Dear Suzuki: F*$% you

[arbakken]

Congratulations Suzuki, you managed to make a simple fork seal replacement possibly impossible by redesigning the forks that had worked just fine for 15 years. I've never had the bottom bolt on any fork fail to come out until now, but that's okay right? Because you can make that special tool with a bolt... oh wait, they redesigned that part inexplicably and there isn't any way of holding that bottom thingy in place. An impact gun wouldn't take it out either, it just spun. Thanks guys, never buying another Suzuki based on that alone.

Oh, and you ruined the SV650 by making it ugly.

[The Buddha]

Yea ... they also F*(ked up the katana forks after 96, the idiotic GS forks are made of garbage steel with dirty chrome that rusts like the day it leaves the show room ...

I actually think the president who says he will make companies warrantee stuff against rust be the first one that gets my vote. ... Till then I am not
voting, it just encourages the basterds.

I also like to hold a repairability and backwards compatibility clause aka ... dont make new sheite that doesn't fit your old sheite.

Cool.
Buddha.

[ojstinson]

And why did they do away with the little threaded plug at the bottom of each fork that allowed you to do quick and easy fork oil changes and flushes, instead of a 10 minute job it's now about an hour and a half if you're lucky.

[The Buddha]

And why did they do away with the little threaded plug at the bottom of each fork that allowed you to do quick and easy fork oil changes and flushes, instead of a 10 minute job it's now about an hour and a half if you're lucky.

GS never had it, katana did till 96 ... garbage bean counters building bikes instead of bikers.
I mean we buy bikes from companies whose workers use public transport, what do we expect.
Of course HD isn't the answer either, they are driving their F 150's.
Cool.
Buddha.

[manofthefield]

I use an impact to take mine off.  It doesn't come off unless I compress my forks first though. 

To compress it, I use a ratchet strap hooked on the fork brace holes with the strap wrapped around the top of the fork tube.  To keep the strap from slipping off, I place a 2x4 between the strap and the top of the tube.  Just be careful, ratcheting down the strap makes for a lot of potential energy in the compressed spring.  You'll put your eye out if you're not careful. 

Hope this helps.

[Jared]

As far as a drain plug- yeah it would be nice- but the Gs is a budget bike- if you have to drill and tap a million less holes and manufacture/ buy and install a million less plugs....

That  saves them a few bucks...  If you can find a good spot you could drill and tap your own drains.... Maybe it's been done...don't feel like searching....
My ZX11 doesn't have drains either... For how often it all needs to be done it isn't  that big a deal to me...

The main thing  on the gs I dislike is the two petcocks and the tank drain outlet being right in front of the tank petcock valve...

[mister]

Oh, and you ruined the Gladius by making it ugly.

There, fixed it for you 

Yeah yeah, I know that's not ALL they did to ruin the bike. But we gotta start somewhere. And that's a good a place as any.

Michael

[The Buddha]

As far as a drain plug- yeah it would be nice- but the Gs is a budget bike- if you have to drill and tap a million less holes and manufacture/ buy and install a million less plugs....

That  saves them a few bucks...  If you can find a good spot you could drill and tap your own drains.... Maybe it's been done...don't feel like searching....
My ZX11 doesn't have drains either... For how often it all needs to be done it isn't  that big a deal to me...

The main thing  on the gs I dislike is the two petcocks and the tank drain outlet being right in front of the tank petcock valve...

Crap pockets ... and chain drive ... yea belt would ahve cost a whole lot more, like $3 more ... yea Idiots we like the crappy chains that wear out ever other month.
Cool.
Buddha.

[ben2go]

I agree the GS has some stupid designed parts.The fuel tank bottom and petcock is the main issue for me.The other issue is the retarded valve shim crap.Suzuki could have made adjustable tappets.

[Twism86]

The second gen SV is beautiful, the first one was hideous.

[The Buddha]

The second gen SV is beautiful, the first one was hideous.

Twinsm86: Oh holeeee cow, you're gonna get the sv fans in a huff over this. The second gen sv is generally considered uglier than the first gen, though not a lot. First gen is called "curvy" ... well it sounded a lot better before that ashlee simpson Beeeeyatch used it to refer to her fat sister as "curvy".

Ben2go - threaded tappets dont let the bike rev up that well, well an old GSXR had those and the head on a GSXR is huge, they also had smaller valves and much stiffer springs. Threaded adjusters will have eaten space and rpm, and made a more $ motor and a bigger frame needed to fit the motor.

Cool.
Buddha.

[arbakken]

I like the 2nd gen SV650 better than the 1st gen, especially with the black frame and yellow... However, the SV lies awake at night and imagines how grand life would be if it were a Ducati Monster...

Anyways, this whole thread was made in error, because I realized I was using the wrong tool the entire time. 
I was under the impression you were supposed to loosen that bolt with a 7mm allen wrench, when in fact the correct tool was a cordless drill with a 3/8" bit on it. That said, I still can't get what's left of the bolts out of whatever it is they screw into. I've got a vice grips on the bolt end, but I don't have anything beefy enough to grab onto and not damage the other part, nor do I have a torch so I can heat it up nice and hot. I've considered using a pipe wrench... no, you know what? Screw it, I will use a pipe wrench.

[arbakken]

yay pipe wrench... you know, earlier today I ordered new bolts, but I might be more impatient than that. I'm going to ride down to the hardware store and hope normal hardware store bolts work better than suzuki bolts

[ryott52]

yay pipe wrench... you know, earlier today I ordered new bolts, but I might be more impatient than that. I'm going to ride down to the hardware store and hope normal hardware store bolts work better than suzuki bolts

Good luck man, I had to go to a dealer to get nuts to hold my sprocket on, neither Lowe's or Home Depot had the right size.