[ramnaresh_2000]

Thank you Snehal Sekhar, regarding the gear shifts at 4.5 RPM, I just noticed that today on my way to home. I have not noticed any oil leak as of now, but will keep monitoring it closely. Your information is super helpful. Thanks for sharing.

Just a quick update on FE, My Red Dragon returned 46.1 KMPL. I tested via tankful to tankful method. I think this is pretty decent FE for 155 cc bike within city conditions.

[W.A.G.7]

Congrats on the new bike! Suzuki makes some really good bikes, but the experience is marred by very shoddy sales/after sales and dealerships; who are crooked to the core.

I own a GS150R since the past 9 yrs and I can surely say that their bikes great; with the gear shifts being smooth and the engine being very refined and reliable. Will never ever let you down on the road. The 155cc engine generates just the right amount of torque and sufficient power for effortless city driving as well as some outskirt trips.

On a side note, regarding the GS 150 I am also contemplating getting a new bike by exchanging it; more so because parts availability has become a problem as the model has been discontinued.

Enjoy your new bike, you will love it. Suzuki bikes are great but are very understated and not much advertised. Though they have enjoyed reasonable success with the Gixxer.

[MaheshY1]

The gear shifts have gotten smooth. But some vibrations persist. The bike feels smoothest between 85-95.

The headlamp is an embarrassment. I've upgraded to osram Rallye 45/40 and things have improved considerably. I'm not keen on switching to 55/60 H4 because they're running straight from the battery and there's no way to turn them off (damn AHO).

I'll first try it in the Navi and see if its alternator can handle the load.

Recently, after a simple wash, the speedometer stopped working, abs warning and check engine lit up. Then the next day, it started working again.

I cruise around 90-100. FE is 49.

[ramnaresh_2000]

Originally Posted by MaheshY1

I cruise around 90-100. FE is 49.

This is awesome mileage. Initially I got 47 KMPL, now getting 50KMPL, sober riding style and in city traffic. To be honest I drive during off-peak hours, so expecting bit more maybe around 55.

Just got the dragon serviced as odo stands at 851. No complaints, just the gear shifts got smoothened. Costed around 500 bucks for first service at Prime Suzuki Tadbund. Not satisfied with their job, after water wash they left the bike without cleaning it dry, I see many water marks left behind. So no more going there.

[swami.n]

Congrats on buying the Gixxer. I own one since Feb 2015 and loving it. So much so that my TB350 which I have since 2005 has hardly run 4.5k kms since 2015 whereas the Gixxer has run close to 25k kms in the same period :-)

The Gixxer came with a slightly harder preset rear shock. I moved it one step towards the softer side and the ride comfort improved tremendously over poor roads. This scrapes the bottom in taller speed bumps with a pillion, but I drive 90% solo, so opted for this setting. I would recommend the same to you if you drive solo most of the time.

Regarding the mileage, I mostly average around 43-48kmpl as my daily commute is in peak traffic. Also the mileage varies vastly with different driving styles unlike my TB350. My RE always returns 38-42kmpl regardless of driving style, but in the Gixxer I have experienced 36 - 54kmpl. My friend who always drives sedately and daily office drive is on the highway, gets 60+kmpl regularly. He drives 60kph on open stretches which is impossible on such a smooth revving machine for me

And regarding the service, most A.S.S do just namesake service. I almost always leave my vehicle as clean as it would be after a wash and ask the service guys to not wash the bike. I get the chain adjusted, cleaned and lubricated every 1000 kms at a nearby mechanic and post the 10000 mark, moved to the FS oil from shell. After the initial set of free services got over, have moved to nearby mechanic for service. Initially with the A.S.S I only asked them to change the Oil, Filter and Air Filter if needed. No washing, no chain adjusting or anything else.
All I do now is change the Oil directly at shell every 7-10000 kms or 1 year. Every 1000kms chain brake adjust and every 3000 kms a regular checkup with the local mechanic. I would recommend the same to you as well.

Once again congrats and happy miles on the Gixxer.

Originally Posted by MaheshY1

The headlamp is an embarrassment. I've upgraded to osram Rallye 45/40 and things have improved considerably. I'm not keen on switching to 55/60 H4 because they're running straight from the battery and there's no way to turn them off (damn AHO).

The stock headlights were below average since the bike was launched. I replaced the Halogens with LEDs the day I bought my bike. But since I did not go for projectors, the LEDs hardly lit up the road and had no focus. It did not matter for the past 3 years as I had very limited night driving. But for past few months as my returning time from office changed and driving in the dark increased, I had to do something about the poor lights. I did not want to increase the load on the battery with a higher wattage halogen. So went ahead and got the Dominar HL assembly fixed and boy it is a masterpiece of an headlight.

[ramnaresh_2000]

Originally Posted by nikhn

Could you please put up a few pictures showing the mounting of the ABS unit on your motorcycle? Is it mounted close to the engine?

Sorry for delayed response. Here are few pics of ABS unit mount. You can see the ABS disc connected to the disc break, it then connected to the ABS unit mounted just above the horn, nicely tucked under the tank.

[ramnaresh_2000]

Originally Posted by The Brutailer

Hello there. Nice review, though could've elaborated more on the engine.

The Red Dragon currently has 1500 KMs on it, and oh boy what an experience. I am a bit disappointed at Suzuki has chosen to go back to a 5-speed gearbox, especially the older GS150R has a butter smooth 6-speed gearbox. Sure, the sixth gear on that bike was little more than a cruising gear, but it just felt nice. This one is still smooth though. My friend, experienced some false neutrals in motion, but I didn’t encounter a single one.

The gixxer is supremely refined bike without any vibrations. I revved up to 9,000 to 10,000 rmp and not noticied any vibrations. The exhaust note is quite a pleasure to hear, and gives the Gixxer a big-bike feel.

Currently getting a mileage of 50 KMPL in city riding conditions, off-peak hours. This is icing on cake. Beauty with brains I say, great performance clubbed with good mileage. Not sure why it is not overselling FZ, maybe due to the weak network and shabby service assistance

[ramnaresh_2000]

Just an update on fuel economy, I got 59 KMPL on my Red Dragon, At first I was really shocked and re-cheked my calculation. It was correct. I did full tank to full tank method.

[ramnaresh_2000]

Finally completed 3500 KMs on my dragon. The red dragon is very good and I am in totally love with the it. Till now it has never failed me and the build quality is very solid. It is consistently giving me 55-59 KMPL on sober driving style and 45-50 KMPL on aggressive riding style.

Few problems here and there but nothing major, gear shifts are still hard, RVM's are still crap. The dragon never fails to amaze me, when I need to save th fuel, I just maintain the RPM between 3000-3500, when I need power it just picks up from throttle response and zooms away

I have not done any long trips on it till date, but planning one soon, The seat is hard, maybe requires a little bit of foaming. As summer approaching fast and temperatures already soaring up in Hyderabad, I will stop using it as my primary driver for few months and shift to my TUV 300 until the summer is settled.

It is time for 2nd free service, so will share an update on service cost soon. Will not go to Prime Suzuki as I faced crappy experience on my 1st free service, will try Saboo Suzuki.

[MaheshY1]

It's difficult to ride a Gixxer with a light throttle. I don't know how you do it. I haven't been able to do a full FE test with moderate throttle inputs.
Sorry about hijacking your thread for sharing my SF's updates.
Reliability Who?
After sitting idle for about 3 months, my SF is requiring dhakka-start. I'll have to get it checked at the next visit.
Lighting
I added the Osram 45/50 and it's better now. Not up to the mark yet but at least enough to postpone the aux light setup. I have to use the high beam on pitch dark roads or when there's oncoming traffic blinding me.
Tires
My bike is waiting for an upsize. Bias 110 Pirelli CT front and 150 Ceat radial x1 rear. I know it's way more than what my bike can exploit but I need all the grip I can get coz I'm probably going to do something stupid on the track. I'll try and get some pics and maybe create a new thread to share the experience.
Braking
The ABS kicked in once. I clearly felt like I could have stopped shorter without the ABS. For a moment, I felt like I would crash because of the ABS but nothing happened. How's your experience with the ABS?

[ramnaresh_2000]

Originally Posted by MaheshY1

It's difficult to ride a Gixxer with a light throttle. I don't know how you do it. I haven't been able to do a full FE test with moderate throttle inputs.
Sorry about hijacking your thread for sharing my SF's updates.
Reliability Who?
After sitting idle for about 3 months, my SF is requiring dhakka-start. I'll have to get it checked at the next visit.
Lighting
I added the Osram 45/50 and it's better now. Not up to the mark yet but at least enough to postpone the aux light setup. I have to use the high beam on pitch dark roads or when there's oncoming traffic blinding me.
Tires
My bike is waiting for an upsize. Bias 110 Pirelli CT front and 150 Ceat radial x1 rear. I know it's way more than what my bike can exploit but I need all the grip I can get coz I'm probably going to do something stupid on the track. I'll try and get some pics and maybe create a new thread to share the experience.
Braking
The ABS kicked in once. I clearly felt like I could have stopped shorter without the ABS. For a moment, I felt like I would crash because of the ABS but nothing happened. How's your experience with the ABS?

Hey sorry for the delayed response. I was not following my own thread for a while as I was busy dealing with my TUV 300 AMT issues and due to heat waves in Hyderabad I was using my car for last 2 months of commute, even for small errands.

The dragon was in hibernation mode for last 2 months and it did impact the battery. I tried to start it couple of weeks back and it did not start, so I had to kick start it. I used the kick rod for the first time since purchase and it was the last time as well. The battery was charged up after my commute to office and now using button start only.

Completed 5,400 KMs yesterday and it feels awesome. I stopped light throttle now, I am cruising daily at 65 kmph speed, this took a heavy toll on the mileage. I am now getting 45 KMPL.

Even after complaining about sluggish gear shifts on my 2nd service, the service center people were not able to fix it. After some deep diving and reading reviews from other sites, it was evident that this issue is universal to every gixxer. I hope Suzuki has fixed it in the new 2019 version of the gixxer.

On the ABS part, I had an instance on wet road, I was cruising at 60 speed and suddenly a dog came in middle. ABS kicked in and and rear tire did skid for few seconds, but I was able to gain control and did not fall thankfully. I think Suzuki should have equipped gixxer with dual channel ABS like the new updated pulsar and RE Signals.

On the same note, 2019 version of Gixxer looks stunning. I like the changes made to headlight and seating. They should have given dual-channel ABS to this version.

[ramnaresh_2000]

Sorry for a very late update. It has been almost an year since I posted an update on my dragon.

I recently missed the timely service of my dragon, which resulted in warranty void. This is not me, it has been very tough the past one year. I ended up getting serviced at local service center. The authorised service centre is almost 15 kms from my home, and travelling has been an issue.

I have not been using my bike for almost 6 months. Initially due to summer, then due to lockdown. I left Hyderabad and staying at my hometown from last 3 months. It has been lying there outside since lockdown without any love and affection. I visited Hyderabad few days back, gave it a nice wash and locked it inside my house where it will be safe from outside factors. More updates after lockdown is lifted.

[ramnaresh_2000]

Finally started my dragon after many months. As expected the battery gave up. Got it replaced for 1100 bucks at local dealer, went ahead with Exide same configuration. The Amaron was 100 bucks cheaper, but had less warranty. Seeing oil marks on my left shock absorber, the ABS light is on continously. Need to get it checked at the authorized service center. Hopefully it is not something serious.