Suzuki GSF 650 Bandit N et S 2006 — Specifications

Ten candles on the cake, and the Bandit still refuses to give up its seat at the buffet. Since its debut in 1995, the Suzuki GSF has camped out at the top of the French mid-size roadster sales charts, and not for lack of sharp-edged rivals showing up. Honda's CBF 600 plays the rational-versatility card, Yamaha's Fazer scratches a bit more on the sporty side, the Z 750 hits hard with its 748 cc, the Hornet banks on its screaming engine borrowed from the CBR, and Suzuki's own SV comes poaching customers from its own stable. Faced with this pack, the Bandit had started to feel the wind shift, blamed on character too flat at low and mid-range revs. For 2005, Suzuki breaks out the toolbox.

No question of rolling out a brand-new block, though. The air- and oil-cooled inline-four, direct heir of the GSX-Rs from another era, keeps its spot in the double tubular steel cradle. But the bore grows by 3 mm to reach 65.5 mm, pushing displacement to 656 cc with an unchanged 48.7 mm stroke. The liners get an in-house treatment, the pistons and rings are redesigned, and the valve timing has been reworked to beef up torque where it actually gets used. Result: power stays pegged at 78 hp at 10,200 rpm, but torque climbs to 63.7 Nm delivered at just 7,500 rpm, 2,000 revs lower than on the old block. On the road, the difference jumps out. Settle into sixth, grab the throttle from 3,000 rpm, and the 650 propels you where the 600 struggled to find its breath. The 2000-2004 Bandit pushed in the revs or nothing at all; the new one agrees to work at low rpm without flinching.

On the looks side, Suzuki worked with a pen rather than a hammer. The N roadster gains a small fairing linking the headlight to the gauges, scoops tucked between radiator and tank, a slimmed-down rear cowl, and an exhaust that ditches its beveled cut. The S touring version, for its part, gets a new headlight in its fork-mounted fairing and redesigned mirrors. Two genuine novelties deserve a closer look. The seat becomes height-adjustable around 770 mm, which broadens the target to smaller builds, and ABS finally makes its catalog debut, an argument that had started to go missing against the competition. Braking stays classic with its two 290 mm front discs squeezed by two-piston calipers, backed up at the rear by a single 240 mm disc. Nothing revolutionary, but the whole package gets the job done on a 201 kg dry machine.

With its 20-liter tank, 210 km/h top speed, and a low seat that forgives novices, the GSF 650 hits the mark. The beginner will find a docile and permissive machine, the tourer will see a companion capable of stringing together kilometers without making you pay for a single highway stint, and the urban rider will appreciate its contained stature. Only the track-thrill enthusiast will look elsewhere, the Z 750 hitting harder and the Hornet singing higher. But at 6,099 euros, with a tamed engine, sharpened ergonomics, and optional ABS, the Bandit pulls out the argument that has kept it on top for ten years, that of a near-unbeatable pleasure-to-price ratio. The commercial heist isn't about to stop.