2018 SUZUKI GSX250R
FIRST RIDE
P76
VOL. 54 ISSUE 49 DECEMBER 12, 2017 P76
with a new cylinder, reworked
intake and exhaust valves, tap-
pets and fuel injectors, but it's
essentially the same indestruc-
tible motor from the GW.
Riding a 250 twin is generally
a case of high revs—high revs
in traffic, high revs in canyons,
and super high revs while rid-
ing on a freeway
just to make sure
you're keeping
up with traffic, let
alone trying to
outrun it. The GSX
is far from im-
mune to this little
class trademark,
and requires the
rider to have the
engine singing
north of 7500
rpm almost the entire time to
have any meaningful form of
momentum. I wish I could say
there's a great rush of power in
the top rev ranges, but sadly,
there isn't. This little GSX, while
being great in traffic and around
town, couldn't pull the skin off a
cold soup. It struggles to clear
75 mph in a headwind, and while
I know I'm not the ideal weight
for a 250, I'm not that big! With
a sidewind down a very steep
hill to the Cycle News office, I
could just crack 85 mph with the
revs nudging 10,500 rpm but the
second that wind turned and I
was going head first into it, the
mph dropped and the little Suzi
began to slow.
Suzuki only has itself to
blame here. The lightweight
sport bike class moved on from
250cc twins over two years
ago, with Yamaha's R3, Honda's
(admittedly equally slow single-
cylinder) CBR300R, the KTM
RC390 and the Ninja now 400
twin the class standards. It's
not that these bikes are modern
sport-bike levels of fast, but they
are all faster than the GSX.
Maybe I'm missing the point,
but a quick look at the MSRP of
the GSX reveals only a $500 dif-
ference to the R3 and the Ninja
400, so when faced with this
dilemma, I think Suzuki needs
(Left) It does
look a little dull
but the dash
relays lots of
easily understood
information to
the rider.
(Right) That
little caliper has
a surprising
amount of
stopping
power in it.
(Right) Ten-
spoke cast
wheels look
great and will
give riders plenty
of options for
different tires.
(Below) The
back end looks
fantastic and is
straight off the
GSX-R1000.
