Suzuki has long been, for better and for worse, a motorcycle maker that keeps its old assembly lines running. While the company comes up with something truly new every once in a while, it’s more likely to figure out a new combination of parts it already has laying around. So, for EICMA, we shouldn’t be surprised that Suzuki’s big announcements are based around engines old enough to drink. We also shouldn’t be surprised that those engines are inside what look to be some damn good bikes.
Suzuki’s big reveals this year are the SV-7S and GSX-10R, bikes built around the 27-year-old SV650 engine and 21-year-old K5 GSX-R1000 engines, respectively. The former looks to be a mild update to the outgoing SV650, with new lighting, emissions equipment, a quickshifter, and a ride-by-wire throttle wrapped around the prior bike’s frame and engine. Most importantly, the SV-7S is available in Europe, meaning that the 645 cc V-twin lives on under Euro 5+ emissions. Suzuki’s site doesn’t list power claims for the new bike, but it’s likely to make the same 73 horses it has since time immemorial.
From an update to something more new
While the SV-7S is an update and a name change for the SV650, the GSX-10R (above) is ostensibly an entirely new bike — admittedly a bike that’s largely just a faired version of the GSX-S1000, the company’s naked literbike. Despite the similar displacement, the GSX-10R is nothing like the top-tier GSX-R1000. Instead, it’s closer to a revival of the beloved K5 GSX-R1000 of the mid-aughts.
Yet, no matter what Reddit says, the GSX-10R is more than just a reheated leftover K5. Its name points to the difference, putting the bike in line with the GSX-8R — Suzuki intends the new 10R to be more streetable than the highest-test Gixxer, with lower footpegs, USB power, and a torque-rich engine for those times you can’t sit at redline. There’s also a full suite of electronics, to assist everything from traction to braking, launches, engine braking, hill starts, and cruising.
If the GSX-10R turns out to be what Suzuki says — a four-cylinder GSX-8R, a literbike with K5 reliability and daily-rider comfort — it could be the EICMA release I’m most excited to swing a leg over. To know for sure, though, I’ll have to figure out how to get my hands on one.
