[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Mik

Brakes, while good, don't have enough bite. I shall be upgrading here soon.

Heard of this.

You plan to upgrade the pads [only] or the entire set? Please keep us updated about this brake upgrade.

Thanks.

[GoBlue]

Originally Posted by Sheel

I too am pleasantly surprised with these Yoshis, I prefer Akra over SC's from whatever I have heard, I prefer bassy, growl, hums [heavy breathing], you get the drift I hope.

Well, exhaust notes are an acquired taste and a very subjective topic. However my experience of hearing an Akra in-person as well as multiple YouTube videos is that it is not bassy.
Also specifically, the Akra for the S750 is of the same size/shape of the stock exhaust. Below 5K RPM the Akra sounds exactly the same as stock. Only above 5K the Akra starts singing, however that sound is more of a muffled snarl than a bassy growl. The Yoshi provides a bassy growl which is quite different from the Akra, in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Sheel

Will prefer a video as and when you can come up with one. In a tunnel? Hell yeah

Why don't you consider a trip to Pune and hear it for yourself?

Originally Posted by Sheel

The illumination as shown by Mik looks okay to me or has he upgraded?

The illumination is less than average for my below average vision, spectacles make it difficult to ride at night. The glare from other oncoming vehicles is magnified.

The Clearwaters have transformed night riding - and have made riding safe. It's possible to spot potholes and ditches on shitty MH roads, which are otherwise invisible in the dark.

Originally Posted by Mik

Back on topic, i found this bike to be an everyday superbike. The lack of initial grunt means that it's very manageable in worst of traffic and off-road conditions. The traction control is a boon in case of rain and blippy theottling. It's fun seeing it panicking when i jump off a speed breaker
The low rpm assist is perfect for negotiating humans, potholes, dogs and cows.
The inline 4 character ensures that instead of 6 gears, i have got 6 riding modes. From a mad 1st to a portly 6th in double digit environments.
I get around 28/30 kmpl at 80kmph/6th gear. Just perfect.
The handling is so precise that on a very twisty section, i was pushing it as hard as my 390.
Windblast isn't a problem till 120 so it's fine.
It is an attention magnet at petrol pumps.
I saw that people are more friendly with me nowadays in parking lots and petrol pumps. I guess money talks.

That's a nice and fair description!

However, I'm not quite sure that it lacks initial grunt. The only thing is that one needs to find it higher in the rev range. Hint: 3nd gear 7k to 11k RPM.

Originally Posted by Mik

The iffy bits.
The seat height is a slight problem but getting used to it.
The seat cushioning is fine for a few hours.

I have gotten used to the seat height. Try riding in city traffic whenever possible, reflexes get developed to handle the seat height/weight and slow speed maneuvering. On the highway the seat height doesn't affect much and in-fact aids the beautiful handling of the bike.

I find the soft seat to be a blessing in disguise on bad roads. The suspension is quite firm, but the soft seat helps mitigate the vibration to an extent. My riding is more of short rides, so the soft seating hasn't affected much.

Originally Posted by Mik

To sum it up. I am sooper happy!

Great to know!

[GoBlue]

Hello Riding Season!

The rain has stopped in Pune and the skies have opened up. I had ridden the bike yesterday in town and filled up the tank with Shell VPower, checked the tire pressure and got the bike washed.

Was talking to a couple of friends in the meantime and the itch to ride was growing. Many mornings in the past week began with questions to each other to check if we could ride today, only to be followed by the gloomy sight of rain spilling down from the heavens.

Yesterday proved to be a dry day and a morning ride plan was decided for today. And what a magnificent ride it proved to be. There were 3 bikes (and 3 blokes riding them): a Street Triple RS, a Tiger and the GSX S750.

We rode from Pune till a spot near Lonavla which turned out to be a nice 110 km ride. The roads were awesome and all of us enjoyed the ride thoroughly. Sadly, we didn't click any pictures during the ride, but managed to click a few after having returned. Now the wait begins for the next one!

PS: Shell VPower has made a significant difference to the way the engine feels on the bike - it runs smoother and vibes in general have reduced. Seems like the engine is liking this particular drink.

Resting after a high-revving ride.


The beauty AND the beast.


The Tiger.


The apex predator (which could not do any predating today as it other predators for company).

[GoBlue]

This post is split up into 3 parts:
0. Interesting Trivia
1. Bike's Log
2. Ride Log

0. Interesting Trivia:

Being a movie/show buff I'm always on the lookout for good stuff to watch and when a movie is playing, I keep a keen eye out for bike spotting.

The Mission Impossible series has been one of the most iconic in terms of the bikes that featured in it, to name a few:
1. Triumph Speed Triple & Daytona 955i (MI II)
2. Triumph Bonneville Scrambler (MI III)
3. BMW S1000RR (MI Rogue Nation)
4. BMW RnineT Scrambler (MI Fallout)

However I was surprised to know that the humble Suzuki 750 was featured in one of the coolest movie series that has attained cult status recently - John Wick 2. In the opening sequence of the movie, John Wick (played by Keanu Reeves) is chasing a High Table assassin riding a 2015 GSR 750! Check the awesomely filmed sequence here and enjoy the stock exhaust note. Though I must say that the stock exhaust of the 2017' onward GSX S750 (yes, they changed the model name to one that's a tongue twister) is more meatier than the 2015 one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOJSM8tFbrw

1. Bike's Log:

A fun-filled 1960 km on the clock. Riding this thing is addictive and she sounds incredible when the throttle is opened. I have now stopped taking her out in the city as it's boring to ride below 4K RPM.



Have fitted a pair of Clearwater Ericas and a Puig touring wind-screen. The lights are just magnificent. While earlier I had to take it slow after the sun dimmed out, now the Ericas light up the road like it's daylight! The sun is no longer missed. I had always thought of Clearwaters to be overpriced but after having experienced them in various light/road conditions, I must say - they are a worthy investment.

Would like to thank BHPian Happysmiles for having inspired me for this mod. He too has Ericas installed on his 2018 Africa Twin. His feedback gave me the confidence to go for the Clearwaters and more importantly to find a super team of people at Biking Superstore who did an amazing installation on the bike. A big thumbs up to Abhijit Khinvasara and Sagar (his mechanic) for having managed the whole process seamlessly. Please do note that I do not have any affiliation with Biking Superstore, simply sharing my experience with them as a satisfied customer.











While the Clearwater's come with a universal mounting system for bikes which don't have a dedicated mounting point, fitting them on the Gixxus had some feasibility issues. Firstly, there wasn't a place on the bike where they could be mounted. Unlike adventure bikes which have knee guards or engine guards, this naked bike didn't have any. Mounting them on the front forks was considered risky as the mounts could break if the suspension bottomed out on a pothole. Also the Ericas are heavy and the resulting weight on the forks could have made the steering heavier.

And thus a decision was taken to fit an engine guard to the bike with the primary purpose being that they would serve as a good mounting solution for the lights. The increased safety was a plus, but with that came a trade-off of increased kerb weight. Went with a Hepco-Becker engine guard. As the guard and the lights are mounted very low around the engine area, none of the increased weight is felt while on the move. Only while taking the bike off the side-stand can the weight difference be felt.

The supplied Clearwater harness is plug and play and none of the wires had to be spliced. The lights are powered directly from the battery with a relay in-between. The switch for the lights is mounted on the handle-bar along with the luminosity (light output) controller.

I went with Erica as they are a flood beam and help to spot objects on the side of the roads/dividers as well. Spot beams (Krista, Darla) have a longer distance but a very short beam width and are useful only if mounted in conjunction with a light that provides a flood beam. There was an option to mount a Darla on the front mudguard hub to complement the Ericas but I preferred to go with step-by-step approach. I'm currently very happy with the performance of the Erica at night and additional lights seem like they'd be an overkill.

Have installed the touring wind-screen from Puig. It is very effective until a certain triple-digit speed. After having installed the screen I am now feeling very comfortable while cruising on the highways, especially on windy days. A slight tuck-in and excellent wind-protection is available.
The screen took around 1 month to be shipped. When I received the package found that a pair of customs bolts was missing. Had got the screen from Bikegear and the folks there provided excellent customer service. They followed-up with Puig and got the missing bolts shipped from Italy. However Puig was extremely slow to respond and the whole process took about 2.5 months. Which meant I had to wait for 3.5 months to be able to install the screen. Anyway, all is well that ends well.










2. Ride Log:


Late evening ride to Lonavala with BHPian rahulvilas (GSX S750). Met up at Shell, Wakad and rode to Lonavala at 6 pm. Returned around 8 pm. The Clearwaters made riding back during the dark extremely easy.




An early morning ride to Amby Valley with a Punekar folks riding group. There were many BHPians in this group (don't remember their handles).
The views to be had while descending into the valley were beautiful, there was quite a bit of fog. Had to be careful while negotiating some of the turns, the road is all broken up and there were deep ditches/cuts at many places.






An early morning ride to Bhairavnath Misalwale with BHPian MonaroCV8 and some friends.



An overnighter ride to Lonavala organized by Suzuki, India for Pune & Mumbai owners. The event was titled World Hayabusa Day ride but the S750s, VStroms and GSX R1000s were also invited.

Fueling up at Shell, Wakad and waiting for the other riders to arrive at the meeting point. There were around 30-35 riders riding from Pune to Lonavala. And around 70 riding from Mumbai to Lonavala. We started around 9.45 am.




Breakfast halt along the way @10.30 am.








Reaching the venue: Rhythm Resort, Lonavala @1 pm. Would like to appreciate Suzuki, India and Dream Suzuki, Pune for having arranged a really nice event.

[Monaro CV8]

Hi Abhishek,
Skimmed through your thread. Nicely put up!

Since I've seen your bike in person, the pics do no justice to that beauty..! The white colour on that bike looks super.

Wanted to ask you, how do find the tyre grip while cornering?
Since we've been riding over ghat sections lately (Amby valley, Khambatki, etc.). Confidence inspiring?

[ranjitnair77]

Originally Posted by GoBlue

Have fitted a pair of Clearwater Ericas and a Puig touring wind-screen. The lights are just magnificent.

That Puig screen looks so sweet Lovely update that is functional and also adds to the aesthetics of the bike.

The Ericas are top of the line as well. Beautiful lights which should serve you well for many years, across motorcycles. Just one query however. It appears from the photo (and I could completely be wrong) that they stick out and will take the impact when you drop the bike. Do you anticipate just the mounting brackets to break off in such a situation and leave the lights largely unscathed?

[GoBlue]

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

Wanted to ask you, how do find the tyre grip while cornering?
Since we've been riding over ghat sections lately (Amby valley, Khambatki, etc.). Confidence inspiring?

The Bridgestone Battlax S21's grip has been excellent so far, nothing to complain about. Have felt comfortable in the corners at Khambatki. At Amby Valley however there was a lot of gravel/watery patches and also broken roads, so I took it easy and didn't push much. However I've ridden in the wet during the rains and the grip is really good, no scary moments so far on these tyres. Considering that this is my first big bike and I have been riding pretty briskly of late, the tyres are indeed confidence inspiring.

In fact I've liked them so much that I might get the very same tyres when this set wears out.

Originally Posted by ranjitnair77

That Puig screen looks so sweet Lovely update that is functional and also adds to the aesthetics of the bike.

Originally Posted by ranjitnair77

Just one query however. It appears from the photo (and I could completely be wrong) that they stick out and will take the impact when you drop the bike. Do you anticipate just the mounting brackets to break off in such a situation and leave the lights largely unscathed?

Thanks for asking this question and making me reminisce the biggest fear that I had to overcome before going for this mod.

If you see the pic that shows the side view of one of the lamps from behind, it can be seen that the lamp is mounted at a fair bit of vertical margin from the frame slider. In case of a still fall, it is expected that the lamp itself shall not come into contact with the ground, atleast on an even surface like a basement parking (which is the most probable scenario for a still fall). A still fall on an uneven surface (like the slopes of a hill on a ghat road or a roadside divider) will not provide any protection - however the probability of such a fall is rare.

In case of a moving fall (or god forbid, an accident), there is no protection whatsoever as the bike may tip over the frame sliders and the lights could get damaged.

Now another angle to this is that my originally fitted Puig frame sliders are a fair bit bigger/longer than the currently fitted Hepco Becker frame sliders (which came complementary with the engine guards). Thereby offering more protection to the lamps. However after the engine guards were fitted, the Puig frame sliders wouldn't fit, as the bolt was falling short of length (due to the engine guard which rested between the mounting point threads and the bolt itself). I am hunting for a longer bolt which if I'm able to source, would increase the protection margin.

As to the question of what would happen if the lamps take an impact, I think the lights would most certainly get damaged. They would most probably get damaged even if the brackets took some of the impact and broke off. I'm thinking of adding the lamps to my insurance policy as an accessory, to mitigate the risk.

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by GoBlue

The Yoshi has transformed the ride experience on the bike. Now even a short ride is mesmerizing.

Here is short exhaust audio recorded from parking lot. Sorry, took many months for me to post it (zipped file as mp3 isn't natively supported).

[ATTACH=ShortClip-exhaust.zip]1946295[/ATTACH]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Will prefer a video as and when you can come up with one.

Video will take some more time. Long monsoon in Pune has destroyed most roads & road surfaces are still bad even after rains have stopped over a month now. Will have a video session with 'GoBlue' once we have good road surfaces so that full rev range can be recorded.

In a tunnel?

Part of video will be from a tunnel.

Exhaust sound: Please enjoy Bassy exhaust notes with headphones. Exhaust audio has been recorded in a basement parking and includes a U-turn in between.

Recording exhaust notes at full rev range is going to be a challenge for fear of distortion and audio being clipped at times, let's see.

[GoBlue]

Originally Posted by sukiwa

Here is short exhaust audio recorded from parking lot.

Hello, Sukiwa!

Thanks for sharing. Does the microphone have a mount which could let us mount it near the exit of the end-can? That may provide even better results.

Originally Posted by sukiwa

Will have a video session with 'GoBlue' once we have good road surfaces so that full rev range can be recorded.

Yep, let's plan a morning ride sometime.

Originally Posted by sukiwa

Recording exhaust notes at full rev range is going to be a challenge for fear of distortion and audio being clipped at times, let's see.

The key challenge is riding across the full rev range. We need to plan a track-day for that.

[GoBlue]

2nd Service Update

The user manual defines a 6 month/6000 km service interval for an oil-change service. However the only reason that I was keen on getting the oil-change done was to replace the Motul 300V 15W50 which the authorized SVC had filled during the first service in May, 2019.

The bike had done about 2250 km since May, and the running did not justify a service to be done.

For the 2nd service I decided to unshackle myself from the authorized service center and went for a trusted outside source to get the job done. The primary reason for not getting the bike serviced was that I was told that any accessory fitted on the bike would void the warranty. After multiple discussions with the good folks at Suzuki, the solution I was given was to get the bike for a service with all accessories removed. If this wasn't done, they would need to report the same to Suzuki, and Suzuki may cancel the warranty.

This solution did not seem reasonable to me as removing an aftermarket exhaust, aux lights, easy clutch system and handle-bar risers (yes, apparently even a pair of bar risers do void Suzuki warranty as informed to me) seemed like an unreasonable effort to invest once every 6 months. Also, Suzuki India does not offer extended warranty for big bikes so it didn't make much sense to go to such trouble for what is just a 2 year standard warranty. I had also spoken to folks at Suzuki India (Gurgaon) and they were unable to offer an acceptable solution.

As a result, chose to take it easy and got the work done from outside. I'm not too fond of unnecessary restrictions and Suzuki's over-cautious approach at both the dealer and OEM level doesn't encourage one to develop an after-sales relationship with either.

Got the bike serviced from the same place where I had got the aux lights installed and the technician did a fine job with the following work-items:
1. Oil Change
2. Installation of longer throttle cables
3. Installation of BMC air-filter
4. Handle-bar position adjustment
5. Chain clean and lube
6. Givi ST602B Tank-bag flange installation

The BMC air-filter resulted in a noticeable change in the throttle response. The engine revs faster, smoother and the multitude of crackles and pops which were present after the Yoshimura was fitted have now disappeared - this could mean that the bike was running rich with the stock air-filter and freer-flowing exhaust, and the addition of the BMC air-filter has balanced the equation (always wanted to use a Matrix reference in a write-up ). This is an 'off the top of the head' understanding and experts on the forum are requested to add more insight and correct me, if wrong.

Didn't notice any change after changing the oil to Amsoil 10W40, I guess there isn't much of a real-world difference between 10W40 and 15W50 after all.

The Puig windscreen has been pretty-much a lifesaver. The protection is incredible. Even at unmentionable speeds it protects the chest from the wind, a slight tuck down and pretty much all of the wind-blast can be avoided. I'm glad I went for the touring version of this screen, the street version is rather small. When it comes to wind protection, the biggest is sometimes the best.

The ingredients.



De-tanked.



What a beautiful sight, this.



In goes the oil.



Filling up in a Shell.



Some random pics of short rides below. Featuring BHPian Crankpin's Street Triple RS. An absolute beauty, this bike! We rode from Pune to Bhairavnath (on the highway towards Satara). The roads were beautiful and traffic sparse, which made for a blistering ride. On the return leg the bike was predominantly in 5th gear. 45 kmph to unmentionable speeds was done without using the clutch. Only in the Katraj tunnel was 2nd gear employed for some aural pleasure.

[Crankpin]

Great bikes there! I remember the sound of your Yoshimura can in the Katraj via-duct was an aural pleasure!
Didn’t know you use AMSOil!
Honestly, all oils have the same base stock and are blended with additives here and there. As long as until it’s a 100% synthetic base stock with performance additives, (detergents mostly) it should be fine for your bike.

[ethanhunt123]

Originally Posted by GoBlue

This solution did not seem reasonable to me as removing an aftermarket exhaust, aux lights, easy clutch system and handle-bar risers (yes, apparently even a pair of bar risers do void Suzuki warranty as informed to me) seemed like an unreasonable effort to invest once every 6 months. Also, Suzuki India does not offer extended warranty for big bikes so it didn't make much sense to go to such trouble for what is just a 2 year standard warranty. I had also spoken to folks at Suzuki India (Gurgaon) and they were unable to offer an acceptable solution.

Frankly this is totally unacceptable behaviour from Suzuki. In my experience - both Kawasaki & Ducati have been pretty chill about warranty as long as you dont do anything stupid and follow the maintanence schedule.

Here is wishing you many more happy miles on the 750 :-)

[GoBlue]

Originally Posted by Crankpin

Didn’t know you use AMSOil!
Honestly, all oils have the same base stock and are blended with additives here and there. As long as until it’s a 100% synthetic base stock with performance additives, (detergents mostly) it should be fine for your bike.

Amsoil seems to be quite popular with folks on the forum and I've heard only good things about it. Decided to give it a try.

Also, I've have decided to get the bike serviced at an interval of 6000 km/1 year. As my running is quite low, I'm guessing it should be an yearly service for me. The official Suzuki service interval is 6000 km/6 months which seems to be intended to bring more revenue to dealers more than a genuine need to have such a short interval.

Originally Posted by ethanhunt123

Frankly this is totally unacceptable behaviour from Suzuki. In my experience - both Kawasaki & Ducati have been pretty chill about warranty as long as you dont do anything stupid and follow the maintanence schedule.

Here is wishing you many more happy miles on the 750 :-)

Concur with you, Mr. Hunt. I have thus resolved to not let my enthusiasm be dampened and am enjoying the mods that I always intended to do. Let's put the highly-lauded Suzuki reliability to the test, shall we?

In the meanwhile, had gone for a short ride on Sunday afternoon to Wai. This place is around 80 km from Pune, on the way to Mahabaleshwar. Started around 3 pm and reached by 4.30 pm. Traffic was sparse and could maintain a good pace. Could ride across a good mix of 4 lane highway and single lane roads.




The beautiful backdrop to be seen near Wai village.







On the way back there was a bad jam before the Urse toll naka as some of the flyovers were closed and traffic was diverted via service roads. Here the versatility of the bike amazed me. Could ride on the leftmost side of the traffic, squeezing between the hordes of cars which had taken up the entire service road, pretty much like any small motorcycle and was out of the jam in no time. Reached home around 7 pm.
I love such short rides which don't take too much time out of the day and let one soak in the pleasure of riding. Looking back I'm glad I chose this bike as it suits this use-case perfectly.

[nitrogary]

Nice small ride today up to shell for refueling. The Yoshimura sounds lovely in the tunnel!
The RS is gorgeous indeed.

[Added_flavor]

Originally Posted by GoBlue

Likes -

• Sweet Inline-4 engine: it's butter-smooth when revved and the intake roar is just naughty fun!
• Slick 6-speed gearbox: arguably the smoothest-shifting gearbox in the sub-12 lac street-naked segment.
• Excellent brakes: more than adequate braking ability and feel.
• Amazing stock exhaust: sounds heavenly above 5k RPM, you feel like revving more!
• Confidence inspiring dynamics for new riders: linear power delivery, planted at highway speeds & sure-footed handling in the twisties.
• Super “cool” heat management: when ridden in 45 degree Pune heat, it failed to roast the legs.
• Unique design, aesthetic appeal & color scheme: a refreshing design makes for a rad looking machine!

Dislikes -

• Sporty riding position for a street naked: good business for the massage centers, but bad for a rider's lower back!
• Lack of a rear grab-rail: you need to learn wrestling to be able to move the bike around in the parking lot!
• Heavy wet-weight of 213 kg: wish Suzuki hired Triumph's chassis engineers and shed some, wait for it, weight.
• Extremely heavy stock clutch, minus reach adjustable clutch-lever: grabbing & pulling a clutch are gym-worthy activities, who knew!?
• Snatchy transition between OFF to ON throttle: this may be nit-picking, but Suzuki should have gotten this first-time-right.
• Severe wind-blast at highway speeds: only a car-guy would complain about wind-blast on a bike, right?

Slightly late to the party as I read your review today. While you kept saying you're a car guy, the detailed review doesn't seem like it and the language used is pretty much biker-speak.

Great mods on the bike too, looks and sounds beautiful! Wishing you many more happy and safe miles!