The moto-journalists have started to report on their jolly to the south of France to test the GSX-8S.
It sounds like it will a "sensible" bike with usable torque from low (ish) revs but run out of steam at higher revs. As someone who seldom/never exploits high revs on the SV that wouldn't bother me. Another thing that I have no interest in: it wheelies well.
Brakes are good and are the same as the new Hornet.
It's heavy but carries it well (?) - down low. I'm not sure how that would be achieved but 2 different journalists reported it.
Colour display which includes battery voltage and the ability to change modes without stopping. I have never changed modes on any bike I've owned (that was capable of changing
).
It has a long wheelbase, one tester said it was longer than a GSXR1000, I didn't check. It is stable which goes with that although it turns readily.
Comfortable seat but 810mm (I'm vertically challenged), the Hornet is 795mm.
Testers reported that the new Vstrom vibrates (same engine) which was surprising for an engine with 2 balance shafts. Not specifically mentioned in the tests I read but a journo responded to a comment after his report and said it comes in from 6k rpm (65mph in 5th is about 5k rpm, he didn't say what 6th gear revs were).
It has a quickshifter, up and down and this is where things start to unravel slightly imho...
One tester (weighing 20 stone) said the suspension was hard, others said it was soft. Likewise the quickshifter, the US tester said his was slow to operate and didn't work well. The testers compared notes and swapped bikes and found differences. Most bikes had soft suspension but one had a hard rear shock (preload only - all set the same). The quickshifter on the second bike that the US tester rode acted differently - better, he speculated maybe it was adjustment issue. Only the US tester reported this. Incidentally the bikes are made in Japan at the moment..
The one comment that sticks with me is: "this is the most V-twin like parallel twin I've ridden in terms of power delivery and sound". My XSR feels nothing like a V twin (imho) despite its 270° crank.
I think the biggest problems are the weight (445 lbs wet) and the cost being £1k more than the Hornet or £750 if you add the quickshifter to the Honda).
One other thing - either bikes are getting incredibly good or testers are not reporting any problems they encounter. I wrote to MCN and asked them about the Z900RS gearbox to see if theirs had any issues. They responded that the second bike (a standard Z900RS) was fine but the Cafe version jumped out of gear occasionally (which wasn't noted in the test). I expect a road test to reveal the bad things. Many years ago I read a "Bike" magazine review of a Meriden Triumph that described it as "the worst bloody motorcycle I have ever ridden" and went on to explain why.