The GSX is perfectly capable of handling the office commute. With the temperatures down significantly in Bangalore.
BHPian TRR recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Finally got round to making a detailed update on the bike’s ownership and all that has transpired in the last few months.
Since I last posted on the thread, the bike has completed another 1000 km.
As stated in my last post, the bike had seen 0 kms of the highway in the months of September to November 2022. I was caught up with work entirely during this time and was unable to find any free weekends to take the bike out to stretch its legs. As such, the bike was stuck in the dreary office commute in these 3 months.
Prior to that however, the bike was taken outside Bangalore almost every alternate weekend. Most of my highway runs are either breakfast runs, which I put in when I am tired of the weekday office commutes and just want to relax and enjoy the bike a bit, or are runs on the infamous Anchetty-Denkanikottai loop. The Anchetty loop is a fun to do route with a good mix of open highways, excellent B-roads and a nice set of twisties sprinkled in. As always, the bike is excellent on these 2 jaunts as the roads are pristine and doesn’t really put the bike’s suspension to the test. The Diablo Rosso IIIs are perfect for these tasks and makes the entire drive extremely fun. The Anchetty loop tracks on B-roads for a significant part of the route and is so much more fun than regular cruising on the national highways. Plus, if the weather is right, you get some excellent views that make for a very scenic ride.
Some shots at a random spot on the Anchetty loop
A shot showing my riding stance on the bike. For reference, my height is 5’7 and I can just about flat foot on the bike with my riding shoes.
Made an acquaintance with a random Z900 on one of my breakfast jaunts outside the city.
A major ride, at least for me, was a quick day-trip to Yercaud with a riding buddy on his KTM 390 Adventure in the middle of the Independence Day weekend. This was one of the longer trips that I have done on this bike and was a good gauge of the bike’s touring capabilities on our national highways. We left Bangalore at roughly 6 AM, rode at a leisurely pace, and hit the Yercaud climb at around 11 AM.
Once up at Yercaud, we explored the place for a bit and stopped at a restaurant for lunch. We departed from Yercaud at around 2 pm and headed back to Bengaluru. On the return leg, Google Maps took us through an alternate route and the descent from Yercaud and the countryside roads after that were among the best roads I have ridden till date.
A shot of the bikes parked outside the restaurant we halted at for lunch.
One of the scenic spots we stopped at in the TN countryside.
We rejoined the national highways much later and then cruised back to Bengaluru, reaching the E-City expressway at around 5pm. All in all, one of the better rides I have been on in a long while. The bike performed flawlessly on this trip. Cruising at 100-ish kmph in 6th gear returns a healthy mileage of almost 23-24 kmpl, giving you a full range of almost 300 km in one tank of fuel. As stated before, the engine is a gem on the highways, with sufficient power available throughout the rev range to pull off overtakes easily. Yes, it is probably not torquey enough at the lower rev range, but all things considered, the power you can access at the lower band is still enough to quickly overtake the meandering traffic on our highways. The suspension and tires really shined on this trip, mainly because the roads were excellent throughout. The only bit that annoys me is the clutch, which is on the heavier side. It is heavy enough to be a proper nuisance, especially when you end up in heavy Bengaluru traffic after an entire day of riding.
This was the last ride outside Bangalore until the end of November. Post this ride, I noticed that the front brake pads were almost completely run through. The previous owner had them replaced with OEM brake pads when the bike’s odo was at 9,500 kms. Post the Yercaud ride, the bike’s odo was at 23,500 kms, so the bike had run with these set of pads for nearly 14,000 kms. I needed to get these brake pads changed urgently as they weren’t in great shape, so called up Aerolex Motors to arrange for a service.
Now, I had read BHPian Sebring’s post on Hafiz having left Suzuki, but still, decided to reach out to Aerolex as this was just supposed to be a routine brake pad changed and not any complex procedure. But this was when I learnt that Aerolex itself was no longer dealing with Suzuki superbikes of any kind. The answer given to me on the phone was that they were undergoing renovations, but I hear different stories on what’s going on with Aerolex. With Aerolex having refused service, I was reluctant to travel all the way to Whitefield to visit the Aryan Suzuki SVC. Haven’t heard good stories about their service quality either. So I decided to call up Hafiz directly and inquire if he would have any contacts/third-party SVCs who could do this job for me. Was pleasantly surprised to learn that Hafiz had just opened up his own shop near Lalbagh Road, very close to Keerthi Triumph’s SVC. Immediately booked an appointment with him for the brake pads change and dropped by at his shop. This was sometime in the middle of August and he had apparently just opened up his shop. Some of the mechanics at Aerolex had moved out along with Hafiz and were now working under him at this shop. Hafiz’s setup is a non-descript, small shop but it has just about adequate space for them to deal with 3-4 superbikes at a time. For my part, I was glad to have a trusted person handle the bike. Now that Hafiz is no longer with Suzuki, he does service and repair works for bikes of all brands.
The view from outside his shop. The 2 Hayabusas on the left are used only for drag racing, with one being Hafiz’s and the other belonging to one of this customers. The V-Strom on the right had come in for some general work
A KTM 1190 Super Adventure that had come in for servicing.
Anyway, once I was at his shop, they got down to work. A set of EBC FA347-HHs were procured and went on the GSX. This set is shared with the Z900 and so is reasonably easy to procure. The callipers were cleaned, the old pads were removed and the new pads were fit in. Along with this, they bled out the brake lines and filled fresh brake fluid. A quick job done in an hour or so, and I was back on my way.
The old brake pads. They were almost completely worn out and I managed to get them changed at the right time. Probably should have got them changed out a little earlier, if I’m being honest.
The EBC brake pads that they were replaced with.
The new brake pads fitted in
Hafiz’s boys putting in fresh brake fluid and making sure the brake lines were bled properly
After this, the bike settled down to the office commute for the next 3 months. The GSX is perfectly capable of handling the office commute. With the temperatures down significantly in Bangalore, the bike has zero complaints dealing with anything Bengaluru traffic threw at it. Had been stuck in hour-long traffic jams and the temperature gauge never moved past the halfway mark. As stated earlier, the bike is docile at lower rpms and is perfectly happy chugging along at 30-40 kmph in 4th gear. Reinforced my decision of choosing the GSX-S750, considering I knew that I would have to use the superbike I buy as a daily rider.
My work schedule freed up towards the end of November and this timed perfectly with some upgrades for the bike I was able to procure from the UK through my brother.
I was initially happy with the stock exhaust note, but as we all know with superbike ownership, the yearn for updates just keeps growing stronger. I had seen and heard fellow GSX-S750s with Arrows and Akrapovics at the Aerolex meet-up earlier in the year. Plus scrawling through Youtube videos of Yoshimura and Scorpion exhausts on the GSX finally made me give up my resolve and I decided to source an aftermarket exhaust for the GSX. Didn’t want an obnoxiously loud exhaust as I didn’t want to risk run-ins with the police here. Spoke to Hafiz on this and he recommended the SC-Project Conic slip-on exhaust, considering I didn’t want something too loud. Found a good deal on the official SC-Project website for the exhaust. Had a choice between titanium exhaust and the carbon fibre one. Decided to go with the carbon-fibre exhaust since I liked the dark look better. Had the exhaust shipped to my brother in the UK from where it was hand-carried to Bangalore inside a suitcase.
Along with this, also procured a set of Wezmoto steel-braided brake lines through my brother since I was uncomfortable with the spongy feel of the OEM rubber brake hoses. These brake lines are made in the UK and were custom extended by 30 mm to accommodate for the handlebar risers fitted on my bike. I know it’s not as reputable a brand as HEL, but I found many favourable reviews online for this brand and on reaching my brother, he confirmed that they were high-quality lines so decided to stick with them.
The bike was also due for its bi-annual service having completed a shade over 6000 kms since the last full service in May 2022. Called up Hafiz and booked time for a full-service on a Saturday. Had to get the regular full service done along with the change of brake lines and exhaust, so I decided to stay over at his shop to see the work being done on the bike. The bonus is that Hafiz always seems to have some project bikes undergoing work at his shop, so you get to see some cool bikes that are halfway through repairs/restoration. This time, there was a Ducati Diavel in for restoration and a customs-seized and released GSXR-750 that Hafiz is personally keeping as a project bike. Apparently, he intends to turn it into a full drag-bike to participate in the lower displacement classes at drag events, alongside his current drag-modified Hayabusa.
The GSX was mounted on a paddock stand and the mechanics proceeded with the service. The old oil was drained out and was much worse than I expected it to be. Considering that I use the bike for heavy traffic commutes, I probably need to schedule my oil changes at around 4000kms of usage going forward. The oil filter was removed. The stock exhaust was removed since it was going to be changed anyway and removing the exhaust allowed them more room to work with. The BMC air filter was cleaned, recharged and fixed back. The brake callipers and pads were removed, cleaned and fixed back. The rubber braided lines were removed and the new steel braided lines were routed through the bike and fixed in. The brake fluids were replaced completely. Coolant was topped up with the Engine Ice that I have.
The steel braided lines linked at the front
he SC Project Conic slip-on had a bit of a problem though. Earlier versions of the exhaust came with a removable dB killer that one could remove and fix back with ease. However, with the advent of Euro5 norms, the newer versions of the exhaust have a dB killer inside that can only be removed by undoing a screw, but to access the screw, one needs to drill a hole in the side of the carbon end-cap. Checked online and this seemed to be a common procedure that most people abroad were doing to access the dB killer removal screw. Hafiz took proper measurements with a set of callipers and drilled a hole perfectly on top of the baffle’s screw. With this, we were able to access the screw. The baffle was removed and kept aside. I decided to ride home without the baffle to see if it would be too loud. If it was indeed too loud, all I had to do was to fit the dB killer back inside and put the screw back in. Spoiler alert: it is a tad bit too loud for my liking so the baffle promptly went back in once I reached home. Now, I remove the dB killer only if I am heading outside the city on breakfast rides or longer rides.
The weight difference between the stock exhaust and the SC Project Conic Slip-on
The SC Project fitted onto the bike
Fresh engine oil was measured and filled back in. Hafiz has stock of new OEM Suzuki oil filters so that was fixed back in as well. All the parts under the fairings and the tank cover were cleaned, the bike was assembled back and the starter button was thumbed to bring the bike to life with its new vocal cords.
The radiator was caked in dirt in the middle with the spray from the tires. The radiator guard was removed and this was cleaned out with a water spray bottle and a soft brush. Will need to procure a fender extender for the front mudguard to prevent this from happening again.
I think it’s fair to say I was giggling like a school child inside my helmet the entire way back home. Yes, it’s a bit too loud, but there’s something about a proper inline-4 with an aftermarket exhaust that just feels right. The new exhaust feels like a proper orchestra of noises and sounds properly glorious at all times throughout the rev range. The stock exhaust was reasonably quiet in the lower band of the rev range, but the SC Project has a nice bassy growl even at idle. The best part is when you accelerate to around 6000 rpm and slowly let go of the throttle, there’s a full set of pops and crackles that make me laugh like a madman everytime. Now I feel like an aftermarket exhaust is mandatory for every inline-4 bike.
With the baffle on, the bike gets around 30% quieter, especially around idle. Now I commute to office with the dB killer on and so far, fingers crossed, no traffic policeman has batted an eye at the bike. It still is quieter than the REs with their aftermarket exhausts and the RXs with their sharp 2-stroke sounds. But the bike does garner a lot more attention now with the SC Project. Even if the understated looks don’t gather many eyes, the moment that engine comes to life with the slip-on fitted, people instantly turn around to look at the source of the sound. Frankly, it feels like it draws too much attention, but I am enjoying the bike’s sound wayyy too much, so I will need to just ignore the stares the bike gets now. An added bonus is the weight loss as seen in the pictures above.
Overall, I think with the change in exhaust, there is new life breathed into my ownership of the GSX. Yes, I get nervous anytime I see a cop, but so far, they don’t seem to mind the sound the bike makes. I just did a trip to Mysore and back yesterday (without the baffle fitted in), and highway runs also feel a lot more enjoyable now that you can hear the engine sound properly over the drone of the wind noise. Hopefully, my work eases off a little more to afford me more time for trips outside Bangalore and also to allow for more frequent updates of this thread.
The chain is holding up well after 7000 kms of use. Fingers crossed, this set lasts for a really long time. I clean and lube the chain every 600-800 kms, depending on if I can snare a free weekend from work and personal commitments. Have been using Maxima Chain wax so far, but shifted to Tribocor Dry Chain lube for a while. Will continue sticking to dry lubes only as I hate any chain lube spraying on the alloy.
The bike is now due for a change in tires, with the Diablo Rosso IIIs having come along for 14,500 kms so far. They’ve been excellent so far. These tires give great confidence in the twisties and rarely cause any drama under heavy acceleration and braking. Their rounder profile helps tip the heavy GSX better into corners and they are decent for wet weather riding, provided there is a bit of care in the throttle input. Have driven the bike home from work in the extreme rains we had here in Bangalore in September, wading through ankle deep water. Granted that I had set the TC to level 3 and barely gave more than 10% throttle at all times, but the tires rarely slipped at all during turns or on the white-topped concrete roads. There’s maybe another 1000-1500 kms of life left in the tread, but the tires have started squaring off. I have started looking out for replacements and will update once I have a set of tires to change to. Along with the exhaust and the steel brake lines, I had also procured a set of 90-degree tire stems, which will go on the bike at the time of the tire change.
That’s all for this update. A parting shot of the bike on a recent coffee run on the Bangalore – Mangalore highway.
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