Okay, a new 1250 followed me home earlier this month, but it's been rainy, cold, and I've been working long hours, so I haven't ridden it much yet (like 50 miles
) but after tinkering with, and (briefly) riding the bike, I've noticed a couple of things that bother me about my new purchase:
1) when I turn the key on, the speedometer looks like it flashes "CSF", instead of "GSF". I thought it was defective, but apparently they all do that. C'mon Suzuki - make a "G" look like a "G".
2) it took me about an hour to figure out how to attach the strap that goes under the seat for my Cortech mini tank bag.
My '01 1200 has a convenient bar right where the gas tank rear bolts are, but the 1250 has nothing in that general area
to run a strap around. Bupkas. Nada. Zilch. I finally had to lift the rear of the gas tank and run the strap around the "L" shaped frame-member that the tank bolts to. What a PITA. The problem with this is that the strap is now in front of the tunnel that the seat tab slides into. I made it work, but it's far from an elegant solution.
Yeah, I know...I could just buy a magnetic tank bag, but I already had the strap-on on the old Bandit, and I hate the idea of those little dirt particles grinding into the tank paint under the magnets. Plus, I'm too cheap a bastidge to spring for a new one.
3) Where the hell are the second pair of seat attachment spindles (or whatever you call them)??? The 1200 has 4
"Frankenstein neck" bolts, which worked great for my Cortech tailbag's bungees, but the 1250 has only 2 in the back. WTF?
I always ride with a tailbag to carry extra clothes, gloves, tools, water, etc., but I don't know how I'm gonna do that on the new one. Once again, I could get a new tailbag, but what was Suzuki thinking by putting only 2 bungee attachments back there?
4) You can have the digital speedo...give me back the 1200's analog unit! Whenever I glance at the tach, my eyes are drawn by the movement of the digits in the speedo display - I find it distracting. A classic case of "if it's not broken, don't fix it."
5) The bike is very smooth at a steady speed, but its got a pronounced vibration when accelerating from a stop or a roll on. It almost feels Harley-like; very agricultural in nature. I'm thinking the dealer-prep mechanic adjusted the chain too tight - I'm going to loosen it and see what happens.
6) The clutch makes a racket when idling in neutral. As soon as the clutch is pulled in it disappears. What's up with that? Does anybody else's do that?
7) I've got the oft-discussed sloppy throttle - both in play and side to side. It's stupid of Suzuki to build such a nice machine with this kind of defect.
Okay, the positives of this new bike are too numerous to mention...but I'll mention a few of my favorites anyway:
1) The choke-less fuel-injected starts when it's 30 degrees are sweet! Fires right up and idles smoothly.
2) OMG... the torque! Nuff said.
3) The headlight unit is 500% better than the 1200's - better design & way more light.
4) The Renn-tech tail rack I bought just a few months ago for the 1200 fits on the 1250! No modifications, filing, welding, or blasting needed!
5) The brakes just feel stronger than the 1200 - both the front and especially the rear.
6) The fuel injection map is spot-on - no surge, hesitation or other annoyances. Good job Suzuki!
7) The battery is easily accessible under the seat. There's no screwed-on storage tray to get in the way like on the 1200.
Okay, this probably reads more anal retentive than I really am, and I realize that these picayune negatives are a small price to pay for such a sweet ride.
Your thoughts?
Topic: A new owner's take on the 1250 - both negatives & positives (Read 4020 times)