3,000 Mile Road Test
- Suzuki GSX-S1000GX – 10 Day Road Test
- Crash Bungs – MGS Performance
- Puig Frame Sliders – Pyramid Plastics
This Is The Way
Given that Suzuki doesn’t waste your time with minor upgrades and then herald the change as a new model, we thought we’d revisit the GSX-S1000GT and see how good it is three years on.
After all, it does cost £400 more today than it did three years ago, which is an increase less than the rate of inflation. In real terms, the GSX costs less today than it did in 2022.
Unlike KTM, which seems to release a new model almost every day regardless of whether it has sold the old ones, Suzuki takes a much more considered approach.
When Suzuki released the GSX-S1000GX (yes, the GX), you could see where Suzuki had started. Put the specifications of the GSX-S1000GT and the GX side-by-side, and you can see who the GX’s daddy is.
The wheelbase is all but the same—the GX is 10mm longer. The engine produces the same power and torque, and the tyre sizes are the same. The GX is 35mm taller in the saddle and has semi-active suspension, a 6-axis IMU and a more relaxed riding position. Yet, at their core, the similarities between the GX and the GT are undeniable.
This is the Suzuki way. Invest in the fundamentals. Get them right, and you don’t need to produce a never-ending stream of updates. Yes, improvements are made, but they will be subtle and most often unseen.
Suzuki GSX-S1000GT
- 999cc Inline Four – 150BHP – 106Nm
- 226 Kg – 810mm Seat Height
- 46 MPG (Claimed) – 19 Litre Fuel Tank
- Fully Adjustable Front Suspension
- Preload & Rebound Adjustment Rear Suspension
- Bi-directional Quick Shifter
- Brembo Calipers Front – Nisin Rear
- Tubeless 120/70R17 & 190/50R17 Tyres
- Panniers are included on the GT+ Model
Modifications
Other than swapping the end can, adding some crash bungs, and the normal debate over which screen is best, there are surprisingly few modifications discussed on the GT forums until you get to the subjects of vibration, headlights, and rear tyre sizes.
We can’t understand the discussions about vibration. Three years ago, the only vibrations we could find were when we tucked our feet tightly into the frame. This was an unnatural riding position, so it was never going to be a problem. If the engine was producing vibrations, Suzuki had engineered them out of the rider contact points. For us, the ride was smooth.
So, the first test to complete with the GSX-S1000GT we have on loan from Suzuki will be a long motorway run at various RPM settings. Thanks to cruise control, these are a lot easier and more scientific than they once were.
For the headlights, living close to the Lincolnshire Wolds, where there are long stretches of unlit roads between the towns and villages, will provide lots of opportunities to see how well the headlights work when there is no other lighting to assist.
Reading back through the previous articles, I’d commented on how easily it was to pick out the GSX-S1000GT’s headlight, so comments about poor road illumination on the forums were surprising. Another one to add to the list of things to test
50 or 55
Perhaps the most common debate, though, is over the size of the rear tyre. The GSX-S is fitted with a 17-inch 190/50 out of the factory, which is often attributed to the GSX’s perceived slowness to turn.
I remember the GSX-S/GT not being the nimblest of motorcycles through left-right-left twisties, but that I accepted as it is a Grand Tourer in the truest sense of the title – High Speed, continent crossing in comfort is where the GT came into its own.
A common change to alter the handling is to fit a 190/55 rear tyre. The theory is that the 190/55 is taller – the 55 tells us it is 55% of the 190mm width rather than 50%, and therefore, the angle from the highest point of the tyre to the rim should be steeper.
Mathematically, it all adds up, but 190/55 doesn’t describe the tyre’s shape, only its width and height. The tyre could look like a pyramid or a balloon; the math applies equally to both shapes.
Traction ABS and Speed
Changing the size of the rear tyre can impact the traction control, ABS, and even speedo readings, although most speedo readings are generated by gearbox sensors.
For the traction control and ABS to work, they need to understand the behaviour of the rear wheel. If the tyre size is changed from the factory-fitted size, any electronics that use the standard tyre size in their calculations will arrive at a slightly wonky answer if a different size tyre is used.
Ultimately, how fast the GSX-S1000GT turns will come down to the shape of the tyre, the one thing manufacturers never seem to discuss. It also follows that as we had chewed through the tyre on the last GT we tested, that might have been the most significant contribution to finding the handling progressive rather than immediate.
Typically, my reaction to all of this would be to fit Dunlop RoadSmart IVs in the factory-recommended sizes and be happy.
But then again, I’m biased, having never had a bad experience with genuine Dunlops. Perhaps it is time to try a set of Bridgestone, Pirelli or Metzeler tyres and see if they turn faster.
To be continued …
