Re: Suzuki GS150R

Hello RaviRaj123,

I was doing some calculations using this website,

http://clubsuzuki125.com.ar/calculadoras/index.php (just load GS150R and try different tyre size combinations if you're interested)

and found rear tyre change to 120/90 18" should not affect your top speed--of course, a wider tyre should--. I can only think of your new tyre being a bit heavier than stock and the compound softer (I am guessing the new compound is indeed softer?), which should increase friction against the road. Now, that is a great thing to improve grip!

BTW, congrats on your mod, it looks pretty good. Do you happen to have more pics straight from the rear of your GS?

Cheers,

Gilbert

Re: Suzuki GS150R - Inazuma - Gixxer 150




Suzuki to Withdraw Inazuma from the Indian Market...

Wow, this is like looking into the past and into the future at the same time! I remember the first time I saw an Inazuma in a showroom, I thought the bike looked just great. But times have changed... And nature abhors a vacuum.

I suppose right now, investing more than 200,000 rupees on an already discounted motorcycle that can be matched 90% of the time by a sub-100,000-rupee motorcycle (Gixxer), probably does not make sense to most riders. And now the Gixxer comes with a rear disc brake in India, hopefully the rest of the world next year...

It would be nice to read a truly objective review on the gixxer by someone who's ridden the bike for more than 10,000 Km, having faced the typical youth problems found with every motorcycle. In the meantime, my weapon of choice is still GS150r...

Update concerning GS filter and carburetor mods: Performance has been great for 900+ Km and the bike is staying for probably another year. Parts and service for this bike will be available for a few more years here, so no stress. Probably Gixxer will be a good investment next year if they bring the updated version to Mexico soon enough, but I think they will first sell all existing Gixxers and then increase the asking price for the rear disc version some 7-10%.
Other bikes like Honda CB190R just do not make sense at a 30% premium compared to Gixxer. Not really as a commuter bike under 250cc. Even a used CBR250R can be more affordable, but I prefer naked to faired.

Cheers,

Gilbert

Re: GS completes 5 years

Electricals: Upgraded to 55/60W from the regular 35/35W. Cons: Pass light wont work when in the light is already on and in Low beam.

Accidental Replacement: Handlebar, Rear break pedal and Front right indicator.

Air Filter: Changed only after 40K kms. Used to clean the old one using Vaccum during every oil change.

Oil Filter: Should be running in 5th or 6th as I don't change oil filter with every oil change. I have not noticed any visible dust or metal particle so far.

Engine Oil: Usually change it before 2200 Kms. Castrol Power 1 and Mobil 1 10W40 are the most used oils.

Spark Plug: Should be running in 3rd or 4th

Front Break Pad: Running in second break pad and it has more life left. I don't break and usually analyze the circumstance and slow down instead of breaking.

Rear Break Shoe: Second set and it has equal life left in it.

Front and Rear Tire: Stock with only one puncture in the rear tube.Thread depth good enough to last till 60K KM.

Front Chain sprocket: Changed at 17K kms as the alternate tooth in the sprocket broke.

Chain & Sprocket Set: Changed somewhere at 31K kms. Current one is good enough for another 15K kms.

Silencer Nuts(2 Nos): Second Set and this also has started rusting badly. Should be changed.

Front wheel Bearings: 1 set as the wheels began to wobble.

Front Fork Oil: Last changed at 35K kms. I think that is the only time I changed it or maybe once around 20K but the fork seals are stock.

Battery: Changed after 3.5 years of purchase. The current one should at least last another 1.5 years with my reduced usage.

Tappets: Were adjusted only recently. Tappets were never touched before 40K kms.

Carb: Cleaned twice (maybe Thrice)

Engine oil Drain Bolt: Changed as the threads went bad (along with the part that holds the drain bolt)

Screws for holding the head lamp.

Horn: One of the horn failed and I replaced both with HH Splendor ones.

Fuse: A couple of times because of my fault of tightening the wire along with the frame.

Petrol cock: Opened once and found it to be clean.

Apart from this, I painted the underneath of the Petrol Tank, Chain guard, Petrol tank mouth and also cleaned the drain path in the petrol tank.

Left rear shock had started leaking oil since long time. I have not replaced it nor repaired it so far.

Sorry, I really dont remember the exact period when things were replaced.
Maybe I should go back and read the threads for last 4 years to get the exact Kms.

Edit: Currently using STP carb and injector cleaner along with petrol. I am getting close to 60KMPL after the tappet adjustment along with the STP addition to the petrol. Not sure because of what I got the increase in Mileage. Calculated for 2 * 500 RS of petrol.

Re: Suzuki GS150R



Very true.. I have had 3 falls so far in rain or post rainy conditions.

The first fall was due to post rain gravel that gave me bruises on the right knee and hand. This resulted in change of side panel, foot rest and cowl. Braking(no sudden or violent braking) over loose gravel at the speed of 35km/h. Couldn't believe it and my helmet(Studds Ninja 2G) took a nice gash from the road divider for the love of my life.

Second was because of a Tata Ace mini pick up(driven by someone who looked like a very angry terrorist) truck that deliberately jerked forward through one of those badly judged mid-road divisions(portal from the other side?) towards oncoming traffic. Post rain conditions again and patchy road with gravel. Braking down from 45km/h and balance gave up at 20km/h due to veering off towards small and visually deceptive potholes.

Third was sheer genius and after that I understood that my stock MRF tires were ridiculously unreliable for rainy conditions --> a casted ring of rubber meant for circus amusement.

This was on a perfect road, post drizzle wet surface with no water logging. Gentle progressive braking at 25km/h. 15 meters of braking distance and the rear gave away at.. 10km/h!! Appalling! 😶 At that moment, I could murder anybody singing praises to MRF.

After these falls, I ride at 40% less speeds in wet conditions with adapted road judgement. Though I don't ride much during rains, I guess I should have new rubbers. I am, by large, a sedated driver.


I once had a panicking stray dog bolt straight towards my engine underbelly as it emerged from the roadside shrubbery. Being a vegetarian animal lover who gets used and abused by pet cats, I panicked twice as much than a butch regular person would.. raised my feet in air because.. the dog was right under my left leg! The bike wobbled out of control due to me jerking the handle sideways to avoid running the dog over and falling. Rear did a few skids but held tough to the tarmac with no fall. Me surprised on this dry summer day. The dog was ok.


Raj, you got to post updates on your tyre trials because I am sticking to the GS for a good time in future and I am in a serious love affair with her. She needs a similar change like yours if I have to survive a rainy day.

Thanks for sharing updates!

Re: Suzuki GS150R

Too bad...
Arrogance will set in Suzuki-Motorcycles-India when gixxer-155 takes further roots in the market.

Anyway, I think it was the retailers/dealers that hurt the product than the customers.

Re: Suzuki GS150R

Suzuki has launched Gixxer SF Fi and have revamped their website - understandably, GS vanishes from the website.

Re: Suzuki GS150R

You pretty much nailed it there.

What's the price, make & model of that tyre?
Even the Royal Enfield Classic-350's rear tyre is 18" 110/90, no? That's MRF ZapperQ.

Re: Suzuki GS150R

Hello folks,

How is going on with your ride? Hope you are enjoying.

After a long ponder, I finally decided to upgrade rear tyre. I changed it to width size 120 (120/90-18”) and felt absolute stability on road.

I had a bad incident on sandy-roads and I fell down two times with pillion.

On GS150R we have stock 100/90-18” as a standard rear tyre size. I think considering the overall design, shape, weight proportion and center of gravity of GS150R, the provided size does not meet its purpose. The rear stock tyre does not hold the ground in mud, slippery road, sand and skid after a sudden braking. The 65% of motorcycle weight is to front side while 35%-40% (approx.) to the rear side. On the top, it’s a bit long motorcycle with center of gravity leaned towards rear side. With pillion rider we find it difficult to manoeuvre perfectly city and can’t push it in linear fashion. In sand, front wheel becomes unstable as the rear end gravity increases with limited ground clearance.

With tyre up-gradation I somehow peace myself and confident riding on sandy and slippery roads. The bike looks great from rear end too.

This is still under test and experiment for me. I have been running for a month now and I feel more confident. My bike used to reach 126 kmph top speed (solo) with stock tyres and now its 116 kmph max with upgraded tyres. I understand this will affect speed, performance and mileage however safety is a priority for me now. Any suggestions and advice's from blogs will be appreciated.

Re: GS completes 5 years

Can you list out any major replacements/repairs during the period apart from the periodicals
- Engine-Oil
- Oil-Filter
- Air-Filter
- Spark-Plug
- Fortk-Oil
- Brake-Liquid

GS completes 5 years

My GS (Bison) completed 5 years with 45000 KMS.

A good and reliable bike offering best ergonomics in the Indian 2 wheeler segment.

Sad to see it's Production being stopped. Suzuki should have given it cosmetic updates and continue selling it.

Re: Suzuki GS150R - The 15,000 Km Story...

As of today :
so you're in right range.

Re: Suzuki GS150R - The 15,000 Km Story...

Hello Freak,

GS150r is really a peculiar motorcycle with a lot to offer. I am going back to the plan of getting a new one (or even a used one in good condition) once I am done with this one, hopefully having used it for about 35,000 Km or so, as I am trying to keep it in top shape so I will not need to sell it for nothing, and of course because I need it to be as reliable as possible. It might be difficult selling it though for the same reason you have mentioned (people are not really attracted to this bike); even in Mexico City + the Metro Area I have not been able to count more than 10 GS's over the past 12 months, and I am yet to see one Special Edition GS on the road.

After passing an unsuspecting Yamaha 350 on the highway yesterdayand thank you for your reply!

Gil

Re: Suzuki GS150R - The 15,000 Km Story...

It ought to be ;-) top(6th overgear) gear is bliss on highways.

Congratulations.
Making a note of washing gs150r's filter, nice hack there gilbert. & the price of filter is about 300/- INR here ;-)

GS150R's sales numbers are almost diminished to single digits here in India.

Re: Suzuki GS150R - The 15,000 Km Story...

GS UPDATE

Hi guys! I have been a bit away from the forum, hovering for the most part. I would like to share my 15,000 Km 2015 GS150r update with you.

The most recent story of my black beauty (GS) begins with a bit of disappointment 2 months ago when I realized its performance was not improving much after 12k Km, even though I had been trying different solutions with the help of a few mechanics and forum members here (some of you may remember my complaints about GS from about 6-8 months ago.) The first 7500 rpms were great, so smooth and with decent response, but once there, the bike would start jerking, like it was running out of fuel.) I believe Suzuki tuned GS for good performance at lower and mid revs (perhaps not for higher altitudes, I suppose), and they did not even provide the right spark plug for the Mexican market. They gave us the second-rate CR7HSA instead of the right part. More gentle riders will not even tell the difference, but my GS, at 2300 meters above sea level was NOT the best performer beyond 7500 rpms or so. And I understand this motorcycle is no race replica, but still...

Anyway, at some point in June I decided I would give up on my motorcycle and started looking for options. Here is a summary of what I learned:

* 2003 Kawasaki Ninja 250r. Great power and decent stability (not for reckless riding--a bit dangerous if provoked). Important vibrations throughout the rev range, though it is liquid cooled. The front is too large for the traffic, it would be pretty uncomfortable for me during rush hour. Hopefully, the newer generation has fixed some of these problems, but it costs much more in my country, about 60% more than pre-gen. Fuel economy is around 23 Km/L.

* 2007 Kawasaki Ninja 500r. Bigger version of the 250. Runs like a champ, vibrates like a lorry. No gear indicator either. 19 Km/L.

* 2010 Yamaha Fazer 250. Less power than the little Ninja, but definitely faster than GS. Vibey, EVEN THOUGH IT IS FUEL INJECTED! Clutch lever feel was the worst part of it, about the same as the Kawasaki, and the bike felt a bit heavier than expected. Only 5 gears and no gear indicator, by the way... 27 km/L.

* 2006 Suzuki GS500 (naked GS). Some of you may be curious about this one... anyway, the bike is WAY faster than our GS, weighing in at around 200 Kg it was even burdensome to get off the center stand. Even if this one looked great on the outside, it truly FELT like an older bike, unrefined and demanding. Riding position was forward, I did not like it, but I believe this particular one was modded. Not my cup of coffee at all. Sorry Suzuki, you know I love your bikes. 20 Km/L.

Some motorcycles which were on my test ride shortlist were: Honda CBR 250r and Honda CB Twister 250, but as you will find out in a moment, I decided to stop trying for a while. (I may be interested in testing them later, along with the Suzuki SV 650.)

I will change gears a bit here.

As some of you also may remember, I was not willing to perform upjetting on my GS; perhaps I was afraid of change or I would not dare ruining my bike with "mods". At some point very recently, I made the decision and went for it. After a day of testing, my mechanic settled for 120 main and 25 pilot. Pickup improved immediately and the bike was willing to go up to 100 Km/Hr pulling like a little bull, but once there... the horrible jerking would occur again! My mechanic suggested going for a full service with air filter included. I agreed, but then I changed my mind (about the air filter) when I found out the retail price of that single item in my city was the equivalent of 2390 Indian rupees.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and remembered a post here at xbhp showing the inside parts of a hacked air filter. I went back to related posts only to read over and over again that the term "paper filter" is misapplied, because the material is NOT paper at all. So I prepared my chemicals (motor degreasing shampoo and a powerful kitchen soap, for both the oily particles and the dust) and started the process of washing my 14,500 Km "paper" air filter. I used a procedure that I found online, but with hot water instead of tap water, and I washed for 1 hour instead of the recommended 3. As you can tell from the photos, A LOT of dirt was collected by the water. And I repeated the whole process 3 times. The last time, the resulting water was totally clear, and I acquitted. Then I looked at the clean filter and decided TO MODIFY IT (I knew ruining it was a possibility, but I did not care.) I eliminated one full inch of the inner duct (which I concluded was blocking the entrance of more air into the air box, telling from the darker color of the "active" zone) and removed the external elbow-like duct. It just came off without the need of breaking anything. The result was a VERY clean and unblocked filter similar to the one on the Indian Fiero, but without changing the filtering element.

I should mention at this point that my mechanic had done a great job at tuning the bike, and he used high quality oil (10w40 Synthetic Lucas) and oil filter, so that added to the final result. Also, the fuel system was carefully cleaned and a new NGK CR9EIX was thrown in as well. I was not willing to give up this time. I mean, after testing the other motorcycles I came to understand HOW GREAT A BIKE SUZUKI'S GS150r ACTUALLY IS. I should not sell it without giving it one last fighting chance.

Going back to the air filter and my first test after the changes, (after not being really sure about the outcome!) I found the bike was ACTUALLY RESPONDING to more air (rather than JUST FUEL) with AWESOME vigor and without ANY side effects. No fouled spark plug, no backfiring, no hiccups... the thing was working like a Swiss knife (it now starts without the need of any choke, and I only warm it up for about 2 minutes.) After testing the bike for about 400 km, I can tell you I DO NOT REGRET investing time and money on my Suzuki. I must mention I also got invaluable advice from Mr. Chinmay Dangre, who served as great inspiration throught the process of sparing myself from selling my GS.

Now I am able to keep up with fast traffic more easily, with probably the exception of BMWs and higher profile vehicles, and cruise at a very healthy 105 kph in 6th without straining the engine--no more jerking is felt now, and NO MORE OVERHEATING, and I can use 6th gear 90% of my high speed time, there is just no need to downshift unless I go under 65 kph. Going uphill now does not necessarily mean downshifting, with 6th being the new 5th, 4th the new 3rd, and so forth, you get the point. And the feeling of passing a cruising Harley which never heard you coming is priceless.

Riding 2-up improved noticeably, but I have not really tested that. Front suspension dive improved a lot as well, as rmps are not easily lost everytime I change gears. That is a plus I was not expecting.

Fuel economy is at around 36 kpl (3 kpl down from a typical 39 for me) as more power is now available on top of the rev range, yet combustion is more efficient; I cannot complain about my FE. I will check the spark plug after another 200 Km or so, but throttle response is crisp and enticing as of today. It has been around 400 kilometers of pure fun and I am thankful I got the right advice and was able to do something about my problem with GS.

OTHER RELEVANT CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS: Rear wheel bearing was wearing out--changed with the other 2 bearings, all bearings were greased (thank you for pointing that out, Ashwanth.r); original battery died at 12,000 Km, had been going for about 1.5 years--Changed to GEL. Alignment performed about 5 times within 15,000 Km.; Motor oil changed to synthetic 500 Km ago. Lucas makes GS feel like butter, really smooth, and is somewhat superior to Repsol Sport 10w40 (Semi-synthetic), which I also liked--about 30% cheaper than Lucas. Changed original head lamp to a xenon-type bulb (still AC), 50% brighter than original (and much whiter) and also changed pilot lamps to LED, connecting the latter to DC, basically because the flickering was freaking me out. No changes have been made to the electrical system other than that, and the bike looks stock for the most part.

Thank you Chinmay Dangre, Sparkot, r0rshack, ashwanth.r, RaviRaj123, rsk_kelkar, shadcool786, and the rest of you guys for your help throughout! And thank you all GSpians for reading.

Gilbert