Photo: motorbeam.com
Only days after we ran the editorial on the small-displacement sport Suzuki machines, or better said, the lack of such bikes, news arrives from India, where things seem to be on the move in this direction. Namely, a guy has shot a camouflaged motorcycle which looked very similar to the bigger GSX-R and this sort of gives us hopes that Hamamatsu has finally understood that there are a lot of riders who are dying to ride a small Gixxer.
Now, we’re not getting excessively optimistic until we hear official words from Suzuki telling us that they plan to launch an entry-point Gixxer tot the world markets. However, we cannot help be glad seeing Hamamatsu deciding to expand the GSX-R family with models for beginners.
This points to an 150cc-class air-cooled machine which is anyway far from the direct competition represented by the Honda CBR125R or the Yamaha R125. It looks like the spied camouflaged bike is only the model intended for local sales and has nothing to do with what we’d like to see in Europe or in North America.
On the other hand, Suzuki adding a sporty full fairing to the naked small-displacement machine is a sign we simply cannot and will not ignore. If some top hat decided that making the 150cc naked bike look more like a 600cc or 1000cc GSX-R was a smart move for India, maybe the same will happen to the next level, and for other countries.
It’s Suzuki’s call now. They might want to join the 300cc class fray, and even though Kawasaki, Honda and Yamaha are already there, the class is only going to get more crowded as bikes from Erik Buell Racing, BMW and possibly Triumph are on their way. Still, we’d love to see a mini-Busa rolling down the street!
Will it go worldwide?
The biggest question is still far from being answered in a satisfactory manner. What is in fact Suzuki planning for the small-displacement segment? As far as the info we gathered until now, the bike scooped by motorbeam is more of a full-faired Inazuma, a model which the Indian branch of Suzuki is said to ditch in 2015, anyway. Suzuki is already selling a naked 150cc Gixxer in India, so the one in the photo above is maybe not exactly the bike we’re looking for.This points to an 150cc-class air-cooled machine which is anyway far from the direct competition represented by the Honda CBR125R or the Yamaha R125. It looks like the spied camouflaged bike is only the model intended for local sales and has nothing to do with what we’d like to see in Europe or in North America.
On the other hand, Suzuki adding a sporty full fairing to the naked small-displacement machine is a sign we simply cannot and will not ignore. If some top hat decided that making the 150cc naked bike look more like a 600cc or 1000cc GSX-R was a smart move for India, maybe the same will happen to the next level, and for other countries.
Is 150cc for Asia the equivalent of 300cc for the western markets?
Now, we’ve seen manufacturers selling smaller bikes in Asia and bigger ones in Europe and North America. The quarter-liter CBR, Yamaha R and Kawasaki Ninja are selling well in Asia, but in the other two regions, they have been replaced by 300cc models.It’s Suzuki’s call now. They might want to join the 300cc class fray, and even though Kawasaki, Honda and Yamaha are already there, the class is only going to get more crowded as bikes from Erik Buell Racing, BMW and possibly Triumph are on their way. Still, we’d love to see a mini-Busa rolling down the street!
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