[aaggoswami]

15K review of Suzuki Zeus.

Let me start with a small advice about Suzuki bike. Never buy Suzuki bikes.
Internationally they might be one of the best, but the Zues they give out to Indians is as bad as it gets. An old product from 1980's being dished out to us.

Looks and Styling : Looks are subjective, but the bike does look bad with the kicked in rear wheel.

Engine & Performance : Best for sedate motoring. Else nothing good. Gearbox is OK, torque is good. Best is 40-60 kmph range where in there is good thrust available. Engine has very nice mid range, thats all. Above 3K rpm and below 5K rpm is where the engine feels at home. In this range, the engine can pull well even with 2 100Kg individuals on the bike. Engine remains smooth till 6K rpm.

Ride : Very bad. Suspension is one of the worst I have ever seen on an Indian bike. Rear is very very stiff.

Handling : Extreme understeer after a minor oversteer whenever the bike is turned. More so when the bike has to be turned left.

Stability : The bike is unaware of anything called Stability. On road stability at any speed is bad. Its on very deep muddy roads that one feels safe.

Braking : Front disc is fearsome. No feel, but yes the job is done here.

FE : Initially for 3 years or 12K kms. it was around 65 kmpl. Right now struggles to cross even 40 kmpl.
Very disappointing as I bought the bike for FE only.

Service costs : Increasing. A normal service now costs Rs. 400/-.

Service standards : Talks good, but my problems are not solved.

Dealer : Bought it from Ravi motors PVT. limited. Initially all is well, but since last 5 months, he is not giving me good service.

Quality of parts.
Plastic : Pathetic. The front headlight cowl has cracked. The visor or whatever you call that black piece to cover the front instrument cluster is of OK quality.
The biggest problem is that the front disc brake fluid container is so bad that within one year if I touch it, some bits would fall off.

Rubber : Pathetic. The O-ring in carb. has been replaced thrice or more. The rubber ring to seal the tank filler has gone bad.

Metal : Cant comment, but my main stand did bend in. Repaired it twice and eventually reaplce. This new main stand had reinforcement/brace.

Electricals : Weak. Cant take in 55W bulb my earlier Caliber ate with ease. Headlight lacks intensity and throw, though the beam spread is excellent. Horn again is excellent. Had to replace one indicator bulb. In rains the instrument cluster light automatically turn on and off.

Reliability of Bike : A BIG ZERO.

-> Carb. slider would jam on full throttle one fine morning. Had to spend Rs. 1200/- to get that fixed. The problem comes up again and is yet not solved. The main reason why I call that serive is bad.

-> The staff and dealer, both are OK, but one has to fight a bit to get the job done. Still the bike not reliable. Facing repetitive issues with carb. specially after I had replaced the Slider on 03-March-2010.

-> Drop in FE is inexplainable.

-> Mr. Mehul Khatri, service advisor,had earlier assured me that he will talk with Engineer. No positive outcome.

-> A few persons of staff in service center are nice, they talk well without roughness, but my problems are not solved yet.

-> The person who sold me the bike Mr. Gurumeet ( who most probably is the owner of dealership ) tries to help, talks in courteous manner, but again, my problem is not solved.
Everytime they work on the bike and say " If the problem comes up again, bring the bike in here ".

-> Idling instability from day 1. Yet to be solved. No permanent solution.

-> They have blamed bad fuel for many problems, but the fuel from same station worked well for 3 years in bike, and works well for M800 and Baleno also.

-> Starting problem from day 1.

This is a delicate darling bike I think. I just cant trust this bike that it will be a workhorse and take me anywhere. Summer, FE drops, Winter the bike wont start before 30 kicks, monsoon all problem crops up.

The front wheel is not straight, rear has play. Even if I get it rectified, one moderately heavy application of brake is enough to get the things offset.


After the 3-mar-2010 service of the bike, I am sure that I am having a lemon.

I miss my caliber which even after 90K kms would start instantly, give superb FE and was stable with good handling.

Buying this bike was a wrong decision, I am still paying for it.

Till date I spent more than Rs. 5K on service for a bike that has done 15.5K kms. Last 5 months, I have visited the service center more than 8 times.

When the bike feels best : Riding at 50-55 kmph and if speed is constant it looks like this bike can make it through anything. Very smooth and I actually enjoy biking at that time.

Some images.

The remains of the Carb leak.

[aaggoswami]

Update. Today I had the throttle jamming the moment I applied approx. more than 1/10th of the throttle. 12km journey to home was a real pain. Called up Suzuki, they said Mr. Gurumeet was in meeting and he has strictly informed that his number must NOT be given out to anybody. My call was transferred to service center who informed that for a fee of Rs. 100/- a mechanic will come to my place.

Images attached as the person is working on my bike. There is a small cap somewhere on the carb. which is missing in my bike. Dust enters from that and jams the slider. My life is at risk riding this bike. Although the problem is solved as of now, I dont know for how long this will smooth running. Since december of last year I am facing this throttle jamming issue.

[Mpower]

Hey, sorry to hear about your situation. Are you getting similar feedback from other Zeus owners??? I am wondering if just your piece turned out to be a lemon.

I would suggest you call up Suzuki and demand a replacement bike. At least they might give you a new engine.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Hey, sorry to hear about your situation. Are you getting similar feedback from other Zeus owners??? I am wondering if just your piece turned out to be a lemon.

I would suggest you call up Suzuki and demand a replacement bike. At least they might give you a new engine.

Mpower, thanks for replying in this thread.

I did talk with a few Zeus owners, none of them are reporting the issues that I have posted. I have already spent a lot on maintenance also. At the service center itself I have had a talk with Zeus owners, but my problems are on a different level. The person who came down to my place today told me that people are getting around 60-65 kmpl, the FE I used to get earlier.

My current FE is much less than that figure.

On 3rd March one part called Slider Piston kit ( I think its slider from my understanding ) was replaced. At that point of time the service head was Mr. Mehul Khatri. He told me that they had swapped my carb in some other bike and in other bike also the problem of jammed throttle persisted. So they will have to replace the kit. I am attaching the bill of 3rd March.

About engine, apart from idling, everything is good. The only part that is not working well is carb. I did talk about replacement of carb to Mr. Gurumeet, but he said its 2 years, so forget about replacement.

In all, I have 15 service bills till date. Add to that 5-6 visits as I have lost some bills, visited them for FE setting or some carb leakage complain.

This means I have visited the service center every 781 kms. approx. This would be less if I had not lost some of my bills. Very bad for a commuter bike. Note that the bike is just 15,65X kms.

Every time I visit them I am assured that its OK now and if anything goes wrong, bring in the bike. I had asked for reason why the slider would fail in the first place. My Caliber did more than 90K kms. without any issues, why this bike would give out so many problems ? No explanation was given. Mr. Gurumeet would say once and for all lets solve the problem, but it still crops up.

I will definitely call Suzuki now if again there is any problem. I am OK with only carb replacement, but would for sure push for entire bike or engine replacement.

The first part of the03-March-2010 bill.


The available 15 bills.

[abhinav.s]

Really sad and sorry you have to go thru all this trouble after putting down your hard earned money for a bike.

Since other Zeus owners are not reporting issues, it seems like a classic case of a lemon being handed to you.

Replacement bike is a bit far fetched but might work out like MPower suggested with a new engine atleast. But you should have the time and energy to go thru the hassles and fight with the Suzuki folks.

The easy way out would be to sell it and pick up a different bike of your choice.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

it seems like a classic case of a lemon being handed to you.

Replacement bike is a bit far fetched but might work out like MPower suggested with a new engine atleast. But you should have the time and energy to go thru the hassles and fight with the Suzuki folks.

The easy way out would be to sell it and pick up a different bike of your choice.

Even if my carb is replaced with warranty that slider will not fail and something wont go wrong as it has gone with the current carb, I will be more than happy. I am really confused whether to fight with them or not as you rightly said that I will need a lot of time and money.

I am seriously thinking to sell this bike off and go for a 100cc Hero Honda or Yamaha bike.

This is what happens when I try to email my concern to Suzuki. I tried IE8, Firefox, EPIC ( new Indian browser worth a try ) but I am getting the same error.

[Sheel]

The Zeus isn't that good a Motorcycle, but I hadn't expected it out to be this,
it is pathetic.

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Handling : Extreme understeer after a minor oversteer whenever the bike is turned. More so when the bike has to be turned left.

^^I didn't understand your above comments.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

This is what happens when I try to email my concern to Suzuki. I tried IE8, Firefox, EPIC ( new Indian browser worth a try ) but I am getting the same error.

Did not have much luck with any email id's except for the detail below from consumer complaints website

The Director
SUZUKI MOTORCYCLE INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED
100 southex plaza, 389 masjid moth, south extension II
New Delhi , national capital territory of Delhi
India-110049
Ph:+91 1244170700
Customer care officer: katsumi takata, joint managing director
Email:anamika.anu@suzukimotorcycle.in

Give it a try and see if it works.

[devarshi84]

I am running a suzuki scooter and I have only good things to say. But let me add that as always the service center plays a crucial part in the maintainence of the vehicle. It seems the service center you go to is sad.

Before going further go to another Suzuki service center and try to get your problems solved. After that you can write to Suzuki making yours a valid case.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Sheel

1) The Zeus isn't that good a Motorcycle, but I hadn't expected it out to be this,
it is pathetic.


2) ^^I didn't understand your above comments.

1) I too thought that the bike is good for around 30 months. Its only after that the problems came up. As mentioned earlier, I bought this bike for FE only and I was aware of everything else, but to my horror, things have gone way bad than what I anticipated. My sister's Bajaj Kristal is serving her better than my bike despite having seen fewer service center visits and having covered more kms. in approximately similar time period.

2) When I try to turn the bike, initially there will be excessive turn to and then as soon as I correct that error, the bike shows reluctance to turn. This happens even when I have to take minor turns i.e. non 90 degree turns.

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

3) Did not have much luck with any email id's except for the detail below from consumer complaints website

The Director
SUZUKI MOTORCYCLE INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED
100 southex plaza, 389 masjid moth, south extension II
New Delhi , national capital territory of Delhi
India-110049
Ph:+91 1244170700
Customer care officer: katsumi takata, joint managing director
Email:anamika.anu@suzukimotorcycle.in

Give it a try and see if it works.

3) Thanks a lot! If the problem comes up again, the link of this thread along with my complaints will be emailed to them.

Originally Posted by devarshi84

4) I am running a suzuki scooter and I have only good things to say. But let me add that as always the service center plays a crucial part in the maintainence of the vehicle. It seems the service center you go to is sad.

5) Before going further go to another Suzuki service center and try to get your problems solved. After that you can write to Suzuki making yours a valid case.

4) When I bought the bike way back in May 2007, for the first 30 months I too had only good things to say. But now I have this thread running. Yes, my service center is not able to solve problem, neither are they bringing in others. This time I will contact Suzuki straight.

5) This is the only Suzuki dealer we have in Vadodara. The address is :
Ravi Wheels Pvt. Ltd.
Near Police Station, Navayard, Chhani Road
Baroda - 390002
Gujarat - West
Tel.: 0265-2773635/ 3246216, 2773001 (W/S), 9898377254, 9898547961

But there are 4 in A'bad. The problems of a smaller city!

@all : Thanks for reading and replying in this thread.

[devarshi84]

How about getting it serviced in Ahmedabad? The people who own Petal Suzuki are friends of mine. I can atleast try to get something done for you if possible.

It remains upto you though. I hope you get a solution soon.

[aaggoswami]

1) @devarshi84, thanks for offering help.
I am banned from riding bike on highway. If I do so, my bike will go away and Hercules TopGear bicycle of mine will be my main transport.

2) Today as the bike was used in rains, the slider was jamming again. I dont know what to do next, I am simply too tired to even start this bike now.

My life was risked more than 80 times after the slider piston kit was replaced. Today itself more than thrice the throttle was jamming.
Just now had a talk with Mr. Hiren who is current service manager at Suzuki two wheeler Vadodara. He said he will call me in an hour. I am waiting for him to call else I will call at head office.

What my fear is this : If I call head office & in turn if head office scolds dealer, then the dealer will not even give me service that I am currently getting.

[devarshi84]

You are the customer and the damage has been done. Stop fearing about anything and just have a striaght talk. The dealer is anyways not providing you with satisfactory service. Might get it serviced roadside as well.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

You are the customer and the damage has been done. Stop fearing about anything and just have a straight talk. The dealer is anyways not providing you with satisfactory service. Might get it serviced roadside as well.

Correct. Just gave the bike for service today. They promised me to give a replacement vehicle that did not turn up.
At 4 pm Mr. Hiren demanded that I show up with vehicle at service center on Monday. I replied its impossible for a human to ride the vehicle as the throttle was jamming.
Two chaps from service center turned up and my bike went in for service just now.
He will give me a call on Monday.

I am now sending the thread and details of my problem to the email address mentioned by abhinav.s.

Devarshi84 you are right, I will now have to be straight to get the job done.

[aaggoswami]

1) Had a talk in family. If this time the problem is not solved, we have decided to sell off the bike and buy a 100cc hero honda bike. Atleast they have more number of service centers and normal mechanics can work on the bike.

2) I have emailed my problems to the address mentioned by abhinav.s. Lets see what turns up.

3) I am also planning to post this case on Xbhp.

4) I thought that the day I started this thread my problem with slider would not reoccur.
But I was wrong. So I request mods to add : Poor Service,Dealer not able to solve problem in the topic of this thread.

Tomorrow, I will visit the service center and update the thread.

EDIT : Thanks for updating the thread title.