[Proxima]

Test rode the gs150 and found it very good, will post a more detailed report shortly.

[roadracer]

Originally Posted by MuraliR

@roadracer - I do not see the user weight as a problem at all - if so how would you justify people riding the superbikes?

The bike seems well planted even on high speeds, and is definitely smooth.

Sorry,I meant more from the point of view of using the centre stand. When I use my brother's Honda Activa I sometimes struggle to put the centre stand on and prefer the usage of side stands.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Proxima

Does anyone else own a GS150R in team-bhp? Please post your feedback.

3500 RPM? Are you sure?

Originally Posted by roadracer

Guys, I am planning to get GS150R but feel that the bike might be too big for me. I weigh 70 Kg. I am happy with the specifications of the bike and I have also come across a number of positive reviews about the bike. Would the weight be a problem?

Although off topic, this is about quality of Suzuki bikes.

I bought Suzuki Zeus in May 2007, mostly 19th May 2007 ( 12th May 2007, I joined TBHP ). The bike has till now completed 14K kms.

In around Jan 2010, when I gave full throttle while going to office, the throttle was jammed in full throttle. Just survived this incidence and with help of high gears and clutch, reached office. In afternoon the bike wont start. Managed that as slider was struck. At this point of time, FE was around 65-60 with reasonable fast driving.

On March 3rd 2010 the service bill was Rs. 1250 as some slider Piston needed replacement. This is a problem that generally wont come. The slider problem never cropped up in my Caliber which was 85-90K+ kms. The SA told me that my bike is the first bike in his 15 years career where this part needed replacement.

After spending Rs. 1250/-, I thought that the carb was well worked upon, so filled in Rs. 300/- fuel. The FE I got was 30 approx. Took the bike to Service Center again and got it tuned. Still my FE is not above 50 mark. The bike's overall quality is not very bad. The bearings will need replacement quicker than others. I am currently pushing for carb replacement as from day one I am having unstable idling, cold start issue irrespective of season. Twice or thrice some rubber ring was changed in carb as the throttle response just died down. They blame fuel, but its the same pump where my Caliber, Baleno and M800 get fuel from. Its COCO. My friend in that area gets fuel from same pump for his bike, but no issues.

The entire bike has one or the other issue. The brake fluid container is in such a bad state that even if you touch your finger on it with moderate presssure, there will be small particles of plastic falling off, as if it was paint is falling off from wall due to moisture.

One positive aspect is torque of bike which makes it good to ride. The A.S & S. is not as good as it was before. The market acceptance for Suzuki bikes is not very high, so think twice before putting in money. I have a Suzuki two wheeler since last three years almost, and trust me, the rubber and plastic parts will just fall off. Any generation of Pulsar is better than Suzuki when it comes to quality. Trust me, stick with Hero Honda, they still have industry best service and spares cost.

Till now I have spent Rs. 4160/-+ on maintenance only. Our M800 which has completed 1.12 lakh kms. is cheaper to maintain and run.

@mods : Sorry for the long post, but wanted to share my experience of Suzuki bikes and quality.

EDIT :
One more point. The main stand was bend within one and half year of use. I used to park it in college where there was paved parking and at my home also it was paved parking. Still the main stand's left fork gave up and started bending. I have never faced this in two Spirits and Caliber that we had. Overall, the quality is not the best, this will show up with time.

[Proxima]

Originally Posted by Proxima

Test rode the gs150 and found it very good, will post a more detailed report shortly.

Had a fairly long test ride on Saturday. The bike has 12k on the speedo. For reference, the Pulsar 180 DTSi I ride has 15k on the speedo. Here is a short review:

1. Ride quality was very good, nice tall seating with a comfortable posture. Much better than my bike.
2. Has a big bike feel. Suspension seemed good too.
3. Refinement was also significantly better. Not noticeable at idle but once the RPMs build up, the vibrations are under control. It vibrates somewhat at 8k RPM but is not bad until then.
4. Power is adequate, my bike definitely feels more powerful.
5. 6th gear seems to help at cruising speeds. My Pulsar hits around 74kmph @ 6000 RPM in the 5th gear without a pillion. The GS150R was at 80kmph with a pillion, so I guess the speed without the pillion should be around 84kmph which is a solid 10kmph more than the Pulsar which is great. Add to that the lower vibrations and it definitely makes a better cruiser.
6. The handlebar seems a bit bent, but being a bike used for test rides, it is to be expected.
7. The front brakes dont seem to have enough bite, not sure if it is a problem with the test bike, owners please confirm.

Price was 69300 on road, the dealer said he will give insurance (1100) free, I think I can get it down to 67000 on road.

My concerns are:

1. ***
2. Resale
3. Rusting and niggling issues like the ones reported by aaggoswami.

The first 2 are not deal breakers, but need to check on point 3.

My other shortlisted bike is the Karizma but not sure if it makes sense because

1. It might be stopped anytime being a very old engine. Is it even BS3 complaint?
2. Rattling issues reported with the fairing.
3. Price and mileage.

Am still confused. Do I have any other options? Any other GS150 owners on team-bhp?

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Proxima

12k on the speedo.the Pulsar 180 DTSi I ride has 15k on the speedo.

I was confused, later realised you are talking about ODO clicks

[*]Rusting and niggling issues like the ones reported by aaggoswami.[/list]

Well, AFAIK the rusting issues have been taken care of in newer models

My other shortlisted bike is the Karizma but not sure if it makes sense because[list=1][*]It might be stopped anytime being a very old engine. Is it even BS3 complaint?[*]Rattling issues reported with the fairing.

It is a gem of an engine , but frankly the plastic issues leave a lot to be desired, but irresistible if you bring GS into picture

one short note which i(purely personal perspective) have felt is that the Quality level is pretty much lacking in Indian Suzuki compared to their Japanese rivals(Honda/Yamaha) in India

Thought about RTR 180? I really like this motorcycle

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by Proxima

6th gear seems to help at cruising speeds. My Pulsar hits around 74kmph @ 6000 RPM in the 5th gear without a pillion. The GS150R was at 80kmph with a pillion, so I guess the speed without the pillion should be around 84kmph which is a solid 10kmph more than the Pulsar which is great. Add to that the lower vibrations and it definitely makes a better cruiser.

A bike would do a specific speed in a specific gear & at a specific RPM, what has Pillion got to do with it?

[Proxima]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Thought about RTR 180? I really like this motorcycle

I want to buy a Japanese engined bike (HH/Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki) if possible in the hope that vibrations will be lesser.

Originally Posted by Technocrat

A bike would do a specific speed in a specific gear & at a specific RPM, what has Pillion got to do with it?

I thought the weight plays a role in determining the speed at a particular RPM.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by Proxima

I want to buy a Japanese engined bike (HH/Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki) if possible in the hope that vibrations will be lesser.

You are right.. Japanese engined bikes have very less vibrations compared to Bajaj/TVS bikes. But even Bajaj and TVS are managing to ensure quite less vibrations. But they will take some time to reach the level of the Japanese who have been manufacturing bike engines for eons.

Originally Posted by Proxima

I thought the weight plays a role in determining the speed at a particular RPM.

The weight would only add to the time you get to a particular speed at a particular RPM.

[Technocrat]

@proxima - As Abhinav I mentioned weight & drag etc would only impact the time taken to reach an engine speed i.e. RPM.

So your pulsar would always do 74kmph @ 6000 RPM in the 5th gear irrespective of the load or riding conditions

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Proxima

Ride quality was very good, nice tall seating with a comfortable posture. Much better than my bike.Price was 69300 on road, the dealer said he will give insurance (1100) free, I think I can get it down to 67000 on road.

My concerns are:

1. ***
2. Resale
3. Rusting and niggling issues like the ones reported by aaggoswami.

The first 2 are not deal breakers, but need to check on point 3.

A few points about GS150.

1) Riding posture is very nice, but the seat is not that good. After spending more than two hours, one realizes that the seat is on the harder side. And the seating is a bit high, wont help in traffic.

2) Suspension is very good as compared to my Zeus, but competition offers better. Yamaha is the best.

3) Stability under braking is not top class. Uni and Hunk/Xtreme score here. Yamaha, again offers the best stability. GS150 is what bajaj pulsar dtsi ( 1 gen dtsi ) were.

4) Its not matter of pillion, but gearing. Zeus goes 12.8kmph/1000 rpm in 5th gear. IIRC, GS150 had 13.3 or 14kmph/1000 rpm in 6th gear.

5) One of the best RVMs.

Have a look at Yamaha FZ16 and you will know how much better quality and engineering they provide. I have seen Suzuki GS150 owner reporting rattles and front wheel alignment issue during recent visit.

You use the front brake hard and the front wheel goes out of alignment, this is true for Zeus also, irrespective of disc brake or not. Access is not having this problem.

A.S & S. has to improve. Even I ignored it earlier when I bought this bike, but some how, peace of mind is missing. And its only after a few years that the real quality will show up. A 10 year old Caliber/Splendor or 5 year old Platina/CD Dawn has less plastic/rubber issue than a Suzuki.

Believe it or not, Access has less reported problems than Zeus, heat and GS150.

Originally Posted by Sheel

one short note which i(purely personal perspective) have felt is that the Quality level is pretty much lacking in Indian Suzuki compared to their Japanese rivals(Honda/Yamaha) in India

Correct. Honda and Yamaha have good quality bits that are also more durable.

The only positive point of Suzuki GS150 is torquey unit, else its just another 150cc bike. For a commuter, a few kg less and slightly more strength under 3K rpm would be enough. Competition is more agile ( uni, Apache ) and more stable.

[donarun]

@aaggoswami - I beg to differ on few of your observations of GS150

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

A few points about GS150.

3) Stability under braking is not top class. Uni and Hunk/Xtreme score here. Yamaha, again offers the best stability. GS150 is what bajaj pulsar dtsi ( 1 gen dtsi ) were.
The front end of the bike is very much stable on braking infact better than the unicorn. Braking improves as time passes by.

5) One of the best RVMs.
Half of the mirrors visibility is blocked by our arm, maybe its due the placement.

Have a look at Yamaha FZ16 and you will know how much better quality and engineering they provide. I have seen Suzuki GS150 owner reporting rattles and front wheel alignment issue during recent visit.

You use the front brake hard and the front wheel goes out of alignment, this is true for Zeus also, irrespective of disc brake or not. Access is not having this problem.
Definitely not, this is the first time i'm hearing abt the wheel alignment issue. The usual problems of GS are rust in tank, pathetic headlights and sometimes inconsistent mileage. On the overall the GS is an decent bike but not a great one.

[Sheel]

I too had a brief stint in the GS and never felt the brakes lacking, they were as good/bad as other 150's(not counting FZ and RTR here)

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by donarun

@aaggoswami - I beg to differ on few of your observations of GS150

1) Its not front end, but the rear end. Try hard braking on Xtreme, Pulsar, Hunk, Uni and FZ. Then try GS150. I did all these when my friend was desperately hunting for 150cc bike. He finally bought FZ.
The front end will not enter a slide if one knows how to use the front brakes, that is well known, but the rear end is not as stable. Overall, when high speed braking is done, the stability is lacking behind others.

2) The front wheel alignment is something I am facing in the first place. Thanks to numerous problems, I had to visit the SC quite often, and there too these issues were common. Again, here I am talking about some hard braking, not gradual one.

Originally Posted by Sheel

I too had a brief stint in the GS and never felt the brakes lacking, they were as good/bad as other 150's(not counting FZ and RTR here)

Brakes are about average, but the sharpness or bite of pulsar is missing. If anybody has used pulsar for some time, he will feel that brakes are not good.
Uni has better front brakes as they are not grabby and is not as sharp as Pulsar.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Brakes are about average, but the sharpness or bite of pulsar is missing. If anybody has used pulsar for some time, he will feel that brakes are not good.
Uni has better front brakes as they are not grabby and is not as sharp as Pulsar.

I am anyways used to R15/RTR-180 and Fazer's braking so my judgement might be off,
but i was scared by Zeus and GS's front brake sharpness which were totally devoid of feel, but brought the bike to a halt without giving confidence,but they were really sharp and i never liked the feel/modulation of it

have rode a Zeus for some ~500kms to comment, though I cannot say the same about GS-150R with same confidence as have ridden it less

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Sheel

I am anyways used to R15/RTR-180 and Fazer's braking so my judgement might be off,
but i was scared by Zeus and GS's front brake sharpness which were totally devoid of feel, but brought the bike to a halt without giving confidence,but they were really sharp and i never liked the feel/modulation of it

have rode a Zeus for some ~500kms to comment, though I cannot say the same about GS-150R with same confidence as have ridden it less

Your is correct partially ( or may be my poor expression/presentation skill ).
Zeus/GS, the brakes are badly modulated. In Pulsar, you still get the feel and modulation is nice. In Suzuki Zeus/GS, there is nothing called feel or anything. I think I can take liberty to use the work Grabby. The front brake is a bit grabby in nature. Pulsar has sharpness, but with modulation, Uni is more linear as compared to Pulsar, but gets the job done, which is what is needed in commuter bike. Sharpness king is Pulsar, but the brakes in Pulsar are not grabby.

The front disc on the GS I rode were similar to my Zeus, non linear, and grabby which made me think whether they are sufficient and good for the job or not. If someone is not used to these brakes, its dangerous also. My father had a fall when he was going to barber shop. He has not touched the any bike since then. My cousin (who rides Pulsar ) felt that Zeus brakes have some gum ( Brake chipak jati hai ekdum se ).

IMHO, for commuter segment, linear brakes are better. Sharp brakes are nice for bikes with sporty intentions, but brakes having sudden bite without feel are not good for any bike.