SUZUKI GSX1250F (2010 - 2016) Review

Year: 2011

Annual servicing cost: £300

Great bike does everything from long days in the saddle to scratching along on a Sunday

Buying experience: I brought her in 2018 from a dealer, great experiance. Paid just short of £3000 for her but as a modern classic i think they are appreciating in value.

Year: 2011

Annual servicing cost: £120

good all round bike. quite pokey for a mill that only churns out 98bhp. Windscreen too short for my 6'2" frame. Good view of my right side of my body in the right hand mirror!! Mirror extenders sorted that. Can easily put both feet flat on the ground with my knees bent

Version: 1250fa

Year: 2015

Annual servicing cost: £240

As a motorcycle instructor I found this bike to be a perfect machine for me

Buying experience: Bought it from a dealer 2015 model £4,000 with only 14500 miles

Year: 2013

Annual servicing cost: £150

Best feature is low end torque, worst is the seat.

Year: 2015

Annual servicing cost: £450

The Suzuki GSX1250F is basic, but excels at what it does. Long ride comfort, absolutely faultless reliability over 62000 miles in three years so far. Would recommend to anyone who needs a guaranteed all round great bike. I do about 21000 miles per year, so the miles pile on quickly.

Version: FAL6

Year: 2016

Annual servicing cost: £250

It will do anything touring two up or scratching with sports bikes and general all round bike for any age group biker.

Buying experience: Dealer £6200 for a 2016 model with 2000 miles fully loaded with luggage cases.

Version: GSX FAST

Year: 2011

Annual servicing cost: £100

Best features are the fantastic value for money. I know it's 'old school' and low tech, but when you are riding this lovely piece of kit you would never know it. Delightfully smooth and effortless, the four cylinder is a pleasure and never gives cause for concern with bags and bags of torque. Difficult to be negative really other than to say the wind protection is poor, then it's not really built as a tourer, added an MRA screen to reduce some of the wind effect! I would recommend this bike to anyone, will give miles of good cheap fun.

Buying experience: Purchased via a dealer, paid asking price of £5,800 with a p/x deal

Version: Fal2

Year: 2013

Annual servicing cost: £200

Best value for money motorcycle for sale in U.K. today by far

Buying experience: Bought privately at two years old 4000 miles £4600 brilliant value

Year: 2011

Annual servicing cost: £200

For the price, almost perfect. Useable power, more than enough money spare to buy the extra accessories you'll want & with TLC should age well.

Version: FA

Year: 2013

Annual servicing cost: £400

This is my second Bandit. Owned a 1200 about 12 years ago and recently returned to biking, and so glad I did. Bought second hand (3yrs old) for 5k, with only 2.5k on clock. Had about 6 months now and use everyday, mostly with top box occasionally full luggage. Just done a long weekend from UK through Holland, Belgium and France with no issues. I use the bike for commuting, touring and a bit of fun, well lots really as if I don't need to go out on is I do anyway. Relatively heavy bike and needs a little practice at v slow speed at first, good on corners, recovers well when slipping. Wife often comes out as pillion and hardly know she is there except when breaking hard. Good all rounder. Need to raise seat a bit, but If I get another bike I will still keep this one.

Buying experience: Dealer, second hand, 5k for a 3 year old bike with low mileage, all luggage inc removable holdalls that fit in the luggage, Excellent condition too.

Version: FA

Year: 2012

Annual servicing cost: £500

Engine is nearly as good as the 1200 Bandit.

Buying experience: Bought from Alpha because of 0% loan but they ripped me off fitting a top box sized for a moped despite knowing that I intended to tour. Discovered Orwell Motorcycles in Ipswich, excellent shop with excellent staff and an excellent workshop.

Version: FAZ

Year: 2014

Best features are; Real world accessible performance in the lower rev band. The weight of the bike makes it very stable in it's touring role. It's a comfortable bike for taller riders, I'm 6'2" and don't like the pretend adventure bikes with their over inflated prices. The weight is also it's negative. I wouldn't say it's top heavy but there are better balanced bikes out there, it's no sports bike! Care needs to be taken when man handling around the garage etc...

Buying experience: Best deals are to be had with pre reg bikes. I think list price of 8k is far too much even if it does include luggage. This is not a bike to buy from a dealer and sell a year on.

Year: 2012

Get rid of the stupid NUMBERS, ETC FOR A NAME and just call it a MASKED BANDIT.......

Buying experience: Great end of year deal from the dealers

Bought 4 weeks, 1,000 miles approaching. Replaced a ZX10 I'd had from new for 4 years. Currently I need to do c.250 miles per week and thought I was just buying efficient transport. It's much more than that. Stunningly quick low down and perfectly good handling. Significantly better than a Bandit 1250 I had about 6 years ago; I think there's been a little bit of evolution and tweaking in there, not just the announced changes when 'Bandit' became 'GSX1250'.

Bought a brand new model last week and its great. Engine pulls from 20mph in 6th with ease, sweeps through bends at speed with great stability and the mileage per tank is easily 160miles + reserve. Compared to my old ZZR1400 it is just as quick at real world duties and has much better town / traffic ability. Now wish i'd bought this last year instead of the ZZR.....all in all a good affordable mile muncher that can do so many jobs for a very wide group of riders. However, Brakes take a lot of time to bed in, poor underseat storage, so so OEM tyres, suspension doesn't suit all roads and lacks adjustment and really should have better rear shock protection from the elements.

This may be related to the Bandit in so many ways but it brings virtues before not found on the Bandit into the reach of many. Its big , simple, quick enough, comfy and has a very flexible engine and generally with a few simple changes it becomes a great fast tourer. Planning to swap a ZZR1400 to one of these.

A great value for money bike. Responds well to modifications. If you spend a grand or so on her you can get a 30-50% increase in power depending on the mods. Well worth the effort.

Had the 1250 for just one month and done about 2500 miles including a 1500 mile trip touring West Scotland. Bike performs superbly and is everything I wanted at the right price. Traded up from the GSX650F which I really liked but the 1250 is just different league when it comes to longer distance work -particularly motorway at high speeed. Love it.

Had mine for a week and a half. As well as commuting I've done a trackday at Silverstone and the GSX equipped itself very well. The ABS is particular impressive even if it does feel strange at first. The suspension is plush but the front could do with rebound adjustment although on Silverstone's perfect surface it was absolutely fine. It gets very hot in the saddle after a while as well. The point is that this bike will do most things well with little compromise. There's always going to be better looking, better handling, better performing bikes out there but that's missing the point. Where else can you get a bike that does all these things well at this price? R & G now do the whole crash protection thing for this so they expect it to sell well and I've no doubt it will and deservedly so. Initial insurance ABI ratings issues aside, this is great real world bike all the more so for its price. Honda, Triumph et al are you looking?

Picked mine up on Friday and rode all the way home with a great big smile on my face. It would have stayed there all bank holiday weekend if it hadn't been for the rain. Took it down the A roads to Hastings and back on BH Monday and did everything that I asked of it. I had the old 750F for 6 years and seriously considered the 650 when it came out, but although more powerful I was looking to go up in engine size. Boy am I glad that I waited. My only complaint so far is the lack of space under the seat. I always carry a small soft-case first aid kit and there's no room for it. Can't wait to take it touring and munch those miles

Very pleased with mine as a tourer

I know its early days but I went into my bike shop a few weeks back to order a 1250 SA having owned two 650 SA Bandits before I wanted to go up to a 1250 When I was there a 1250 FA had just arrived so with a few moments of thought and a super exchange deal it was mine. Two weeks on I have not looked back the bike has not failed to please it just seems to want to go on forever in fact before I knew it I was at 750 mile and ready for the first service that is no longer free. The full fairng works well it does offer a lot more protection and the screen works better than on the SA models giving a bit more wind protection around the head. The fairing also keeps the legs a bit more comfortable. I was glad to see that Suzuki have fitted the Bridgestone BT 21 tyres on the bike in the past I have always fitted these as they give a better wear rate than the Bridgestone,s normally fitted by Suzuki. The ABS brakes do work well and the suspension on the 1250 is a lot better and seems better two up. A lot has been said about the fuel warning light however there seems to be a trip odo that comes on when the tank runs to a reserve level of fuel that will give you your mileage left. There is also a rev counter light that you can pre set to the revs you want ?? and a gear readout that tells you what gear you are in on the 650 that was something that it could have done with and I find it useful on the 1250. Handling the 1250 seems to turn in a lot faster than the 650 did but the extra weight on the 1250 goes un noticed and the bike is very easy to throw around in fact it has a lot more grip than a 650 due to the wide back tire. Engine performance is just wonderful it is not fierce but actually docile it gives out a nice smooth power spread that is so easy to use. Overall the 1250 FA is a easy bike to live with normally the first things to be changed on my Bandits are the screen tyres and exhaust but the screen on the FA works and the tyres are the ones I would fit so its just the exhaust that may get changed. For £6995 the 1250 has got to be worth a look I am so glad that I purchased mine.