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GSX-S1000

gpounce

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Feb 19, 2022
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My R6's engine started eating itself in early June, way more than I was willing to get into on the bike- anything more than a 4hr ride was really starting to hurt so I let it go with mixed emotions to say the least. But, OTOH I'm a suzuki guy, so leapt at the chance to get a bike I've had my eye on for a few years;


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The dealer had a GT version (faired, bags etc) - but I've never loved fairings. I find the air smoother and quieter without.

Having a new bike makes me nervous- this is my 1st brand new one... but I really like it. Off the floor the suspension is hard and crazy, so it needs a bit of tuning. The rear shock is hopeless, reduced tire pressure 0 preload and nearly max rebound damping gets it rideable but certainly not a long-term solution- so I have a Penske rear on the way. The front is pretty good- comp/rebound damping (no high and low speed damping) but the factory springs and valving make sense at least. Factory preload on it is fairly high so getting rider sag into a reasonable place isn't difficult and definitely not undersprung.

Bars are a bit wide for my taste but I'm still working with them, getting used to it- I'm thinking of cutting increments of 1/2" off the ends- we'll see. The gearbox, however, is a circus compared to the R6. Shifting is good, but good shifting is complicated. It sometimes really hates short-shifting to shuffle up for a long pokey haul in traffic, other times its happy. The quick-shifter does work nice and clean when its in its happy place, outside of that its amateur hour. Getting reasonably proficient with this one needs some practice... I do miss the R6's gearbox which was a pleasure (EXCEPT at low speeds when it combined with the R6's weak low end to become annoying).

Still have to figure out the GPS mount and some kind of pannier setup. I'm a tool & gear packrat on the bike so some smaller bags will help me become more reasonable.
 
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Amos Malone said:
Here we can get the GSX-S950. Difference is colors, cheaper suspension and brakes. Plus power electronically limited to 95 hp (hence the 950 moniker). I've been tempted many times to go and get one.

Screenshot 2022-07-02 at 15.15.19.png
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I considered the S750 which dynos about where my R6 was, I decided on the S1000 because I crawl in traffic a lot and want the low end torque. Running on nanny mode C to ease the throttle snatchiness...
 
gpounce said:
I considered the S750 which dynos about where my R6 was, I decided on the S1000 because I crawl in traffic a lot and want the low end torque. Running on nanny mode C to ease the throttle snatchiness...
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I loved the low end torque of my GSX650F. Absolute jewel of an engine. Gobs of torque, power and smoothness. Get down to 50 km/h in top gear, twist the throttle and be rewarded with effortless acceleration.
I've found that rideability is more important than outright power. Like when Revzilla found 15 year old GSX could outperform new Ducati Panigale V4.

 
I put a gsxr1k rear on my old Bandit, it did very well once I had it resprung.. thought a lot about going for another old 1200 and upgrading everything, but Ive been down that road before- time to do something different... and Bandits are really heavy... Never going back to a heavy bike- the S1000 is about as far as I want to go weightwise.

I loved the Penske rear I had on the R6, a fantastic shock even 20yrs old (though the valving on it was a bit on the stiff side), so I didnt hesitate getting one for the S1000.
 
gpounce said:
I put a gsxr1k rear on my old Bandit, it did very well once I had it resprung.. thought a lot about going for another old 1200 and upgrading everything, but Ive been down that road before- time to do something different... and Bandits are really heavy... Never going back to a heavy bike- the S1000 is about as far as I want to go weightwise.

I loved the Penske rear I had on the R6, a fantastic shock even 20yrs old (though the valving on it was a bit on the stiff side), so I didnt hesitate getting one for the S1000.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure the Penske on my Super Duke is about that old (its a double clicker 8991) .....I had it from an old SV650 race project, just had Penske refurb it and set it up for the KTM and send it back. FAR better than stock.
 
So as a bit of an aside on the aftermarket suspension tip.

Both Traxxion and Penske can make their products fit in pretty much any bike. My Penske went from a first gen SV to a 1290 Super Duke R, and the forks are AK-20s out of a GSX-R fork from another project (it was on my Speed Triple) once upon a time.

For those considering aftermarket solutions to poor OEM suspensions.
 
Ordered my Penske thru Traxxion, a few weeks wait... meantime I'm getting the front shocks dialed in. They are reasonably OK but for sure want revalving at some point. The engine and gearbox are settling down really well now at 400 miles on the clock... feeling really well and shifting nicely now that I understand the clutch.. a big friction zone compared to the R6.
 
gpounce said:
Ordered my Penske thru Traxxion, a few weeks wait... meantime I'm getting the front shocks dialed in. They are reasonably OK but for sure want revalving at some point. The engine and gearbox are settling down really well now at 400 miles on the clock... feeling really well and shifting nicely now that I understand the clutch.. a big friction zone compared to the R6.
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If these bikes are anything like my early K GSX-Rs the gearbox takes the better part of 10,000 miles to break in.

It will never match a Honda or Yammer though.
 
Maybe, maybe not. I find some aspects of the shifting are better than the R6 at this point- meaning, shifts at some accelerations at some speeds are a bit cleaner and faster- less disruption. Its absolutely better than the R6's at low speeds and poking around eg traffic but admittedly thats not especially relevant. OTOH the big friction zone tends to make short-shifting clumsy, the mitigation there is to learn different shifting habits; the taller gears and engine torque make the lower gears more useful.
 
Ever since this bike has been released I fight reasonable thought. Today I well justified the desire with reasonable thought. Hmmmm.
 
Today I turned off the quickshifter, adjusted the clutch lever a bit and very happily obtained some of the quick gear shuffling I had gotten used to on the R6 the bike has way more engine braking than the R6, blipping up and down needs slightly different timing and throttle technique but it kind of feels like I'm riding with both hands now. All part of getting used to a different bike I guess...

Put a Penske rear shock in and omg so much better than the stocker. With the rear tire pressure back at the OEM 42psi the ride is entirely controlled, just a bit hard yet. Still incrementally adjusting the shock to get the ride where I want it.. quite pleased with the bike at this point. It really does scoot :)
 
gpounce said:
Today I turned off the quickshifter, adjusted the clutch lever a bit and very happily obtained some of the quick gear shuffling I had gotten used to on the R6 the bike has way more engine braking than the R6, blipping up and down needs slightly different timing and throttle technique but it kind of feels like I'm riding with both hands now. All part of getting used to a different bike I guess...

Put a Penske rear shock in and omg so much better than the stocker. With the rear tire pressure back at the OEM 42psi the ride is entirely controlled, just a bit hard yet. Still incrementally adjusting the shock to get the ride where I want it.. quite pleased with the bike at this point. It really does scoot :)
Click to expand...

Unless you are pretty heavy there shouldn't be a need to run the pressure that high in the rear.

Do you have a hot cold pressure comparison?
 
gpounce said:
My R6's engine started eating itself in early June, way more than I was willing to get into on the bike- anything more than a 4hr ride was really starting to hurt so I let it go with mixed emotions to say the least. But, OTOH I'm a suzuki guy, so leapt at the chance to get a bike I've had my eye on for a few years;


small-IMG_20220625_164028.jpg


The dealer had a GT version (faired, bags etc) - but I've never loved fairings. I find the air smoother and quieter without.

Having a new bike makes me nervous- this is my 1st brand new one... but I really like it. Off the floor the suspension is hard and crazy, so it needs a bit of tuning. The rear shock is hopeless, reduced tire pressure 0 preload and nearly max rebound damping gets it rideable but certainly not a long-term solution- so I have a Penske rear on the way. The front is pretty good- comp/rebound damping (no high and low speed damping) but the factory springs and valving make sense at least. Factory preload on it is fairly high so getting rider sag into a reasonable place isn't difficult and definitely not undersprung.

Bars are a bit wide for my taste but I'm still working with them, getting used to it- I'm thinking of cutting increments of 1/2" off the ends- we'll see. The gearbox, however, is a circus compared to the R6. Shifting is good, but good shifting is complicated. It sometimes really hates short-shifting to shuffle up for a long pokey haul in traffic, other times its happy. The quick-shifter does work nice and clean when its in its happy place, outside of that its amateur hour. Getting reasonably proficient with this one needs some practice... I do miss the R6's gearbox which was a pleasure (EXCEPT at low speeds when it combined with the R6's weak low end to become annoying).

Still have to figure out the GPS mount and some kind of pannier setup. I'm a tool & gear packrat on the bike so some smaller bags will help me become more reasonable.
Click to expand...
Good bike i am pleased for you, a friend had one a couple of years ago, i once rode it and it was awesome. He ran it in and got the servicing out of the way , then had it tuned, i can not remember now exactly what he had done but they disabled a sensor and other adjustments, i think adjusted out where possible the emissions biased tune from stock. Whatever it worked and he swore it was much improved and i remember him mentioning it helped with slower running towns etc. All the best with it whatever you do.
 
Tripped1 said:
Unless you are pretty heavy there shouldn't be a need to run the pressure that high in the rear.

Do you have a hot cold pressure comparison?
Click to expand...

42 is the suzuki recommended pressure, so trying it with the Penske rear- the stocker rear was hopeless. But yes I tend to like 35psi or so. OTOH running the rear that hard does show what the shock can do; now much compliance is in the tire vs the shock. I will probably run at 36 once I'm comfy with the shock settings.

35psi an 0 preload got the bike rideable on the stock rear shock, but certainly not into a happy place. The OEM rear shock is amazingly bad.. like 2002 vintage Bandit levels of bad. :D


as to the fueling, Moore Mafia just got a tune for it- quite a bit of improvement is available over the stock tune. Probably will do that next year- as far as A/F mix the 2022 OEM fueling isn't all that bad unless you replace with an aftermarket exhaust and so on.
 
gpounce said:
42 is the suzuki recommended pressure, so trying it with the Penske rear- the stocker rear was hopeless. But yes I tend to like 35psi or so. OTOH running the rear that hard does show what the shock can do; now much compliance is in the tire vs the shock. I will probably run at 36 once I'm comfy with the shock settings.

35psi an 0 preload got the bike rideable on the stock rear shock, but certainly not into a happy place. The OEM rear shock is amazingly bad.. like 2002 vintage Bandit levels of bad. :D


as to the fueling, Moore Mafia just got a tune for it- quite a bit of improvement is available over the stock tune. Probably will do that next year- as far as A/F mix the 2022 OEM fueling isn't all that bad unless you replace with an aftermarket exhaust and so on.
Click to expand...

Hmm that is an interesting take on shock tweeking.

I get trying to reduce variables, but that is one case where I wouldn't. The shock is never going to work without the tire, so I do all of my suspension tuning at a more or less normal pressure. Ideally on a track so I can see the wear patterns faster. Which dovetails into getting the pressure right because hot/cold tearing happens in a couple of laps.
 
I think it has been instructive- with the tire at 42, it makes the preload & compression/rebound damping more prominent since there is less compliance in the tire. With a baseline test at that pressure I took out a half turn of preload and tested; the theory being if there is significant softening of the ride then preload was too high. The preload reduction didn't have much effect, leading me to think that damping is the dominating factor at present. Thinking I will ease pressure to 38 and keep it there, and move to finalizing damping adjustments.

I wonder if the 42 psi OEM pressure spec is to try and make the factory rear shock do something, not because its somehow suited for the bike.
 
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