Suzuki Gixxer SF 250 Long Term: Introduction

Gallery Introduction The Plan The Specs Product Details:

Introduction

Suzuki Gixxer SF 250 Right Front Three Quarter

The Suzuki Gixxer SF 250 is based on the same platform as the Suzuki V-Strom SX 250 and if you’ve been a regular reader of BikeWale, you’ll know how much we love that ADV. It isn’t a surprise then that when the opportunity to test another 250cc bike on the same platform arised, we lapped it up. The Gixxer SF 250 has been around for some time and we have road tested the bike in the past. But, this is the first time that we’ve got a chance to spend a few months with the bike. The long-term test with the bike should unravel the good and maybe a few bad bits about the bike and shall give us a better understanding about what it is like to live with the bike.

The Plan

The plan with the Suzuki Gixxer SF 250 is to ride it as much as I possibly can. The bike will be used for commuting to the office and back home, which is a 70km roundtrip. I have a mix of long open highways, congested city lanes and pockets where traffic ranges between light to moderate. Here is where I’ll test the low speed maneuverability of the bike, the responsiveness of the engine and its heat management. We shall also keep a close eye on the fuel economy numbers that the bike manages in mixed riding conditions.

Besides this, I also plan to take the bike out on a few intercity trips and perhaps on my annual visit to Gokarna or Goa. These long distance trips would be ideal to test the comfort offered by the seat, evaluate the riding triangle and also evaluate the performance of the engine over a long period of time.

During this period, we also plan to get the bike serviced at least once. Here we shall find out the service experience, cost of spares and service as well any issues that may or may not arise.

The Specs

The Gixxer SF 250 we’ve got is in the Suzuki MotoGP bike inspired colours. While the MotoGP team is defunct, which is a sad thing, I like the fact that Suzuki has stuck with at least keeping the colours alive in this Race Edition trim. I, for one, am quite attracted to the way the bike looks in these colours.

Powering the bike is an oil-cooled, 249cc, single-cylinder engine that makes 26.5bhp at 9,300rpm and 22.2Nm at 7,300rpm. The seat height is accessible at 800mm but some short riders may find this slightly high. The bike weighs 161kg (kerb) which explains why it feels so lightweight and flickable.

The hardware isn’t up to spec with some competition but it gets the job done. To elaborate, it has a telescopic fork and a preload adjustable monoshock.

When it comes to features, it has a decent set that includes an LED headlight, LED tail light and a digital display with smartphone connectivity.

The specs and features aren’t in the same league as some of the competition but it is an option worth considering if one wants a Japanese quarter-litre machine.