Suzuki GSF 650S Bandit

Supper stylish and engine is so powerful , great efficiency.

Great Motorcycles , great control and style.My 1st bikes and i like to drive it most time.

I technically have the GSX650F, but it is an identical bike with a few plastic fairings slapped on and considering my review is about the mechanicals, it is for all intents and purposes the same bike.

The bike is hailed by many, including MCN as smooth. Mine runs jittery, blobbily, and spluttery. I have taken it to Suzuki, they go for a ride and come back saying " Very smooth! You have a goodun here! "

....Right...Weird, because it feels like it's going to stall all the time, and the accel/decel is snappy as if brakes are being applied full blast.

It's heavy, 250kg with full fuel tank and oil to be exact. Manually removing it from my drive is extremely difficult, and I should mention I am 6ft 14 stone 7lbs and a keen weightlifter and find it bloody knackering!

Fuel economy isn't that good. Essentially the bikes weight just means more petrol is needed to get it moving, compared to lighter bikes with identical sized engines (like the SV650)

Rusts like mad even with anti rust products (good ones too like ACF50, which is £25 a bottle and used on military jets!)

Steering sometimes feels weird, again, had professionals look over it top to bottom and they say its a cracking example of the GSX650F. If that is the case, I am far from impressed.

I came up from a Yamaha YZF R125 which ran smooth as butter. A 125 ran smoother than a 650.

I find this bizarre because Suzuki do make good products, I know they do, but this one, for me personally, falls short considerably of my expectations.

Reliable machine, but getting used to it's stuttery acceleration and deceleration took some time getting used to.

Normally have larger bikes, Gsxr1000, VTRs 1000 etc but have been out cycling for a couple of years when my 2006 oil cooled model came up for sale through a friend of a friend. It wasn't what I was looking for but the bike was like new having only covered 897 miles! I snapped the guys hand off and took it home, what a surprise it turned out to be, decent handling, strong engine,roomy very very smooth, only criticism is the seat becomes uncomfortable after less than two hours for me. I use the bike for sunny days out with friends that have larger bikes and we are never left behind, I am thinking of changing for something bigger as my daughter has got the bug, so I am two up a lot. If it wasn't for this reason I would keep the bandit as it really is enough for the average road rider, great bike.

I bought my GSF650SA a little over 2 years ago and have covered just under 11k.

I had restricted access first if all so had the free restriction kit Suzuki offered and was impressed by the bike in every way.

Since taking the restriction off, its like a brand new bike, the acceleration is great and you can use all it's got to offer. Changed the can for a Beowolf and the sound is throaty. I use my bike every day to and from work, and for leisure if i dont have to ferry the kids around. The only downside I can say, is I think I need my 3rd set of tyres very soon, although I think this is due to the acceleration I use, rather than the bike itself :-)

I bought his bike 2 years ago and since then i've put 3000 mile on the clock and had a faultless experience. The bike is smooth to ride and take corners with ease. I got a bight red one with Frank Thomas gear to match. This bike is perfect for summer evening blasts and the daily commute alike. If you can afford this mid range bike then you should go for it. I though it was good value for money and it's a bike that looked after well will last a life time.

Bought my 650s new at a bargain price. Bike was restricted and first big bike - for a beginner it didn't feel slow at all. Have toured on it restricted very comfortable and

lots of luggage room one up. It is heavy to push but light as soon as moving -nice and planted - but this also means I now have confidence to handle almost any size bike so it worked as a trainer. Now unrestricted and much more fun. Used most days as a commuter and for weekend ride outs - I certainly don't need anything faster. Now have Bridgestone BT21's fitted - very reassuring - turn in and grip better.

I can't compare the suspension as not ridden any comparable bikes in anger but have adjusted it to stiffer which improved turn in for me.

Would recommend as first big bike.

Has been very reliable and dealer is excellent (Salitre).

Have high screen and heated grips fitted - helps for touring, mirror extenders for commuting, hugger and extenda for muck.

Fairing works well and deflect wind and rain.

I like the upright riding position.

Don't like the quality of some fittings - I ride all year and rust needs to be kept on top of - however does not seem worse than last Honda I had.

Not had my 650 bandit S long but long enough to know its a cracker of a bike been riding since 1970 and had many bikes from scooters to goldwings started out on lambrettas passed my test on a 75cc vega had six wings three pan euros but at my age decided to get something smaller and more importantly lighter also have a guzzi griso 1200 8v so not gone totaly light anyway getting back to the suzi its a great bike for a beginner you could teach someone how to ride on it its that good i am not a wet weather rider so it wont get much use till spring always loved suzuki bikes and had quite a few of them this is my second bandit also had GT 750 GN 400 GSX 250T GSX 400T (x3) GS450 600 Bandit 250 hustler and probably more which i cant bring to mind at the mo.

the wonderfull motorcycle, its perfect to go anywhere. I love this machine!

This is my first time on a large bike since my honda 250 s/dream i must say i am very impressed with the performance i feel safe on this bike and i think this is a good starting off reliable performance bike it is low on insurance good value for money and also turns heads i have just run this bike in so now i can start to open it up a bit i must say still very impressed no problem with engine power and torque it will run at 80 mile per hour at ease at 80 the engine is still very quiet what else can i say i still smile to myself evertime i go for a run.Before i bought my bike i think it would have been a good idea to take other bikes for a test run. My bike is a 650 SUZUKI BANDIT K9