The Suzuki Gixxer SF is the most affordable full-faired motorcycle to be offered in the country and will be gauging a lot of interest from young buyers, just like its street-fighter sibling.
After a few misses, Suzuki did get the Indian two-wheeler market right with the extremely potent Gixxer 155 and taking its success streak forward, the Japanese auto giant has launched the new Gixxer SF sports bike in the country, priced at Rs. 83,859/- (ex-showroom, Delhi). Based on the street-fighter version of the Gixxer that is currently on sale, the Gixxer SF has gained the credential of being the most affordable full-faired bike in India. Suzuki is also offering a special MotoGP edition of the SF that comes with the race spec bike’s racing blue livery on the Triton blue paint scheme, in addition to the pearl white and sparkle black colour options. The MotoGP model is a special edition to commemorate Suzuki’s MotoGP return this year.
Design – While the underpinnings come from the naked Gixxer, the new Gixxer SF takes design cues from the bigger GSX models in Suzuki’s lineup. The front fascia is similar to the GSX-R750 and features an inverted triangular headlight flanked by smaller angular air intakes at the sides. The side fairing gels well with the existing design language and covers the engine completely. Done up in a two-tone colour scheme with the lower section painted grey. The fuel tank continues in its existing avatar and the bike gets no changes beyond this point.
The tail section is the same as the naked Gixxer and continues with the step up seat, LED tail light, dual exhaust muffler with a new aluminium cover and split grab rails. The instrument console has also been carried over from the naked Gixxer with all the essentials. Suzuki has not upgraded the Gixxer SF with more effective clip-on handlebars and instead uses the same wide handle which does come out as tad bit disappointing. The SF also measures the same length and width at 2050 mm and 785 mm as the naked Gixxer, but is marginally taller at 1085 mm. The wheelbase remains unchanged at 1330 mm. The motorcycle has been wind tunnel tested.
Engine – The Suzuki Gixxer SF draws power from the same 154.9cc single-cylinder, air-cooled, 2-valve engine that has been tuned to produce 14.8 PS of power at 8000 RPM and 14 Nm of torque at 6000 RPM, paired to a 5-speed transmission.
Fuel Efficiency – Suzuki claims that the Gixxer SF returns an ARAI claimed fuel economy figure of 63.5 km/l which is the same as the regular Gixxer, courtesy of the Suzuki Eco Performance (SEP) technology that is claimed to help in improved performance and fuel efficiency.
Mechanicals – Retaining the mechanicals from its naked sibling, the Gixxer SF comes equipped with telescopic forks at the front and a monoshock suspension set-up at the rear. Stopping power comes from the same single disc brake at the front while the rear gets a drum brake set-up. The bike rides on multi-spoke alloy wheels wrapped in 100/80/17 tyre at the front and 140/60/17 rubber at the rear. While the regular Gixxer weighs 135 kgs, the Gixxer SF is marginally heavier with a kerb weight of 139 kgs.
Competition – Supersport bikes at this price point are a handful and the Suzuki Gixxer SF will be locking horns against the Yamaha R15 2.0 and Fazer, Hero Karizma ZMR, Honda CBR150R as well as the newly launched Bajaj Pulsar RS 200. Some of this competition is not direct as the Gixxer SF has inferior engine technology (except the Karizma ZMR) and much lower power in front of the other full-faired motorcycles mentioned above. However, as per Suzuki, the chief rival to the Gixxer SF is the Yamaha Fazer V2.
Suzuki Gixxer SF Prices (on-road, Mumbai) –
* Gixxer SF – Rs. 97,532/-
* Gixxer SF MotoGP Edition – Rs. 99,238/-
* Gixxer – Rs. 87,974/- (street-fighter)
Suzuki has certainly hit the jackpot with the new Gixxer series and the fun looking Gixxer SF only stands as testimony to the same. With the Gixxer already being a well-equipped offering on several accounts, the full fairing on the model has given the model more ‘poser’ value that the younger folks are going to love. The bike certainly has been priced very competitively and will surely be a threat to the more expensive offerings from Yamaha and Honda in the same space.
