Suzuki GW250 impressions

[MJH]

The author does not like shared design elements?


I wonder when BMW introduced the 1 did some of the 5 owners get pissed off?
I am confused should everything look different or should they all look exactly the same?
Does everyone share the same taste?

What was the point of that article?

[Lao Jia Hou]

What was the point of that article?

I was wondering the same, as beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. I guess writers need to provide a certain degree of output. Nevertheless, as they say ... all publicity is good publicity.

Personally, I am not a fan of how the new GW250s with fairing looks, but some people I`ve talked to seem to love it.

[MJH]

I could do without the silver piece, but some may see that as stylish.



I think the Honda VTR-F is cool looking.



The GW250 could have been smoothed out, it then would look totally different, it to me has a lot of unnecessary contouring , the Honda wind screen is smooth and tapered.

[ZMC888]

People get so over excited about how bikes look. To me the ride is way more important.

[Lao Jia Hou]

Been a while since I've added anything here. That is because there is not a lot to report. The bike continues to purr away, without any hiccups or unusual events.

This has been a pleasant surprise, as it seems that every new model built in China has its growing pains, especially those intended for the China market. It strikes me that joint ventures that build bikes for worldwide distribution get their act together quickly (e.g., the Yamaha YBR250 and this Suzuki GW250). Manufacturers like Shineray, Qingqi, Jialing, etc., seem to have a business practice of using early-adopters' beta-testing to figure things out for them ... "let's sell them and see what happens." Haha - try THAT in a developed country's marketplace!

I was out riding in the Western mountains with a GW group about a week ago (dealership sponsored - 17 bikes), and no one had any problems to report. The initial batch (Summer 2012) had some tranny problem that Suzuki Japan quickly rectified, and repaired/replaced the few dozen bikes that had been delivered.

No one will tell me the actual number of sales in Beijing, but it certainly seems to have been a lot. They are still sold out at the two major Suzuki dealers in Beijing, with an approximate 4 week order/wait time. Black, grey and now red are the available colors. I was bitching at the dealer for not holding inventory, but he has a limit on the number he can order per month and they are all sold before each delivery date.

The GW250S (travel version with fairing and bags) can now be ordered. I think the price is about 26,500 rmb. No idea which colors are available, but I've seen the sales brochure which shows a blue one.

As a sidenote, the GW is a hot item for thieves - I've seen a few advertised for around 4,000 rmb ("my friend lost the paperwork").

EDIT: Chatted with the manager of Dadihengtong Motors, the largest Suzuki dealer in Beijing. In the past year, that one dealership (it has four outlets) has sold approximately 350 GW250 bikes in Beijing. He estimates that the total sales in Beijing are about 550 (the other 200 spread across the other official & unofficial dealers). He also mentioned that Suzuki considers Beijing a relatively small market, hence delivery orders are not given a high priority. A much larger number of GWs are being sold in Southern China and, of course, overseas. Finally, he mentioned that the factory has geared up to building the GW250S model (travel edition), so anyone ordering a regular GW might experience further delays.

[Lao Jia Hou]

Sitting down?

OK, re the questions about country of origin.

The bike is 100% Made in China. The ONLY Japanese parts on it are a few made inside Japan for its domestic market (slightly different turn signal lights, etc).

Everything else is made at the factory in Changzhou, Jiangsu.

The bike has been quite successful in Japan, also being sold out before deliveries. And it costs just over 35,000 rmb (roughly, depending on exchange rates). It is called the GSR250 in Japan.

Here is a link to the story:

http://en.haojue.com/public/showInfo...150_i17816.htm

with additional links at the bottom of the page.

I again asked a large Beijing dealer and they said "yes, entirely Made in China." I guess they no longer need to make up stories, since the bike has become such a big seller.

[Kennon]

I like the blue and white colours available in Japan very Suzuki in livery.

http://www1.suzuki.co.jp/motor/gsr250l2/spec.html

Kennon

[Lao Jia Hou]

The GWs are starting to appear at the dealers in Beijing, again, but in very limited numbers (and all are already spoken for). The next batch are due to arrive next week (early September). I have a red one on order that will hopefully be in this second group. I really like that color combination that Kennon identified above, and I'm trying to squeeze every favour I can to get one delivered here. Highly unlikely, because I am a "nobody" ... hahaha ... but we'll see.

We've been putting some kms on the GWs. Yes, plural, as I have acquired a few (I've too many friends/relatives that want to visit Beijing). I'm working with a couple of companies (1 local, 1 overseas) to design / develop proper after-market parts (aside from the typical taobao garbage). Hence, one of my GWs is a test bike that is being taken apart, & put back together, on a regular basis. One nice thing we've discovered is that disassembly / reassembly is surprisingly easy due to high QC. Things fit like they are supposed to, even after being on/off the bike a few times. The downside of the GW is the plastic body panels - as with all manufacturers that use a lot of body panels, the parts are puzzling as to how to initially get them off (hidden tabs, hooks, bolts, clips, etc). Fortunately, a local dealer gives me free lessons ... as that dealer's mechanics have already learned from breaking numerous pieces during disassembly.

I'm starting to hear grumblings from the early-adopters of the GW that there are way too many people that now have GWs - there is no more exclusivity!

For example, this is a typical weekend GW club ride (27 GWs):

GW group ride.jpg

There are several GW clubs in Beijing, some with >50 members. Always interesting to see what different people do to personalize their ride. The little stuffed animals, the bar end tassels (whips), and the gremlin bells are becoming popular (hmmmm - I thought these were only for pirates?). And, of course, zillions of stickers.

Here's a pic of my black one, and my grey one:

Grey and Black GW250s.jpg

This coming weekend, I'm planning on switching out the exhaust system on one bike (pics later). I've recently acquired a super-light 2 into 1 exhaust. A friend just put one on his red GW, and he swears by it - although he needed to remove the center stand because it stuck out too far on the left side (the exhaust goes on the right side).

I still have not seen the "Travel Edition" GW in the dealers, but I did see the Police GW (called the GW250J) which is almost identical. Not my cup of tea - didn't like the fairing, boxes or handlebars. A Japanese company is now crafting 10mm CNC risers for the regular GWs (GSR250 in Japan), but they are 600 rmb - yikes!

I've decided that I really hate that windscreen (on the black one), so a proper one is being designed.

[Lao Jia Hou]

OK - the question every 250cc rider in China wants to know the answer to ...

Which is faster? The GW or the YBR?

So, the following shows three runs. The runs are not exactly "scientific" or under a "controlled" environment but they are interesting. There are two red YBRs and one black GW (rider has a blue jacket on):

Run 1:



Run 2:



Run 3:



GW "wins" in runs 1 & 3, but loses to both YBRs in run 2.

I guess that means GWs should be ridden in only one direction.

Next ... in case people are wondering about performance exhausts on the GW ... we've been playing with a few, including a Yoshimura (very, very nice sounding).

I like Yoshi because it provides Dyno data on its website, dispelling the local guys claiming 20% increase in power ...



Not much difference, stationary, at the rear wheel.

However, the Yoshi is only 2.7 kgs, versus the stock 9.4 kgs. And that is just for the slip-on. Do a lighter weight 2 into 1 stainless pipe from the engine (drop about 1.5 kgs), and remove the under-bike cat. conv (we built in an O2 sensor receptacle), and you drop another 2 kgs (estimated). Remove the center stand (kinda necessary because it protrudes on the left side with a 2 into 1 pipe) and you lose another 2 kgs (estimated). Total weight saving = approximately 12.2 kgs. Not bad, and this lighter weight can translate into better performance.

Problem is ... a nice Yoshi retails for 50-70,000 YEN in Japan (depending on stainless/carbon/etc). Oh well, it is only money ... and it sounds so good!

We've also tried an IXIL 2 into 1, also nice and also very light weight ... but doesn't have that smooth & deep Yoshi sound, which I personally prefer.

We've also CNC'd some bar risers to match the riding position with the 250S (Travel Edition). More detail later, as we are trying to play around with height, cables, etc. It seems 10 mm is the maximum without needing to change cable lengths. We're trying to get Suzuki to supply the longer cables used on the 250S, but the bike itself isn't in showrooms yet.

[Lao Jia Hou]

I like the blue and white colours available in Japan very Suzuki in livery.

I have a red one on order that will hopefully be in this second group. I really like that color combination that Kennon identified above, and I'm trying to squeeze every favour I can to get one delivered here. Highly unlikely, because I am a "nobody" ... hahaha ... but we'll see.

Sometimes the heavens are kind to the meek nobody.

The shop called last night and said "the Red GW has arrived and, by the way, Suzuki also sent us one blue & white one, if you are interested?"

Am I interested?!?!?!?!?! Hell ya, I am definitely interested! Don't let anyone near it until I get there!

Bought it today, now getting plates.

GW250 QS.jpg

It is called the GW "Quarter Sport" (must mean a quarter liter ... 250cc). In Japan (apparently the only market it was being sold in), the price is the same as the solid color GWs. Not here ... solid color is 23,800 ... Quarter Sport is 25,000. Maybe the shop tacked on an extra 1,200 just for the hell of it, but I don't care. I wanted this bike! As Kennon commented, this color combo is very Suzuki-ish.

Also saw my first GW250S (Travel Edition). The shop had a black one delivered from Suzuki (along with the regular red & the blue/white GWs). I sat on this new 250S ... the seating position is quite different - it is noticeably more upright, which is good for an old guy like me. Also, the half fairing seems different than the police version (GW250J) I had seen before. I am not sure if it actually is different, but the side panels seemed large enough to mount a few goodies (e.g., electrical outlets).

Another Beijing shop is apparently getting a large delivery of GW bikes late tonight, so I hope there will be a white GW250S in that bunch.

Yeah, I have a lot of GWs, but we use them for various purposes.