RideFast June 2020

anything thrown at it in the city
and a 150 rear tyre that gives it an
even more masculine look plus
puts more rubber on the road.
The Gixxer looks good, is fun
to ride, will outlast the abuse
thrown at it and will not break
any bank accounts.
In a manner that is not only
objective, it could be the best bike
available today.
Rob says
Motorcycles are all about fun
and getting around in the fastest,
most efficient and economical
way, and the Suzuki Gixxer 250
perfectly highlights all those
attributes and many more. It’s a
very attractive piece of kit that
gets the job done really well.
In these hard times, a bike like
this, priced at a mere R49,900, is
the perfect solution for most who
can’t afford that big, heavy on
fuel car anymore, and are in the
market for a motorcycle under
the R50k mark
to help get them
around, but also
want to do so with
a bit of pride.
Don’t get me
wrong, there is
nothing wrong
with riding a
scooter around,
it also makes
sense (cents) in many
ways but the Suzuki Gixxer
has way more street cred...
I love everything about this
little gem and just like Don
said I would have thrived
having one of these when I
was growing up!
Build quality is typical Japanese
brilliance and I love the overall
aesthetics of the bike - from
bodywork design and
livery, to riding
position - it’s
just a brilliant
machine!
purchasing a motorcycle for a keen
youngster who will be going full-
MotoGP every time they ride.
With that thought, let us relook at
those specs, especially the 26hp.
When I was a teenager, my father
graced me with my first road
motorcycle – a Suzuki RG50. This
rickety bucket of bolts had the sex
appeal of a rusty water pump, a
piston the size of tot glass and an
output of just 7hp.
Pathetic, right?
No – 16-year-old me gazed
upon this machine with lauding
wonderment. It was a shining
light in my otherwise dark world.
It was my NSR500, my ZZR1100
and my Ducati 916. I rode the tits
off it everywhere, attempting top
end runs on every stretch of road I
could find and treating each corner
like a MotoGP last corner tussle.
Andrew Pitt also
The bike was terrible, but it was a
had a go on the
bike. Ilmor That’s X3. all I cared about.
“The Gixxer looks good, is fun to ride,
will outlast the abuse thrown at it and
will not break any bank accounts.”
With those fond memories
drifting through my mind, I clicked
the Gixxer into gear and attempted
some urban MotoGP of my own.
Before getting to any riding
impressions, let’s first consider that
this is a damn good looking bike,
and not just for a 250 – I would
be happy if my GSXR1000 looked
like that. Apart from aggressive
fairing panels, both lights are LED
and there is a snazzy digital dash.
Teenage me would crap himself.
He would also laugh manically
at that motor, buzzing through the
revs to nearly four times the power
of the trusty little fifty, tucking in
beneath the screen in an attempt to
nudge the speedo up to 160km/h.
To a teenager, it may as well be
growling MotoGP bike.
Adult me finds this motor
amusing, especially while whizzing
through the suburbs of the West
Rand. A long ride might get tedious,
but in the stop-go environment
of suburbia, it feels like the sort
of thing you would cheer on, like
a puppy massacring a rope. It
isn’t fast, but it makes a big deal
out of whatever speed it is going,
with the rider chuckling joyfully
as they rocket between housing
complexes on their way to glory.
Beyond the aesthetics and motor,
it has suspension that is simple but
surprisingly effective, a larger front
disk brake that can easily handle
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