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Suzuki GSX-S750 ownership review by an ex KTM 390 Duke owner

14th January 2022, 10:22 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

I had a budget of Rs 8-10 lakh & was okay with both new and used superbikes. My brother found the GSX-750 on OLX. It was a 2019 model with 12,000 km on the odo.

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Introduction

As a little kid, I was always fascinated by the big bikes that used to feature on magazines like Autocar and Overdrive. Something about the bright red bikes with big tires fascinated me to no end. As I grew up, friends changed, ambitions changed, hobbies changed, but one of the few things that remained a constant was the dream of owning a superbike. As the superbike culture grew in India and in Bengaluru, the fascination just grew stronger than ever. I would drop anything I was doing and run to the window and look out if I even heard so much as a growl from a superbike.

But I was always wary of them. I knew I had to work my way up to a superbike rather than jump on one from the outright. Being from a middle-class background, it helped that my parents were in no way willing to buy one for me anyway. So I started off with a typical scooter in college. A maroon Honda Aviator which was handed down to me after my brother graduated to his new KTM RC200. From the Aviator and small rides on the RC200, I graduated to a 2017 KTM Duke 390, which my father proclaimed would be the last bike he bought me and that I was now on my own. In a way, I was lucky to have this neat progression as this helped me to better understand these machines and more importantly, my right wrist. Once I cleared my CA exams, my single goal was to save up enough to buy a superbike and nearly 1.5 years later, in July 2021, my dream of having my very own big bike was fulfilled. Read on for a brief ownership review of my 2019 Suzuki GSX-S750, which I bought as a pre-worshipped bike with 12,000 kms on the odometer.

My biggest thanks to my brother, who is also on this forum with the handle @nikhn, for being my biggest support and pushing me to realize a lifelong dream. He is the biggest reason I made the final plunge towards owning this bike. When I conveyed that I had saved up enough to buy and sustain a big bike ownership, he was the one who constantly scoured through OLX, Facebook and Instagram pages for immaculate superbike specimens. He was the one who guided me through every technical aspect of big bike ownership and is the one who I can turn to when any problem arises on the bike. To be very frank, I would have been lost with this bike had it not been for him.

And thanks to fellow BHPian, @GoBlue for guiding me on what to look for in a used GSX-S750 and helping me assess the bike I found on OLX. Your guidance really helped me on the specific aspects to check and possible issues to look out for on the bike.

Review Index

The Too Long; Didn't Read Section

A quick pros and cons section to briefly summarize my experience with the Suzuki GSX-S750. Please note that some of these points are solely from my experience of the bikes I have ridden (primarily the 2017 KTM 390 Duke) and might be subjective as a result.

The Pros

The inline-4 engine - smooth and tractable with linear power delivery.
Traction control system - potentially life-saving tech, non-intrusive but has saved me from losing control a couple of times.
Looks (subjective) - subtle design with clean lines and sharp angles, not an attention seeker.
Riding posture (again, subjective) - slightly on the aggressive end, but with little to no weight on the wrists and shoulders.
Quality and premium switchgear - feels extremely well-put-together, no creaking and random metal noises.
Excellent heat management system - minimal heating even in stop-and-go traffic.
Non-fussy drinking habits - no complaints whatsoever with regular fuel.
Braking system is powerful enough for the power on tap.
Top-notch servicing experience (my only experience so far is with the Aerolex Suzuki in Bengaluru).

The Cons

Peaky engine - characteristic inline-4 - most of the power is hidden away at the higher end of the rev band.
Suspension - pre-load adjustable only system is on the stiffer end for my usage pattern since it seems set-up for corner carving.
Glaring omission of high-quality parts (no steel-braided lines, no slipper clutch, no adjustable clutch lever, no LED lighting (other than the taillight)).
Lack of pillion comfort - pillion seat only for the brave, especially with there being no pillion grab rails.
Long wait-times for OEM spares, which are eye-wateringly expensive (though I have found a workaround for the wait-times).

The Neutral

Weight – This is a heavy bike at 213 kgs, but the weight is only felt while moving it around in the parking lot.
Lighting – more than adequate for my use case, but will definitely need to be upgraded if highway night drives are planned.
Mileage – returns 15-16 kmpl in the city and 20-22 on the highway (depending on riding style).
Rider comfort – being a naked sports bike, comfort isn’t one of its strengths, but I can’t say that this is an outright uncomfortable bike for 2-3 hour rides.

KTM Duke 390 (2017)

Before I purchased the Suzuki GSX-S750, my ride was a 2017 KTM Duke 390, which was my steed from June 2017 to July 2021. An excellent bike on its own, albeit with some reliability concerns. The 390 was a hoot to drive around, and now that I have some fair riding experience on a more powerful steed, I can honestly say that the 390 is more bike than you’ll ever need in India. In my opinion, any desire for a more powerful bike is purely a want, if the use case is for anything other than track days.

The KTM 390 Duke was fast enough to trod along comfortably at 100-110 kmph, returned decent economy numbers, had fantastic brakes and came with enough tech to keep you safe on the roads. Yes, the 390 has a bit of a reputation for being the boy racers’ favourite, but on its own, it’s an excellent bike. One can even call it VFM with all the tech being offered at its price. Even my Suzuki doesn’t have many of its features despite being a much more expensive bike. Steel-braided lines, LED lighting, ride-by-wire, adjustable brake and clutch levers, a quickshifter (in the 2020+ models) and slipper clutch, a TFT screen with navigation, the bike is loaded with almost everything that one needs.

But yes, the biggest elephant in the room, is reliability. All KTMs are reputed at being shoddy with their reliability and I faced my fair share of problems with the bike. A couple of pressure-washes of the bike led to a bout of electrical issues one year into ownership, which left me stranded multiple times far from home, including sometimes at midnight. Inexperienced techs at the service center made the problems worse. But ultimately the issue was resolved. Another issue with the engine tappets led to the entire engine being opened up (in God knows what conditions) at the service center. But other than these 2 pain-points, I did enjoy 4 years of mostly trouble-free ownership, other than a few odd gremlins here and there. Yes, I faced the infamous “ECU Error” and the sporadic and temporary radiator fan failures, but these were issues that resolved themselves in a few minutes.

Do I miss the Duke? Sometimes, yes. As I sit down to type this, I miss the lightness of the bike and that abrupt power delivery which made for some very memorable moments. The bike was a hooligan when brought to a ghat section and you could push the bike to its limits without worrying about going too fast. I miss the fancy TFT screen (I am a fan of all things tech) and the stonkingly-good brakes.

But once I sit back on the GSX and thumb that glorious inline-4 to life, the KTM feels like a distant memory of engine vibes and crude sounds.

Purchasing Decision

I was on the lookout for basically any decent superbike to upgrade to. Had a budget of ₹ 8-10 lakhs, and was okay with new or used. My primary requirements were a smooth engine with good power and torque figures, traction control to smoothen my transition to a big bike, good brakes and decent comfort. Another big requirement was the need to have a big bike feel while being discrete. A big bike feel was quintessential as I did not want to feel like I was sitting on another Duke after shelling out 8 big ones on the bike. Call me shallow, but as a 24-year old achieving a lifelong dream and shelling out my own hard-earned money, this was an important requirement. However, the bike had to be discrete as I was planning on daily-ing the bike on the office commute. By profession, I am an auditor, working in a large professional firm, and this meant I would frequently visit client locations where I would not be guaranteed secure parking. A loud, look-at-me type of bike would have been impossible to daily without being fidgeted with by random people. I had zero interest in the cruisers and ADVs as I feel there is time to explore those categories later on in life. Supersports were out-of-budget and came with far too committed riding styles for my daily usage riding pattern.

The Suzuki GSX-S750 fit the bill quite nicely, though I must admit, I did not start out the search with this bike in mind. My brother found the bike for sale on OLX with 12,000 clicks on the odo, I met the seller and came to a deal that was well within the lower end of my budget. The OEM Bridgestone Battlax S21s were squared off and needed immediate replacement. The price was reduced to accommodate the purchase of new tires (though I significantly underestimated the effect of the tire import ban). The insurance was renewed immediately after our negotiations so I got a year of insurance at the seller’s cost.

This picture is at the ASC from when I tagged along with the previous owner for the bike's scheduled service just before delivery.

The bike, in comparison with the Duke 390.

The odo reading after bringing the bike home.

The rear tire was squared off and was almost out of tread in the middle, though the sides looked decent. Seems like the previous owner wasn't really a cornering junkie.

Customary temple visit for the pooja.

Have put in 5000 kms on the odo since I brought the bike home in July 2021 (with the bike effectively being used from August-mid post ownership and insurance transfer and also spending 3 weeks in the service center due to an accident that I met with – more on that later).

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