Review of Suzuki GS 150R

AbdulRahmanM · 26th July 2010, 08:58

Review Of GS150R named SE7EN

Here is a detailed review of my lovely bike, i have tried to cover all aspects, hope its informative. Mostly i would have compared all aspects to a pulsar, since i owned a pulsar 150 classic with self start for 7 years. Since i was in the market after selling my pulsar, i wanted something similar to pulsar, but well refined, this was the bike which was close to what i had in mind.

STYLING:

>ODO - I was never a fan of digital odos, i almost went towards unicorn because of this, but somehow made up my mind towards GS and i am glad that i did that now. When i sit on the bike i love what i see. I really mean it. Please see it for yourself. A picture of my odo when my bike crossed 2000 kms

In the right top , there are two colored indicators for Neutral and High-Beam. Then we have a Orange colored display which first shows the speed in kms and the mode display. There are three modes , ECO/POWER/ mode.The empty mode is also known as god mode. In ECO mode when the rpm exceeds 4500 the flashlight starts to flash, and for power mode the light starts flashing at 8500 rpm. In god mode there are no warning lights meaning that you know your limits. In ECO mode the best mileage i got was 56. The worst mileage was obviously in POWER mode 42, but that was in very high spirited driving , just after the run-in period was over ;-) . Then it shows the Total kms covered or TRIP A or TRIP B. Yes it has two trip meters, my pulsar had a manual trip meter which was usually reset by someone mostly in parking,hence i love this digital odo, where only i can reset it. Finally the fuel gauge , which has 5 blocks to represent it, with each block almost representing 4 liters, and the last block represent 4 liters, and the block starts blinking when petrol is very low. I usually keep my tanks full, so it has not got to that point yet.

To the left,It has a needle rpm meter, gear shift indicator very useful as you have 6 gears. It also has a flash white light in the bottom left to indicate whether you are exceeding the specified rpm limit in the respective modes, POWER or ECO.

>FUEL TANK

The fuel tank is huge and holds upto almost 20 litres, and it still might have place to hold a bit more petrol, good for 1000 kms at one shot without refuelling.

XTP, means Extra Torque performance

>SIDES

The side profile looks good, but it does not differ from other bikes on the offering in India, most of the persons, who sees my bike first asks whether its an Unicorn?

Yeah Six Speed

AbdulRahmanM · 26th July 2010, 09:07

RVMS:

STOCK RVM View:

The stock rear view mirrors did not allow full view from the behind, hence i replaced this with the pulsar RVMS and visibility has improved a lot

View with Pulsar RVM after replacement:

Review of Suzuki GS 150R-pulsarright.jpg

>FRONT:

The front almost looks like unicorn and power from the Headlight is just adequate, but it should have been better

>REAR:

I love the rear light and indicators, it looks so nice, i guess it takes the hues from suzuki hayabusa.

STORAGE:

Below the seat there are 2 Helmet locks and space for tool kit, first aid kit and papers, very useful feature.Sorry no pictures

AbdulRahmanM · 26th July 2010, 09:16

TIRES:

>FRONT:

The front tires are similar to other bikes offered, but the alloy design is curved and unique, also note that the disc brake is on the left hand side against the norm of right side disc brakes in India

>REAR:

The rear tire is just adequate, brake is something which you would want to improve, as i feel no difference between my classic pulsar brakes and this bike. The drum brake is also just adequate.

PERFORMANCE:

The responds nicely to throttle, and it is more of a silent performer, overtakes at high speeds, but the initial acceleration is a bit low. Am not much of a technical guy, so i dont have any other information to provide here.

HANDLING & ROAD PRESENCE:

The bike is heavy and hence better stability at high speeds, it does not dance when some big vehicle overtakes you with high speed.
Braking should be done sensibly with both the front and back brakes, simply applying rear brakes, does not help at all.

This bike has an awesome road presence, when some vehicles, even buses which try to overtake from the opposite side, when i drive in a single lane road, then never flash their lights and come towards me, even a bully Scorpio saw me with this bike and hid behind a bus, i am not exaggerating but trying to project what it really means to drive this on the road. RESPECT MY AUTHORITA![South park style]

AbdulRahmanM · 26th July 2010, 09:24

All pictures were taken using a Nokia 5130 2 MP camera. Please excuse me for the poor picture quality.

OTHER INFORMATION:

Tank Capacity : It almosts hold 20 Litres including reserve.
Oil Capacity : 1.1 Litre.
CC : 150
BHP : 13.8
Weight : 149 Kg [ Yes indeed, very heavy]
Gears : 6 [ Yes you read it right, SIX gears also comes with gear indicator]
Total Kms covered : 2400 kms[So far]
Mileage : 47 kmpl.( Mind you this includes some spirited driving for around 60% of the time and drive is 50% split city and highway driving in POWER mode).

Best/Worst Mileage : 56/42 kmpl Respectively.

Do i love this bike?: Yes and i would recommend everyone looking around for a bike to have a go at this baby.

Things i Miss: I can't Hate my bike, so listing out missing things.

1) Side stand Indicator, its must, i had it in my old pulsar.
2) Better rear brakes

Things i Love:

1)Engine Sound
2)6th Gear
3) Gear lever just like pulsar, not Toe-shifting ones, as it tends to damage my shoes.

My son Sufi loves this bike and his expressions says it all.

My GS 150R ownership thread.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...ki-gs150r.html

aargee · 26th July 2010, 09:37

May be you should've renamed this thread to Ownership experience as you covered the buying experience here - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...-gs150r-1.html

I'm glad you're posting the positive aspects of GS150R; several weekends ago, one of my friend's clutch cable broke for no reason at Amirthi forest; the bike apparently had only clocked 4K on the ODO in about 6 months of time & it was a surprise to me on Suzuki's quality.

Next thing he mentioned was the chrome dials on the tacho that reflects the sunlight directly to the eyes during mid days. Is that true?

Could you pls take the pic the top view of the bike covering the T-stem & top portion like odo1.jpg so that the top brackets & the top part of front suspensions are visible? Thanks.

Somehow I feel, you could've avoided posting the pics that you took while riding (odo3.jpg)

roadracer · 26th July 2010, 10:29

Thanks for the review. Agree with you that there should be a side stand indicator. I had driven couple of times with the side stand not pushed to it's position. Also, agree that the rear view mirrors are just not good enough. Apart from these two issues, other aspects look to be fine with this bike. Did you try filling in 20 litres? In my case, once the fuel pump attendent filled 17 litres and it looked it could still take few more litres.

AbdulRahmanM · 26th July 2010, 11:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadracer

Did you try filling in 20 litres? In my case, once the fuel pump attendent filled 17 litres and it looked it could still take few more litres.

Yes i had filled 19.5 liters and already had some fuel left in it.

nayakrnr · 26th July 2010, 11:03

hey abdul, how do you change the PWR mode to ECO mode?

AbdulRahmanM · 26th July 2010, 11:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by nayakrnr

hey abdul, how do you change the PWR mode to ECO mode?

By using the ADJ button present in the odometer, beautiful thing is we can change it on the go, while driving

roadracer · 26th July 2010, 15:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by AbdulRahmanM

By using the ADJ button present in the odometer, beautiful thing is we can change it on the go, while driving

But, is it advisable to do this while on the drive? I thought that the manual said that you need to do it before you start.

AbdulRahmanM · 26th July 2010, 16:17

I just mentioned that its an additional option

GreenmachinE · 26th July 2010, 19:24

Good review ( It would be great if added more details) and good pictures ( the quality could have been better ). As a unicorn owner, I would like to have the following things

Gear shift indicator

Six speed ( considering the uni's engine is not very rev happy when compared to 2 strokes and P 135, r15 etc )

Better RVM

Better low speed ride

Your bike has all of the above. I would have got the GS if I hadn't been a chicken to risk it with the new comer.

Love your son's ' bring it on you wooses ' picture.

Nutty Nair · 27th July 2010, 12:45

Good review but I think you may want to add one more thing to your Things I miss list - More powerful headlight.

AbdulRahmanM · 3rd August 2010, 18:07

Yeah Nutty, thats true, but for this i had put a request for RR unit replacement to Suzuki website and they have asked me to come to their showroom for replacement, hoping this would improve the light throw. Will update here after replacement.

roadracer · 3rd August 2010, 21:22

What happens when you do 'power' riding in economic mode?

26th July 2010, 08:58	#1
AbdulRahmanM BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 168 Thanked: 9 Times View My Garage	Review of Suzuki GS 150R Review Of GS150R named SE7EN Here is a detailed review of my lovely bike, i have tried to cover all aspects, hope its informative. Mostly i would have compared all aspects to a pulsar, since i owned a pulsar 150 classic with self start for 7 years. Since i was in the market after selling my pulsar, i wanted something similar to pulsar, but well refined, this was the bike which was close to what i had in mind. STYLING: *>ODO* - I was never a fan of digital odos, i almost went towards unicorn because of this, but somehow made up my mind towards GS and i am glad that i did that now. When i sit on the bike i love what i see. I really mean it. Please see it for yourself. A picture of my odo when my bike crossed 2000 kms In the right top , there are two colored indicators for Neutral and High-Beam. Then we have a Orange colored display which first shows the speed in kms and the mode display. There are three modes , ECO/POWER/ mode.The empty mode is also known as god mode. In ECO mode when the rpm exceeds 4500 the flashlight starts to flash, and for power mode the light starts flashing at 8500 rpm. In god mode there are no warning lights meaning that you know your limits. In ECO mode the best mileage i got was 56. The worst mileage was obviously in POWER mode 42, but that was in very high spirited driving , just after the run-in period was over ;-) . Then it shows the Total kms covered or TRIP A or TRIP B. Yes it has two trip meters, my pulsar had a manual trip meter which was usually reset by someone mostly in parking,hence i love this digital odo, where only i can reset it. Finally the fuel gauge , which has 5 blocks to represent it, with each block almost representing 4 liters, and the last block represent 4 liters, and the block starts blinking when petrol is very low. I usually keep my tanks full, so it has not got to that point yet. To the left,It has a needle rpm meter, gear shift indicator very useful as you have 6 gears. It also has a flash white light in the bottom left to indicate whether you are exceeding the specified rpm limit in the respective modes, POWER or ECO. >FUEL TANK The fuel tank is huge and holds upto almost 20 litres, and it still might have place to hold a bit more petrol, good for 1000 kms at one shot without refuelling. XTP, means Extra Torque performance *>SIDES* The side profile looks good, but it does not differ from other bikes on the offering in India, most of the persons, who sees my bike first asks whether its an Unicorn? Yeah Six Speed
	() Thanks

26th July 2010, 09:07	#2
AbdulRahmanM BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 168 Thanked: 9 Times View My Garage	RVMS: STOCK RVM View: The stock rear view mirrors did not allow full view from the behind, hence i replaced this with the pulsar RVMS and visibility has improved a lot View with Pulsar RVM after replacement: >FRONT: The front almost looks like unicorn and power from the Headlight is just adequate, but it should have been better >REAR: I love the rear light and indicators, it looks so nice, i guess it takes the hues from suzuki hayabusa. STORAGE: Below the seat there are 2 Helmet locks and space for tool kit, first aid kit and papers, very useful feature.Sorry no pictures
	() Thanks

26th July 2010, 09:16	#3
AbdulRahmanM BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 168 Thanked: 9 Times View My Garage	TIRES: >FRONT: The front tires are similar to other bikes offered, but the alloy design is curved and unique, also note that the disc brake is on the left hand side against the norm of right side disc brakes in India >REAR: The rear tire is just adequate, brake is something which you would want to improve, as i feel no difference between my classic pulsar brakes and this bike. The drum brake is also just adequate. PERFORMANCE: The responds nicely to throttle, and it is more of a silent performer, overtakes at high speeds, but the initial acceleration is a bit low. Am not much of a technical guy, so i dont have any other information to provide here. HANDLING & ROAD PRESENCE: The bike is heavy and hence better stability at high speeds, it does not dance when some big vehicle overtakes you with high speed. Braking should be done sensibly with both the front and back brakes, simply applying rear brakes, does not help at all. This bike has an awesome road presence, when some vehicles, even buses which try to overtake from the opposite side, when i drive in a single lane road, then never flash their lights and come towards me, even a bully Scorpio saw me with this bike and hid behind a bus, i am not exaggerating but trying to project what it really means to drive this on the road. RESPECT MY AUTHORITA![South park style]
	(1) Thanks

26th July 2010, 09:24	#4
AbdulRahmanM BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 168 Thanked: 9 Times View My Garage	All pictures were taken using a Nokia 5130 2 MP camera. Please excuse me for the poor picture quality. OTHER INFORMATION: Tank Capacity : It almosts hold 20 Litres including reserve. Oil Capacity : 1.1 Litre. CC : 150 BHP : 13.8 Weight : 149 Kg [ Yes indeed, very heavy] Gears : 6 [ Yes you read it right, SIX gears also comes with gear indicator] Total Kms covered : 2400 kms[So far] Mileage : 47 kmpl.( Mind you this includes some spirited driving for around 60% of the time and drive is 50% split city and highway driving in POWER mode). Best/Worst Mileage : 56/42 kmpl Respectively. Do i love this bike?: Yes and i would recommend everyone looking around for a bike to have a go at this baby. Things i Miss: I can't Hate my bike, so listing out missing things. 1) Side stand Indicator, its must, i had it in my old pulsar. 2) Better rear brakes Things i Love: 1)Engine Sound 2)6th Gear 3) Gear lever just like pulsar, not Toe-shifting ones, as it tends to damage my shoes. My son Sufi loves this bike and his expressions says it all. My GS 150R ownership thread. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...ki-gs150r.html
	() Thanks

26th July 2010, 09:37	#5
aargee Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: TSTN Posts: 6,342 Thanked: 10,020 Times	May be you should've renamed this thread to Ownership experience as you covered the buying experience here - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...-gs150r-1.html I'm glad you're posting the positive aspects of GS150R; several weekends ago, one of my friend's clutch cable broke for no reason at Amirthi forest; the bike apparently had only clocked 4K on the ODO in about 6 months of time & it was a surprise to me on Suzuki's quality. Next thing he mentioned was the chrome dials on the tacho that reflects the sunlight directly to the eyes during mid days. Is that true? Could you pls take the pic the top view of the bike covering the T-stem & top portion like odo1.jpg so that the top brackets & the top part of front suspensions are visible? Thanks. Somehow I feel, you could've avoided posting the pics that you took while riding (odo3.jpg)
	() Thanks

26th July 2010, 10:29	#6
roadracer BANNED Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Chennai Posts: 131 Thanked: Once	Thanks for the review. Agree with you that there should be a side stand indicator. I had driven couple of times with the side stand not pushed to it's position. Also, agree that the rear view mirrors are just not good enough. Apart from these two issues, other aspects look to be fine with this bike. Did you try filling in 20 litres? In my case, once the fuel pump attendent filled 17 litres and it looked it could still take few more litres.
	() Thanks

26th July 2010, 11:03	#8
nayakrnr BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Mysore Posts: 27 Thanked: 3 Times	hey abdul, how do you change the PWR mode to ECO mode?
	() Thanks

26th July 2010, 16:17	#11
AbdulRahmanM BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 168 Thanked: 9 Times View My Garage	I just mentioned that its an additional option
	() Thanks

26th July 2010, 19:24	#12
GreenmachinE BHPian Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Salem Posts: 89 Thanked: 35 Times	Good review ( It would be great if added more details) and good pictures ( the quality could have been better ). As a unicorn owner, I would like to have the following things Gear shift indicator Six speed ( considering the uni's engine is not very rev happy when compared to 2 strokes and P 135, r15 etc ) Better RVM Better low speed ride Your bike has all of the above. I would have got the GS if I hadn't been a chicken to risk it with the new comer. Love your son's ' bring it on you wooses ' picture.
	() Thanks

27th July 2010, 12:45	#13
Nutty Nair BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Trivandrum, Kerala Posts: 284 Thanked: 40 Times View My Garage	Good review but I think you may want to add one more thing to your Things I miss list - More powerful headlight.
	() Thanks

3rd August 2010, 18:07	#14
AbdulRahmanM BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 168 Thanked: 9 Times View My Garage	Yeah Nutty, thats true, but for this i had put a request for RR unit replacement to Suzuki website and they have asked me to come to their showroom for replacement, hoping this would improve the light throw. Will update here after replacement.
	() Thanks

3rd August 2010, 21:22	#15
roadracer BANNED Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Chennai Posts: 131 Thanked: Once	What happens when you do 'power' riding in economic mode?
	() Thanks