Suzuki Gixxer SF : Ownership thread

[Rohit Yadav]

Breaking in the gixxer sf and what vibrations are?

Ive seen the manual which clearly said till 800km keeping the rpm 4500max and till 1600 rpm 7000max,

But when you have such sporty bike and sometimes i get carried away like going till 7000 rpm and sometimes 9500 to over take a vehicle on highway.

So my question is does this effect my breaking in of my bike? its not i kept the throttle pinned for long, i usally ride on 3000rpm to 5000rpm which is like 35-70KM/h
so does it makes a huge deal? im worried that ive ruined my bike.

Now the vibration part when im accelerating i feel vibrations on handle bar, foot pegs and when im crossing 4000 rpm a lil short buzz at my butt , also my gears feel too stiff sometimes they get stuck (when i fail to change gear in proper way) it shows nothing on console in gear indicator, so this is a problem with all gixxer sf?
its not uncomfortable or anything but is this is what vibrations are called? because i can totaly live with this and this was one of the main reason why i didn't brought a as200/ns200/rtr 180abs so are these vibs are normal on my bike? however when i sit on my bike as a pillion rider i dont feel anything back there nothing like what i feel at front, pillion is ok but since im 6"3' my legs hurt foot pegs for pillion rider are on a bit higher side but my girlfriend doesnt has any issues with that since she is 5"10' also i noticed no matter what pillion with slide towards the rider itself seat has a sort of lean angle to it.

I would some love get help from the community since im a newbie before gixxer sf(nearly 20 days old) i rode a suzuki zeus 125 alloy disk edition it had a very reliable engine and it never disappointed me on power, yes it had vibs but i notice more on my new sf.

[dhwanan]

Re: Breaking in the gixxer sf and what vibrations are?

Ive seen the manual which clearly said till 800km keeping the rpm 4500max and till 1600 rpm 7000max,

But when you have such sporty bike and sometimes i get carried away like going till 7000 rpm and sometimes 9500 to over take a vehicle on highway.

So my question is does this effect my breaking in of my bike? its not i kept the throttle pinned for long, i usally ride on 3000rpm to 5000rpm which is like 35-70KM/h
so does it makes a huge deal? im worried that ive ruined my bike.

Now the vibration part when im accelerating i feel vibrations on handle bar, foot pegs and when im crossing 4000 rpm a lil short buzz at my butt , also my gears feel too stiff sometimes they get stuck (when i fail to change gear in proper way) it shows nothing on console in gear indicator, so this is a problem with all gixxer sf?
its not uncomfortable or anything but is this is what vibrations are called? because i can totaly live with this and this was one of the main reason why i didn't brought a as200/ns200/rtr 180abs so are these vibs are normal on my bike? however when i sit on my bike as a pillion rider i dont feel anything back there nothing like what i feel at front, pillion is ok but since im 6"3' my legs hurt foot pegs for pillion rider are on a bit higher side but my girlfriend doesnt has any issues with that since she is 5"10' also i noticed no matter what pillion with slide towards the rider itself seat has a sort of lean angle to it.

I would some love get help from the community since im a newbie before gixxer sf(nearly 20 days old) i rode a suzuki zeus 125 alloy disk edition it had a very reliable engine and it never disappointed me on power, yes it had vibs but i notice more on my new sf.

Yeah even i had the vibrations issue. So any of the following should fix it

-try to check the tyre pressure. Imbalanced type pressure can do this
-try to adjust the suspension to 3 . by default it will be 2. In short make it one more then it already is.

Its okay if you ride a bit hard once in a while. Don't make it regular habit till the run in. The engine is a bomb and can take a bit of abuse. And if you are gonna ride hard make sure you do adequate services of the bike.

I guess vibes also depend on the road. If the road is cemented or had bit more tar or gravel you are bound to get vibs. That is physics.

As per gearing is concerned, there is avery simple hack to it. Try to down shift on gear. If you are about to change from 5 to 2 at lower speeds you wont be able to. This is very common in 150cc bike segment. So when you are down shifting make sure you make in gear down shift. It will be butter smooth downshifts.

If you dont like your gf sliding into you than you can opt for grippy seat covers, they are available or simply ask pillion to grab the handle bar, they wont be able to move an inch.

Ride safe.

[Siddharth Mehra]

Re: Breaking in the gixxer sf and what vibrations are?

Ive seen the manual which clearly said till 800km keeping the rpm 4500max and till 1600 rpm 7000max,

But when you have such sporty bike and sometimes i get carried away like going till 7000 rpm and sometimes 9500 to over take a vehicle on highway.

So my question is does this effect my breaking in of my bike? its not i kept the throttle pinned for long, i usally ride on 3000rpm to 5000rpm which is like 35-70KM/h
so does it makes a huge deal? im worried that ive ruined my bike.

Now the vibration part when im accelerating i feel vibrations on handle bar, foot pegs and when im crossing 4000 rpm a lil short buzz at my butt , also my gears feel too stiff sometimes they get stuck (when i fail to change gear in proper way) it shows nothing on console in gear indicator, so this is a problem with all gixxer sf?
its not uncomfortable or anything but is this is what vibrations are called? because i can totaly live with this and this was one of the main reason why i didn't brought a as200/ns200/rtr 180abs so are these vibs are normal on my bike? however when i sit on my bike as a pillion rider i dont feel anything back there nothing like what i feel at front, pillion is ok but since im 6"3' my legs hurt foot pegs for pillion rider are on a bit higher side but my girlfriend doesnt has any issues with that since she is 5"10' also i noticed no matter what pillion with slide towards the rider itself seat has a sort of lean angle to it.

I would some love get help from the community since im a newbie before gixxer sf(nearly 20 days old) i rode a suzuki zeus 125 alloy disk edition it had a very reliable engine and it never disappointed me on power, yes it had vibs but i notice more on my new sf.

dont worry with vibes on handlebar as it is new bike . I had the same issue , vibes on right handlebar and felt like i put my hand on vibrator . Went to SVC he did something and vibes reduced drastically then after 1st service vibes gone completely . However i feels bike tend to make some vibes when engine start running rough as my bike is near to 2nd service

[Dienver]

Re: Suzuki Gixxer SF : Ownership thread

Thanks bro for the reply. Its very comforting knowing that I am doing the right way. Now I have another query.... If the engine rpm is same is the fuel consumption also constant irrespective of the gear or the clutch being pulled?
Thanks again

I'm niether a good teacher, nor academically qualified to answer this accurately, so forgive the analogies and seemingly disconnected ideas I throw out. But it's better than nothing, so here goes:

Your bike’s engine functions at speeds between 1000RPM and 9500RPM. It doesn’t generate an even amount force throughout its operational zone, however. Your engine is strongest at 6000RPM, making 14Nm of torque at this engine speed. It makes less than 14Nm at any other engine speed, and plotting it on a graph would be the best way to assess the character of the engine – a feat you’d need a dyno for. Here’s an example of a torque-power curve plotted on a graph, of the R15:

https://www.facebook.com/raceconcepts/posts/688998341176577

Power is a function of torque and RPM – meaning, if you know the torque at any particular RPM, you can calculate the power with the use of simple math. Power is also directly proportional to torque and RPMs - meaning, the higher the torque and RPM, the higher the power. If you have access to a graph of the torque curve of your engine, you can easily derive the power curve, without sending it back to the dyno. Note that the power curve is mathematically entirely dependent on the torque curve.

WEN Technology - Calculators

An engine could make a lot of peak torque, but if it does so at a very low RPM, it won’t make much power higher in the RPM range. If an engine makes its peak torque at very high RPMs, it can generate a lot of peak power even with a moderately torquey engine. This difference is most often seen in diesel and petrol engines that power cars within the same segment. And this has often lead to people thinking power and torque are mutually exclusive – that you’ll need to sacrifice one for the other, which, if you notice the graphs, is untrue.

This brings us to the powerband of an engine. Simply put, it’s the RPM range where the engine makes the most power. It is good practice to keep the engine in the powerband whenever convenient. It’ll be hard to accomplish this under hard braking, hard accelerations or while cornering, but make it a habit to keep the RPMs there under normal circumstances. The trick is to keep shifting gears to match current speed.

While Suzuki claims the bike makes peak torque at 6000RPM, I'm a bit skeptical about the claim. Or it could have to do with the mismatch between the power available on the crank, and at the wheel. An intuitive way to 'feel' the powerband is to simply jerk the throttle into action at various RPMs at low speed - if the bike responds sharply to your throttle, you're in the powerband.

Now a lengthy lecture on torque and gearshifts:

Think of why screwdrivers use large handles for our hands to hold on to – it isn’t just a question of ergonomics. Have you tried using a screwdriver without the use of the large plastic handle, using instead just the metal shaft to turn screws? It’s hard work. Same goes with allen keys, screw jack, taps, and steering wheels. What’s happening here is that an increase in radius of ‘handle’ makes it easier to apply torque onto the screw.

Here’s an experiment when no one’s home: use a stick to manually rotate your ceiling fan. You’ll quickly learn than it’s easier to start it moving from standstill if you push the blades around the outermost part of the blades. But as the fan speed increases, your stick won’t be able to make it go any faster while pushing the outside. At this point, you’ll learn that bringing the point of contact between the stick and the fan blades closer to the centre lets you increase the fan speed further. While this is a weak analogy, I guess it lets you understand how gears work. The outermost edges of the fan blades would be the first gear, while the notch closest to the centre would be the fifth. Pulling the stick out would be akin to engaging the clutch. Getting the stick back in to move the blades again? That would require some amount of prior rotational motion of the stick to not end up breaking the blades – that’s rev-matching for you. Moving the stick to the outside of the blade when it’s spinning fast? That’s engine braking.

Now, combine the screwdriver example with the fan blade analogy, and you’ll start making sense of why we use gears in the first place – to progressively match engine speed and wheel speed across the bike’s operational range. Note that the drivetrain ensures that the engine speed and the wheel speed are always connected, unless the clutch is engaged – the engine speed is always around 8000RPM in 3^rd gear at 70kmph (approximately - I speak from memory).

Now we come to the most important part of addressing the fuel efficiency question: is it the same as maintaining a constant RPM? Simple answer – no. Fuel efficiency is related to the amount of stress you lay on the engine – quite simply, the amount of throttle input, and it’s ratio to the bike’s speed. If you’re going uphill, in 5^th gear at 30kmph, you’re out of the powerband. You’ll have the stress the engine to the maximum to make it keep going at that speed - by wringing the throttle hard – that’s heavy engine stress for you. But if you’re doing a constant 60kmph on a flat road in 5^th gear, your throttle input is minimal – you just need to twist it a tiny amount, to maintain your pace – and that’s low engine stress. In the former example, you’ll stress your engine less, while also achieving better efficiency, by downshifting to 3^nd gear, even if the RPMs are higher than they would be in 5^th gear.

So low RPMs don’t necessarily mean higher efficiency – keeping the bike in the right gear is what does the trick. Keep it in the gear and RPM where it requires only a small amount of throttle input to achieve a particular speed in that particular terrain to make the bike really fuel efficient.

P.S. In my experience riding a geared cycle over long distances, the most important factor to fuel efficiency is looking ahead and planning for the road ahead. See a red signal? Shut the throttle off and cruise to a gentle halt at the red light. See other vehicles blocking the road temporarily? Go easy on the throttle and maintain reasonable distance from the "block" so that you can gun for the gap as soon as one opens - works better than kissing their bumpers, braking hard, then working back up through the gears to accelerate out when a gap opens. See an underpass ahead? Accelerate smoothly but quickly downhill and keep the throttle pinned through the U-shaped underpass, so that you climb the uphill part in high gears with low engine stress at a reasonably high speed. See a goods auto blocking your narrow path, with plenty of open road in front of him? Overtake him - might cost you above-average fuel consumption during the overtaking maneuver, but you end up saving plenty more fuel thanks to the open road ahead.

[Siddharth Mehra]

Re: Suzuki Gixxer SF : Ownership thread

At what RPM gears whould be upshift ? I do at 4-4.5k RPM

[Sankha S.r.n]

Re: Suzuki Gixxer SF : Ownership thread

any body did a top speed run??

[trybeingarun]

Re: Suzuki Gixxer SF : Ownership thread

I don't own a SF model, but naked Gixxer. My bike is most responsive between 5 & 8k rpm. So I like to keep the rpms in that range and usually shift between 5 & 7k rpm.

[sjv0110]

Re: Suzuki Gixxer SF : Ownership thread

Hello people! I would like to share my experiences with Gixxer SF after 200 Kms on odo.
Now probably I am the only one here who is learning riding on Gixxer SF. This is my first bike and literally I am learning on her. So I know I have nothing new to tell as most of you are very knowledgeable. But I thought maybe I should just share the experience from a novice 's view if that helps another novice like me [emoji3]
I started learning riding 7 days after I bought the bike. People here helped me choosing this beauty. Initially I was afraid of riding a new bike because I I tumble or crash it will cost me a fortune. So I got started with a discover 100. It was fun but very hard. The discover had very hard shifts, almost no rear break and later I found no engine oil! So I stopped riding immediately. As there were no other bikes available I had no choice but to practice on my own SF. But when I started It felt surprisingly easy! I started riding and took a 20km ride on that day. I was feeling so confident. I must say this is a very easy to ride bike. As of now I have completed 200 kms. Here are the things I observed
The engine gets real hot even if i ride under 50 km/h
Mileage is 39 kmpl as of now
Front disk brake is really nice and I am so hooked that i sometimes forget the bike has a rear break too.
The color gets scratches very easily. Hating this real bad
Gear shifts were really notchy with many false neutrals. Showed to a local mechanic. He did his magic with only a screw driver and took may be 30 seconds. Now the gears are a little smoother.
Rear view mirrors are very hard to adjust for me.
On tall or should I say Wall speed breakers something under the bike gets scratched.
Gets lots of attention which is something I really hate.
People asks me which Yamaha model is it even if they see the Suzuki branding. Again which is something I really hate.
Mom is afraid of riding because of pillion seat height and no foot rest on saree guard. Makes me sad and regretting getting this bike.
The engine is so charming! Always tells you to go faster which I keep ignoring.
Its very very heavy for me. I weigh 57 kgs. And I can't push her out from the garage.

Now I have some noob questions. It will be very helpful for me if you good people take the pain of answering them

It's 200 kms on the odo. Is it a good idea to change the engine oil now?
I sometimes take her to 75-80 for a second or two and then close the throttle to slow down to below 4500 rpm. I have done thus maybe 3-4 times. Is it going to hurt my engine?
If I change the number plate light DRL and turn indicators to LEDs will it void my warranty?
When slowing down I use front brake more then rear break. Is it a bad habit?
I have lots of questions in my mind which I am skipping for now as the post has already been very lengthy. Sorry for the wall of text.
Thanks in advance.

I came across this article on braking.. you can read through its very good explanation..

Braking for Motorcyclists

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

It depends on the situation, really. You could choose to shift as early as 4k if you're looking at a very relaxed section ahead. I sometimes shift upwards of 7k, as it isn't always wise to shift in the middle of an aggressive overtaking maneuver. I also like keeping the RPM pinned high when riding like a dick, as the engine braking is strongest in the higher RPM - so that when another dick blocks my path from the oncoming lane, I won't have to lock my brakes to avoid a crash.

With engine braking I guess you mean to down-shift to reduce the speed..? but will it not cause RPM overrev when we shift to lower gear and will it cause any harm to engine?

[shailendra.k]

Over heating

I am facing overheating problem after the first service.

It all started, during my run-in period, I felt my bike become slow on the pick up in the first few gears and also observed that my idling was well below 1k, with regularly having to rev in order to start after pressing ignition. However to not mess up any setting, I rode my bike like that between 3k and 5k rpm and in speeds of 30 to 55-60km/hr. I got my first service done a lil over 1000km on the odo (1022km). I told them about the problem and it seemed that they fixed it.

After the servicing, I rode the bike home, and all the while I felt it to be stressed when giving throttle. By the time I reached home I had traveled around 4-5 kms and at this point I found the engine and the oil tank to be very hot, like literally not safe to touch kinda hot.

So I took it to the showrrom service center again and they did some idle screw setting along with the help of a handheld monitoring device, and by removing the black fairing piece on the left. I took a test ride following that, it felt nice, very responsive and buttery, but the idling seemed to be still at 1000. I took it home anyway thinking that it will be fine after a few kms.

It must have been well over 150km post the service, and the Idle was still the same, and the jerks that u feel at 1st and 2nd gear when u revv up after a slow down at traffic, plus the engine ignition at such a low rpm got me frustrated. So I myself increased rpm to 1.25k by turning the idle screw 3 to 4 times. Following that, the performace felt good for first few kilometers and then I realized my engine getting hot as f*** and some gruffness in the performance (like the bike felt stressed at 50km/hr on the 3rd gear, must have been between 4.5-5k rpm).

So now I stuck with this situation, an overheating engine and low idle rpm. if anyone knows a way out or have experienced the same,please jump in.



p.s.: Will post some images soon

[Divya Sharan]

Re: Suzuki Gixxer SF : Ownership thread

[MENTION=66623]Dienver[/MENTION] - Please stop using cuss words on the forum.

[Dienver]

Re: Suzuki Gixxer SF : Ownership thread

@Dienver - Please stop using cuss words on the forum.

Yes, officer.

[rajeshbhuin]

Re: Suzuki Gixxer SF : Ownership thread

[QUOTE=Dienver;1184674]I'm niether a good teacher, nor academically qualified to answer this accurately, so forgive the analogies and seemingly disconnected ideas I throw out. But it's better than nothing, so here goes:

[rajeshbhuin]

Re: Suzuki Gixxer SF : Ownership thread

[QUOTE=rajeshbhuin;1185127]

I'm niether a good teacher, nor academically qualified to answer this accurately, so forgive the analogies and seemingly disconnected ideas I throw out. But it's better than nothing, so here goes:

Thanks bro for the reply. Now I understand the concept a little better than before. And I like your examples.

[rajeshbhuin]

Re: Suzuki Gixxer SF : Ownership thread

I came across this article on braking.. you can read through its very good explanation..

Braking for Motorcyclists

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----



With engine braking I guess you mean to down-shift to reduce the speed..? but will it not cause RPM overrev when we shift to lower gear and will it cause any harm to engine?

Thanks bro for the link. I appreciate it. [emoji4]

[sjv0110]

Re: Suzuki Gixxer SF : Ownership thread

any suggestions for upgrading headlight lamp? I am looking for white light.. but not sure which one to buy and will SVC replace it during the first servicing if I buy and handover to them.

The stock light I find is average.. coverage is limited during night driving where we do not have street lights.