Suzuki GSF 650 Bandit N et S 2007 — Specifications

What a strange idea to tinker with a recipe that had been working for more than a decade. Yet in 2007, Suzuki decided to put the engine of its GSF 650 back on the workbench and pull out the old air- and oil-cooled four-cylinder to slip in a resolutely contemporary mechanical package. The Hamamatsu manufacturer didn't throw the baby out with the bathwater, however, since the specifications remain the same: an accessible, simple road machine, tailored for daily use and sold at a tight price.

Beneath the 19-liter tank, the 656 cc liquid-cooled, electronically fuel-injected unit succeeds the previous generation with renewed vigor. We're now talking about 85 horsepower at 10,500 rpm, backed by 61.8 Nm at 8,900 rpm, enough to send the Bandit to an indicated 210 km/h and, above all, enough to put some fresh spark back into a roadster that was beginning to show its age against the Kawasaki ER-6n and the Yamaha FZ6. The six-speed gearbox and final chain drive are nothing revolutionary, but the whole package breathes modernity, with a compression ratio of 11.5 to 1 and a short 65.5 mm bore that signals an engine lively in the upper revs.

On the chassis side, Suzuki didn't see the point in rethinking everything, and honestly, that's a smart call. The tubular steel double cradle, the conventional 41 mm fork, and the rear monoshock are all still on board, with 130 and 126 mm of travel respectively. Braking relies on two 290 mm discs pinched by two-piston calipers up front and a single 240 mm disc at the rear, a modest but effective setup for urban and road use. The truly clever touch is the ability to adjust seat height, starting at 770 mm, and handlebar height too, an ergonomic flexibility rare in the segment and one that genuinely changes the game for smaller riders or those allergic to long highway stretches.

With its 215 kilos dry, the GSF isn't the trimmest in its category, the Kawasaki ER-6n remaining sharper on the scales, but the four-cylinder more than compensates with its smoothness and a character more linear than the green twin's. At 5,499 euros for the naked version, and barely more than 6,200 euros for the S equipped with ABS and a small fork-mounted fairing, the equipment-to-price ratio remains formidable. Even the Honda CBF 600, the historic benchmark for the accessible all-rounder, struggles to keep up on this terrain.

Who buys this Bandit in 2007? The newly licensed A-permit rider who wants a four-cylinder without breaking the bank, the biker returning after years away, the city dweller who dreams of weekend road escapes, or even the occasional tourer who fills his 19-liter tank to swallow 300 kilometers between stops. The new GSF 650 isn't trying to rival sharp-edged sportbikes or sophisticated adventure bikes, it carves its path in the category of useful and well-bred motorcycles, and it keeps the upper hand there. Suzuki's versatile roadster continues to play spoiler in a segment where the competition, though younger, struggles to offer as much for so little.