Suzuki Motorcycle India has launched the elder sibling of their Flagship brand Gixxer in India. The Suzuki Gixxer SF 250 has been introduced to the Indian market by the company. The Gixxer SF 250 is a fully faired motorcycle and it comes with various features on board including Dual Channel ABS as standard fitment. However, like any other thing the new Gixxer SF 250 also misses out few things that we will bring into your notice. We got the chance to take a ride of the brand new Gixxer SF 250 even before it was officially launched Pan India. Here is what we found out about the bike as initial impression in our review.Design and Style:
The new Gixxer SF 250 looks typical "GSXR" and it continues with the design cues of the renowned series. The bike is featured with beautifully sculpted fairing which has flowing lines all over, right from the chiseled fuel tank to the tapered tail piece. The new Gixxer 250 comes featured with wonderfully designed LED headlamps which dominates the entire front apron of the bike. The bike however comes shod with pretty small visor hence aesthetically it seems like something is missing. The blinkers are also disintegrated type and are not embedded in the fairing.
The company has given new multi-spoke alloy wheels which looks awesome coupled with meaty radial tyres. The Gixxer SF 250 comes shod with 110/70-R17 Radial Tubeless tyre at front and 150/60-R17 Radial Tubeless at rear. The rear view mirrors are something I would like to mention specially because they are not only ergonomically perfectly designed but also don't rattle at all even on very high speeds.Engine and Performance:
The Gixxer SF 250 is equipped with 249cc oil cooled SOHC engine. The engine seems to be the rebored version of the existing 155cc motor featured on Gixxer 155 and Intruder 155. The oil cooled mill is bored at 76mm with 54.9mm of Stroke, making it a fairly oversquare engine. The short stroke engine of the new Gixxer 250 is made to accelerate and it does greatly what it is meant to do. The 249cc motor is capable of producing 26.5 Ps of power and 22.6 Nm of torque. The engine is mated to 6-speed transmission gear which is a must for a bike of this stature and capacity. But the experience of transmission gears didn't impress us, it was hard and certainly not like a "Japanese" gearbox.
As far as performance of the Gixxer SF 250 is concerned as mentioned earlier the engine does perfectly what one expects from it, It is peppy, smooth and responsive. The fuel injection system comes standard and it actually become icing on the cake when the power delivery comes into play. However, lack of Slipper clutch is indeed felt which could have been provided by the company as value added feature but that would have also increased the price of the bike. We could not test the bike on the track hence the track competency of the bike is unknown but we can surely say that the shorter wheelbase of the bike will make the bike fun to ride.Brakes and Suspension:
The Gixxer 250 is suspended on beefy front Telescopic Suspension and adjustable rear Mono suspension. The suspension setup at the Gixxer 250 SF is moderate and it is perfect for both day to day riding and occasional track racing. Brakes are from "Bybre" and the bigger front rotor of the bike coupled with Dual channel ABS makes the riding absolutely safe and fun at the same time. However, the ABS is non-switchable and hence one cannot switch-off the ABS while trying Stoppie or try one's capability at the trackday.
The bike is featured with split seat and the quality of the seat is quite okay. The ergonomics of the bike is aggressive and the rider automatically leans down while riding. The meaty front suspension of the Gixxer250 is clamped on triple tree along with Clip-on handlebars. The front foot pegs are set pretty reclined, whereas, the foldable rear foot pegs are set high to complement the inclined rear seat. The seat height of the bike for the rider is not high and I could easily plant both my feet on ground while standing (being 5 feet 10 inches tall). However, this is not the story for the pillion, no way the pillion could touch the ground while sitting.
Verdict:The all new Suzuki Gixxer SF 250 comes in only two color options for now and they are- Matte Black and Matte Silver. The bike is really fun to ride and is eye candy for sure. Priced around Rs. 2.0 Lac On Road the new Gixxer will compete with the likes of Yamaha Fazer 250, Honda CBR 250R and KTM RC200. Those who want to ride a sportbike on daily basis and still want to relish the benefits of reliability, comfort and lower ownership cost must go for this bike.
Ride Courtesy: Maa Suzuki, Bhopal (M.P)
Review By: Haroon Mohd. Khan
Text By: Farhan Kashif
