Bike to fulfil the dreams of commuters. Review on Suzuki GS150R

Thanks to mouthshut forallowing me to post this review. I am Sivakumar from Chennai, I bought this bike(black) on march 5th 2009, costs Rs. 68, 850/- overall

I choosed 150cc category because I will roam with heavy pillion and sometimes I travel long distance. So I want a bike with decent power and mileage

Reasons to choose this bike:

Before buying this bike, I had listed few bikes (Suzuki Fiero, Honda Unicorn, Suzuki GS150R), out of this Suzuki fiero is not in production, thunderbird is out of budget. So I had only two options. HONDA UNICORNthe smoothest bike(I like smootheness), most comfortable, and from REPUTED company. But during that time waiting period for this is about three months. So I decided to buy this bike, simply by its reputation and their legend SUZUKI FIERO.

Experience with this bike:One more thing, this is my first geared vehicle, so I learned biking in this bike. On second day itself I put it down because of being unfamiliar with disc brake, got few scratches on front fairing, indicator, leg guard. I cannot compare this bike others as this is the only bike I am driving till now (in terms of weight). this bike's engine has shiny black coating like hero honda passion plus and glamour, unlike FZ. before first service engine got heated up even for three km ride, its kicker consumes extra effort during starting. I wont cross 5k rpm, I ride this bike like a cart(negligible acceleration). I got mileage of 48kmpl. Initially I got irritated because of its 6 gears, thanks to gear indicator which helped me a lot and I drove this bike like driving a flight (watching engine rpm, speed, gear indicator during up and down shifting) as I am new rider. So I shifted gears unnecessarily though I later came to know that this is helful in run in period. this bike had some vibrations (3500 to 4000rpm) due to resonance, which irritates initially. before second service gears got smoother, vibrations are reduced. so now the rev limit is increased to 7500rpm, so I ride this bike like maintaining 3-4k rpm for 5 mins and 6-7.5k rpm for 5 mins. after 5 k rpm engine's behaviour changed and behaved like a sports bike, I noticed few cons - vibrations at speed >5000rpm except 6th gear. but I ignored that as it gave a feeling like driving a high performance bike ;) I heard tappet noises after engine gots heated up. I got the mileage of 50kmpl. after second service Service center guys are friendly, noting our comments, and rectifying it. As I got few cons as mentioned above, they rectified it, I woul rate them 9 out of 10. now rev limit in upto 10000rpm(redline). so I ripped this bike for the irst time, its 0 - 60kmph is not impressive as other 150cc bikes. BUT in 3rd gear 30 to 80kmph is really mind blowing (which is very useful in overtaking trailor buses). My friend has FZ, during race he over take me initially, but after reaching 65-70kmph I crossed him :). I touched a speed of 110kmph with a pillion, this bike touched 95kmph with ease in short time, after that it becomes lazy. I got 54kmpl in rash driving (sudden acceleration, driving near redline). Then I tested this bike for mileage, so I ride it in 50-60kmph range, which made my bike to give a mileage of 63kmpl (still getting that with variation of +/-1kmpl). Now NO VIBRATIONS TILL 10000RPM(didnt go beyond that), no 3.5-4k vibrations, no tappet noise.

I am fully satisfied with this bike :)I would recommend this bike for cool commuters and not for racers

positives:1. Comfortable ride for long distance (more than 100km - experience)2. Refinement of engine (ride it and feel it).3. overall styling.4.digital console (no words for that)5. Solid built, sturdy bike.6. Low end torque, 25kmph at 5th gear with pillion7. mileage 63kmpl.8. decent suspension.

negatives:1. heard some noise from drive chain (dissapeared after service).2. rear brakes are not that effective ( you wont feel it if you apply both brakes simultaneously)3. bike was big, takes more time for cleaning ;)

for specifications refer its website. Above information is purely based on my own experience, feel free to comment :)

Update(10th july 10):

I covered 10800km with this bike(10 services over), I want to update this review as I have experienced different things in this bike.

1) In Eco mode bike gives good mileage (60-65kmpl) in normal riding, bike knocks when I accelerate slightly higher than usual gentle acceleration.

2) This may be reported in many bike magazines and online resources as valve clutter, knocking etc.

3) In power mode engine behaves like a race bike, encouraging us to rip the bike, but returned less mileage (45-50kmpl).

4) No Knocks in power mode - when the bike is cruising in 30kmph @5th gear, I gave full throttle, there is no sign of knocking except gradual acceleration.