[b16h22]

Has anyone found a decent fender extender for the Gixxer/SF 250? The Gixxer has a rather short front fender and it's causing a real mess on the frame, engine and the oil cooler in the monsoons. Even a small puddle causes a big spray. And your legs aren't spared either. I've never owned a bike that kicks up a spray like this one. Not to mention the extra effort required to clean it as well

I'm looking for something that looks OE and doesn't look too out of place. So far haven't found any. The only solution seems to be adapting an OE extender from another bike but Gixxer has a rather stylised fender with a sharp design that makes it difficult to find one

[rssah77]

Hi Guys. I've an issue with my new Gixxer SF 250. It's 2023 June model. The instrument cluster is not showing the suzuki connect's navigation. But it's showing the calls and all.

I've the latest version of app installed in my iPhone and location enabled.

Anyone has any idea why it's not showing navigation alone?

Another issue is that once the app is connected and I'm riding, it disconnects after a specific time. Any fix for this?

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by rssah77

Hi fellow BHPians, I recently bought Gixxer SF 250 BS6 OBD2 edition (just a few days ago) and I would like to say I feel the engine is heating somewhat for even shorter rides? Is it normal? I mean it's not like I can't bear it but it's just that I can feel a small heat wave on my left leg sometimes. I am keeping the revs just under 5k though. Is it normal for new bikes to get hot? Will this issue solve after 1st service?

If all goes right after 1st service? I would also like to know how often do we need to change the oil on this bike assuming that I go on long trips quite often?

rssah77, congratulations on your new Gixxer SF250. Do share pictures of the motorcycle and your initial ownership experience with it. On the issue of heat, I have never felt that the engine was running anywhere close to being even mildly hot. Suzuki has done a fantastic job with keeping the engine cool, though the oil tends to run hot while touring, which inevitably leads to the infamous Suzuki Gixxer / SF 250 vibrations. I would suggest that you wait for the first service to complete and then see if you can still feel the heat on your left leg.

Originally Posted by b16h22

Has anyone found a decent fender extender for the Gixxer/SF 250? The Gixxer has a rather short front fender and it's causing a real mess on the frame, engine and the oil cooler in the monsoons. Even a small puddle causes a big spray. And your legs aren't spared either. I've never owned a bike that kicks up a spray like this one. Not to mention the extra effort required to clean it as well

b16h22, funnily enough, I never had an issue with the spray of mud from the front end. Maybe it was the full fairing which acted as a gate keeper. I will keep my eyes open for any direct fit suggestions from fellow Suzuki riders and share it with you.

Originally Posted by rssah77

Hi Guys. I've an issue with my new Gixxer SF 250. It's 2023 June model. The instrument cluster is not showing the suzuki connect's navigation. But it's showing the calls and all.

I've the latest version of app installed in my iPhone and location enabled.

Anyone has any idea why it's not showing navigation alone?

Another issue is that once the app is connected and I'm riding, it disconnects after a specific time. Any fix for this?

As far as I can remember, even the initial batches of the VStrom 250 had Bluetooth issues, including frequent disconnections. Your best bet will probably be to take the bike to the SVC and see if there is a firmware update. Honestly, Suzuki should have ironed out all these Bluetooth issues by now.

[aviator1101]

Originally Posted by b16h22

Has anyone found a decent fender extender for the Gixxer/SF 250?
I'm looking for something that looks OE and doesn't look too out of place.

Please look at this video courtesy YouTube.

https://youtu.be/AmMOin4J3tk

This might help you resolve the mud splashing issue.

[b16h22]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

b16h22, funnily enough, I never had an issue with the spray of mud from the front end. Maybe it was the full fairing which acted as a gate keeper. I will keep my eyes open for any direct fit suggestions from fellow Suzuki riders and share it with you.

I'll have to search hard for some suitable OEM fender extender then. The shape of the Gixxer mudguard makes it hard to fit most of them without being an eyesore

Originally Posted by aviator1101

Please look at this video courtesy YouTube.
https://Youtu.be/AmMOin4J3tkThis might help you resolve the mud splashing issue.

I did see that, but it looks quite out of place Almost like the mudflaps you find on old bicycles.

Btw, any of you 250 owners having very audible clutch basket noise? It is particularly noticeable in neutral and when you press the clutch in, the noise gets muted. It basically sounds like a dry clutch system. This along with loud and gruff gear shifts in lower gears is driving me nuts. Chain tension and clutch lever play are on spec. Bike has done 16500+ kms

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by b16h22

Btw, any of you 250 owners having very audible clutch basket noise? It is particularly noticeable in neutral and when you press the clutch in, the noise gets muted. It basically sounds like a dry clutch system. This along with loud and gruff gear shifts in lower gears is driving me nuts. Chain tension and clutch lever play are on spec. Bike has done 16500+ kms

Yes, it's perfectly normal, the basket noise with clutch released in neutral.

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by b16h22

I'll have to search hard for some suitable OEM fender extender then. The shape of the Gixxer mudguard makes it hard to fit most of them without being an eyesore


I did see that, but it looks quite out of place Almost like the mudflaps you find on old bicycles.

Btw, any of you 250 owners having very audible clutch basket noise? It is particularly noticeable in neutral and when you press the clutch in, the noise gets muted. It basically sounds like a dry clutch system. This along with loud and gruff gear shifts in lower gears is driving me nuts. Chain tension and clutch lever play are on spec. Bike has done 16500+ kms

If you hate your mudguard, then you should hear what a fella CBR250R owner's tale is like, because I've been through that. For our 250s we have an oil cooler that's placed on the left, so that the fins get saved from muck. On the CBR the muck gets caked, baked, left right and center along with the engine casing, top it up hard to remove fragile panels, it's a task for a day, yours truly has been through that pain. Sigh! Pure pain in the posterior when it comes to cleaning.

Inferring to your clutch basket noise, perfectly normal. All Suzie 250s have this noise, this is because the clutch stack inside keeps banging on the clutch basket around sticking the plates together. Once they're released they become comparatively silent. Confirmed with the ASC and it's pretty normal, and matter of fact almost most bikes mildly produce a discerning different sound when a clutch is engaged and disengaged, perfectly normal.

But if the same exacerbates with loud, cracks and thuds, then we have a clutch basket damper issue, but that's for a worse day. For now, it's okay.

Cheers!
VJ

[b16h22]

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Sigh! Pure pain in the posterior when it comes to cleaning.

The bottom fins on the oil cooler were already bent out of shape significantly, due to stone strikes from the short fender. They are very fragile. Bent back most of them with a flat screwdriver. So the issue is very real on Naked 250s. Strom gets a longer fender and SF gets a lot of plastic protection to help with it.

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Confirmed with the ASC and it's pretty normal, and matter of fact almost most bikes mildly produce a discerning different sound when a clutch is engaged and disengaged, perfectly normal.

But if the same exacerbates with loud, cracks and thuds, then we have a clutch basket damper issue, but that's for a worse day. For now, it's okay.
VJ

Interesting. I would like to hear how loud the stock 250s are out of the showroom. Because mine has a distinctly loud noise. I agree that most bikes show a difference in noise with the clutch engaged but it was never this noticeable for me. Out of the 4 motorcycles I've owned (D390, AS200, ZMA & the Suzi), this one has the loudest clutch followed by my AS200 which was still muted. Coupled with the unrefined gearbox, I was worried about any potential clutch problems. Quite out of character for a Japanese single that is just 2 years old.

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by b16h22

The bottom fins on the oil cooler were already bent out of shape significantly, due to stone strikes from the short fender. They are very fragile...


Interesting. I would like to hear how loud the stock 250s are out of the showroom. Because mine has a distinctly loud noise. I agree that most bikes show a difference in noise with the clutch engaged but it was never this noticeable for me. Out of the 4 motorcycles I've owned (D390, AS200, ZMA & the Suzi), this one has the loudest clutch followed by my AS200 which was still muted. Coupled with the unrefined gearbox, I was worried about any potential clutch problems. Quite out of character for a Japanese single that is just 2 years old.

It's eventually a given, no matter how strategic one can be, stone impacts, lodgings, accumulation of grime cannot be completely gotten ride of, be it an oil cooler and far worse for a radiator as it has an even softer aluminum fins so much so that wrong technique of using a pressure washer can in fact ruin a radiator completely of its cooling ability, big or small.

Perhaps, this should help you. This video grab is quote from memory, back in my CBR days. Check it out, it might light up a bulb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuReZW-1AXY

Respect to clutch, perhaps, you can share a small video clip of the clutch sound, by keeping the mic as near as possible to the clutch cover. Preferably, would recommend you record this video first-start morning, when the engine and oil are both cold, which would mean, the reading/sound can be as accurate as possible.

Cheers!
VJ

[neil.jericho]

Last month I completed a long pending ride to Trivandrum. Since it technically was the monsoon season (though rains have been scarce as compared to previous years), the skies were overcast and the ambient temperature was low. Guess what? The world infamous (on TBHP) Suzuki vibrations were almost nowhere to be seen! This just goes to show that my hypothesis on the vibrations being linked to the oil cooling system is most certainly true. The end result was that I could ride for longer sessions than my earlier trips. And truth be told, I enjoyed the little Suzuki a whole lot more than I would have, if it was a mid-summer ride.

I normally take the longer but more peace of mind guaranteeing MC Road but this time I decided to try out the conventional route past Kollam, which has seen some road expansion work in the past couple of years. God bless all the people behind the development work which has happened recently! I reached Trivandrum a lot faster and much less tired, than I expected to.

A quick note on the mileage figures till date, as well. The overall mileage since day 1 stands at 35.2 kmpl. The highest figure that I have achieved is 40.18 kmpl. I'm sure that could have been bettered if I wasn't occasionally ham-fisted. The lowest mileage that I have recorded was 29.01 kmpl. This was on a ride between Salem and Shoolagiri when I wasn't necessarily adhering to conservative speeds. That was the only sub 30 kmpl mileage that I have recorded in my ownership, barring another reading which came when the bike was with Suzuki for a while and they replaced some parts. Overall, I have been rather pleased with the mileage figures and the extraordinary 400+ kilometer range that it offers while touring.

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Suzuki vibrations were almost nowhere to be seen! This just goes to show that my hypothesis on the vibrations being linked to the oil cooling system is most certainly true. The end result was that I could ride for longer sessions than my earlier trips. And truth be told, I enjoyed the little Suzuki a whole lot more than I would have, if it was a mid-summer ride.

Neil, what grade/rating oil is currently doing duty on your steed?

Cheers!
VJ

[Snehal Sekhar]

Would you believe I didn't know you bought a Gixxer SF 250 until yesterday? Congratulations, Neil! How many bikes in the garage now? 3-4? Great seeing your ownership review and your trip updates man. Makes me jealous
BTW, how is the swing arm holding up on your bike or anyone else you know of in your Gixxer group of friends? This is the state of the swing arm on my Gixxer 155.



I just noticed this yesterday when I went to the tyre shop to change the tyres on my bike. It looks like this must have started rusting a while ago and now it’s deteriorated to such an extent that the swing arm has to be replaced. My Gixxer is just 5 years old and has always been serviced at the same place I bought the motorcycle (The Suzuki showroom at the Hosa Road Junction, Bangalore). It’s surprising that the service centre never noticed this in all these years that I gave my motorcycle there for its quarterly service. I went to service centre today and showed this to the service advisor who regularly services my bike. He was as surprised as I was but had no answers as to why he or his team working on my vehicle all these years never noticed this. All my vehicle washing is done only at their SVC and I never wash the vehicle at home or ride much. I take the vehicle out around 3 – 4 times a week and that too to run errands around my locality. It’s always in a covered parking area and I never use the bike when it rains. It’s serviced every 3 months (that’s the service interval specified by the showroom). Even after all this, if the swing arm can get rusted to such an extent I suspect a defect in the quality of the material used. Anyway, the SVC didn’t have stock of the swing arm and said that it would come on Monday or Tuesday and they would call me when the part arrives to replace it. It’s alright that it’s going to be a paid replacement, but what I don’t understand is how can it deteriorate to such an extent in just 5 years and how come no one at the service centre saw this in all these years of servicing my bike?

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by Snehal Sekhar

Gixxer 155.

Attachment 2479972

This issue has been the Achilles Heel of the 155, and the other being leaking stator coil wire boot. There have been many instances where the innards of the swingarm gets corroded so badly that you have either have a gaping hole or a quarter of swingarm eaten by rust.

This issue not being isolated to one Gixxer warrants that it does seem to be a manufacturing defect/poor quality of a particular batch. How the current gen's doing duty is yet to be discerned. Said and done, a replacement is prime and it's about time you were able to catch the issue before things could have gone two ways..

Good luck.

Cheers!
VJ

[b16h22]

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Respect to clutch, perhaps, you can share a small video clip of the clutch sound, by keeping the mic as near as possible to the clutch cover. Preferably, would recommend you record this video first-start morning, when the engine and oil are both cold, which would mean, the reading/sound can be as accurate as possible.
VJ

I have taken a video. But this is not about the clutch rattle. There is this constant metallic noise in the background when the engine is idling and revving. It was there when I got the bike 1100kms ago (16500 odo). I feel like it is getting a little bit louder. Initially it felt like tappety kind of noise but now that I listen closer to the engine, I cant quite diagnose if it is timing chain noise or something from the head. As you know, my bike suffers from buzz at cruising speeds and mild hesitation to rev.

It is a little bit concerning as the exhaust note of the 250s isn't loud and this rattle is audible when you are on the bike. I do feel a bit of hesitation to rev cleanly in first 1-2 gears. If something is indeed wrong, I need to claim a warranty repair in a month as the regular cover is running out in a month's time (has 3 years of extended warranty)

Do any of the 250 owners with closer to 15k on the clock has similar noises from the motor? Does this sound abnormal? I have no experience with other 250 motors to differentiate what is wrong and what is normal character of them.

Video is dark, so sorry for that. Clutch lever was pulled in to muffle the clutch rattle as much as possible. It might sound louder than usual as I've recorded closer to the right side of the engine.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Fni...ew?usp=sharing

[Castro Gunner]

Hi guys, an important update.
Have been observing a strange sound from the engine, accompanied by more heat than usual, so took it to SVC.
Initially they said it was normal sound only, after slight argument they've acknowledged the problem. And the engine oil was no where to be seen in the engine oil indicator.
Now the engine oil was drained and there was hardly 250ml.
Will let you know once further info comes