When revving the engine you can tell that Suzuki have engineered a large amount of weight into the reciprocating parts as even with fuel injection the GSX does not respond too enthusiastically to fine throttle changes.  This is not too much of a criticism as this style of bike is not expected to respond like an all-out sportsbike engine.  The GSX surprisingly does not have much engine braking.

So what is it like on the back wheel?  Not as eager as you might think.  It comes up quite easily but in order to maintain a good distance you have to get her up off the throttle in first before short-shifting to second gear.  Due to the heavy weight of the bike you have to sit her up nice and high at the balance point and control it from there.  But the fact that this is a big bike to be doing this sort of thing on never gets too far from your mind.

The 22-litre fuel tank on the GSX provides a touring range of between 250-300 kilometres depending on the pace maintained.  The tank is broad and well finished.  But it is well shaped and does not get in your way when moving around on the bike and getting out over the front when in the tight stuff.

As for suspenders the GSX comes up trumps again.

46mm forks do the business up front and adjustment of the preload, compression and rebound damping is easily carried out. The front end performs extremely well in very tight terrain and even does quite well through much quicker bends.

Out back a pair of piggyback reservoir shocks are also fully adjustable and perform brilliantly for such a system.

After negotiating some very tight and bumpy bends at what could be described as a very brisk pace the excellent Bridgestone BT020 tyres showed no signs of rough wear which shows just how well the suspension was working.  Ground clearance is more generous than you may expect from this class of bike.

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