After Action Review: ATL bike show

[JamesG]

Well just got back from the Atlanta IMS. It was nice, LOTS of people there. Saw some old racing buddies, saw lots of the new bikes.  Here are my impressions of them.

First off the GS500F:  I was actually kinda disappointed.  The fairing does look nice, but I donno, I was expecting the bike to somehow be more substantial, but it was just a GS with a fairing.  Worst thing from a racers point of view is that you can't fit clipons to it!  The fairing comes up to high...  :x  
Sigh... There are so many other things Suzuki could have improved on the GS instead of that fairing...

DL-650: Very nice to sit on. Ugly as sin to look at. The seat and ergos are VERY comfortable. The weight and balance is very nice, better than the DL1000.  But it looks even worse than the bigger V-Strom because it uses the same Voltron fairing on a smaller bike so looks even more out of proportion.  I wonder if you could strip the stock bodywork off and put an SVS upper on it...

599: Here is a suprise, I actually like the way the bike looks and feels and it fit 'Lita pretty well.  Unfortunately its both over priced and under featured.

FZ6: Nice bike. Dispite what the specs sheets say, the bike feels lighter and smaller than my YZF600R.  The seat was hard as a board though, and I'm not sure I could get used to quite that upright a posture on a "sportbike".  If I ever bought one, while installing a decent front end off an R6, I would put a flat SB bar on it.

ZX10R: Good God! The bike IS smaller than the ZX6RR. If I had a death wish and $10K to blow, I would go nuts trying to decide between it and the new R1.

Ducati 749: They had a "dark" 749 and it looked alot better than the painted ones, literally a stealth Duc.  Very sexy and exotic looking.
I was VERY disappointed that they didn't have the retro bikes there. I really wanted to oggle the PaulSmart one...

Lita was making me nervous sitting on too many cruizers and talking about how all her other female riding buddies only rode cuisers.  I think we are back to looking at getting a Guzzi Breva 750.  Its different, stylish, has some performance but still cruizerish laid back.  

[vtlion]

sounds like a day well spent  

I'm with you on the GS, shame they went with 500 bucks worth of fairing instead of 500 bucks worth of better manufacturing.... oh well... they will probably sell more of them because of the fairing than they would becuase of better suspension, tires and/or other performance-related upgrades.

I'm ready to get a look at the FZ6, too.  Maybe its prettier in three dimensions, but every time I look at the pics of the FZ6, I think that front fairing is gonna fall right off the bike...it sits so far forward that I think it looks odd without anything under it.  JMHO.

The new bikes should be hittin' the showrooms in a month or two... I can't wait!  :mrgreen:

[pantablo]

First off the GS500F:  I was actually kinda disappointed.

I agree wholehartedley...something about the proportions just aren't right.

Ducati 749: They had a "dark" 749 and it looked alot better than the painted ones, literally a stealth Duc.  Very sexy and exotic looking.
I was VERY disappointed that they didn't have the retro bikes there. I really wanted to oggle the PaulSmart one...

Yeah, the dark was a nice one. Would be my choice if I had the wad to blow. The retros were really nice but I'd stick to more contemporary hardware myself.

I think we are back to looking at getting a Guzzi Breva 750.  Its different, stylish, has some performance but still cruizerish laid back.  

Excellent choice. October issue of T.W.O. had a comparison of several "newbie" bikes and that one was rated highly. Tied for highest honors with the SV650s. If you can't find the article PM me your address and I'll mail you a copy. "Top marks to Guzzi for hitting the spot when it comes to first bikes. The Breva is maintenance free, cheap and very easy to get on with as well as good looking." Others in consideration were sv650s, Ducati 620ie, harley Sportster, BMW f650cs.

[JLKasper]

I haven't seen the '04 up close and personal yet, but I suspect I'd feel the same way about it.  For a beginner bike to be decked out in plastic doesn't make a lot of sense to me.  Some insurance companies charge a lot extra for bodywork, despite engine displacement or horsepower.  Additionally, pricing it at $300 above a EX500 doesn't strike me as sound marketing strategy either.

For five grand, Suzuki could start with a stock GS... Then, the engineers could sort out the carburetion, add 4-valve per cylinder heads & oil cooler, upgrade suspension components & BT45 tires, add a gel seat & upgraded headlight, and throw in a stainless exhaust system.  They'd end up with the essence of the bike intact, but improve its appeal to a wider audience.

[GRU]

that's what manufactres do...they do something cheap (fairing in this case) because people that buy these bikes want the looks not rideability..there are a lot more ex500's on the street then GS's just because some people want a faired bike....

if suzuki was to upgrade the shock, put a jel seat, nicer tires and add 2 more valves/cyl then it wouldn't be fun customizing our bike...i don't know about you guys but i enjoy working on my bike, and this way i will have a faster, nicer bike then some other GS500 rider on the street