SUZUKI GLADIUS 650 (2009 - 2017) Review

Front brake has good feel but rear is very sensitive and prone to locking up (an SV thing apparently). Could always upgrade pads and lines.

Engine is great. Pulls from lowdown and has a nice V Twin sound. Very smooth and not at all threatening to new riders. Easily achieve 65mpg without trying (and i ride fairly briskly).

No problems with reliability so far. Only owned for 9 months and completed 2000 miles. Finish is generally good but mine has only done 5000 miles in 12 years!

Quote for £250 for annual service. It’s a simple bike so shouldn’t need expensive servicing.

It’s got no frills but that’s why it’s cheap!

The brakes are fine, l've always managed to slow down and stop when needed. All that's needed for the road. The suspension works ok but is a bit firm maybe. That said, l haven't adjusted it yet and the lovely bloke who l bought it from was probably 4 stone heavier than me.

Fabulous engine, love it to bits. Instant grunt in almost any gear accompanied by a bellowing V-twin soundtrack. Tons of engine braking too. Also has a sweet, smooth gearchange.

The black paint on the wheels is a bit delicate but the rest of the bike is amazing for 13 years old. So far been utterly reliable

I get approx. 60mpg but l dont ride fast much. Changed the oil, filters and plugs (4) myself. All very straightforward.

No abs or traction control or ride modes but do you really need it? Up to 100 bhp l would say no. If you buy old vehicles like me it just means there's more to go wrong

Good all rounder with grunt when you need it

The bike is pretty much bomb proof

3rd gear is when this bike is at its best - the torque just keeps pulling ❤️ I love to ride for a couple of hours each way when I do get out to ride but as of yet I've never felt I had to stop although a little more cushioning on the seat would be a lil more comfortable

I cannot complain as I really do love this v-twin bike

Owned this bike 12 months second hand and never had a problem as of yet 😁👍

Cannot remember the full price as it also included my mot but I do know it was very reasonable through an independent and local garage to me

I love the green colour on my tank which I've now matched (colour coded on other parts of the bike to match in better) I have a lovely exhaust thats not too loud and not quiet - just how a bike should be - heard before being seen 😁👍 got a brand new set of Michelin Road 5 that were recommended and I've found to have no issues whatsoever with them whilst riding my bike in wet and dry conditions.

I would recommend that it comes with a stock windshield but just a lil mini one not some huge gulky think.. And the exhaust is ugly in my opinion. I think they should have definitely put aomething a little more stylish on it because it truely is a quality bike and ahould have the looks of one.4

Im only giving an estimation because I've only owned the bike for two months and of course I did no oil change right away I bought brand new tires for it which ran about three four hundred bucks with a couple accessories I bought and I do need to go ahead and replace the pads front and back so after that I'm sure it'll be good for a long time it probably won't even be 1500 a year

Comment on engine was meant for this section. Lol

Still fun on the twisties, 400 miles in a day is about enough for me and it is used for a 20 mile round trip commute. The brakes aren't ABS on my version as I don't like ABS and with ride planning and engine braking the pads will last forever.

Smooth, vibe free and bags of torque, by far the best bit about the bike. 4th at 30 MPH still allows acceleration and you can be in 6th at 40 MPH without a problem. Shutting the throttle brings in a lot of engine braking so you probably won't need to use the brakes.

Poor component quality and design cause problems. Some connectors such as the fan are exposed to the elements rather than being shielded so suffer in the wet. See above for the headlight problems. Other connectors are corroding after 30 000 miles / 4 years, not what I would expect. The swingarm is also showing a few rust patches and overall it's a price driven build quality.

Above figure is an average of one home service and one dealer valve service per year, the dealer service needed every 16 000 and using a non main dealer for the valve check. 4000 miles sees an oil and filter [always change the filter with the oil] change and a few basic checks which won't be needed if you carry them out with your weeklies.

Personal opinion: I don't like digital speedos, gear indicators are not as useful as temerature gauges especially when they don't know if you are in 1st or 2nd. The Dunlop Qualifiers are both good for the bike and budget, expect 4000 from the rear and 12 000 from the front. Despite looking thin the chain should go 16 000 + if you look after it. Givi luggage if you go touring. An absolute must-mirror extenders! On the standard bike the view to the rear is worse than on the mid 80's bikes I started out on-why?

The brakes at the front are a little bit pants. I've heard braided hoses would improve feel and that there's an aftermarket caliper kit you can get too, but it's not so bad that I would consider this.

lush sound!

I've had this bike for six years now and with some care and basic maintenance, it really holds its quality. It's got 60,000 miles on the clock now and it's still looking and riding good. I have never had any major issues. Not even changed the discs yet.

Riding position is top, the only big complain is about the lack of saddle confort which bring back to your mind quickly that you are made of flesh and muscles. Brakes are perfectible.

No problem here, just some look alike aluminium plastics are questionable.

Easy to look after at low cost.

An enjoyable triple faces engine, a success!

One of the things that let the Gladius down is its Seat. I have got used to this now and can do 200-300 miles in a day with no major issues. However when I first picked up the bike a hours riding was enough to bring on aches and pains. Suspension is soft and is pre-load adjustable only, this is fine for town riding and commuting but those wanting to ride harder may find he suspension lacking. That's not to suggest that knee down cornering is unachievable or unstable but the bike would benefit from more adjustable slightly harder suspension. Front suspension can be remedied with springs and fork oil change and GSX-R 600/750 shock fits in the rear should you wish. Brakes are another thing that I have found lacking, the braking capabilities are there and they will stop you prefectly fine but the lever doesn't have much "feel" and can be a little "spongy" it has quite a lot of travel before the brakes start to bite. Again this can be remedied by fitting better pads and SS lines. Despite these criticisms it is still possible to ride the bike hard and most of these issues will only be noticed as riders become faster and more experienced.

Ok so no 650cc Vtwin will match a Supersport 600 up top but what it will do is provide plenty of usabe torque across the rev range. There is no doubt that the 650 found in the Gladius is a fun, reliable engine. Derived from the sv650 it has sporting aspirations and proven in the minitwin race series. The Gladius is capable of surprising sports bikes of the line and I have no difficulty keeping up with 600 il4's and 1000s on rides out until licence loosing speeds. I find that the Gladius will pull from anywhere within the rev range and as mentioned in other reviews will pull away from 30 easily in 4th. I find the power delivery fairly smooth with most usable power coming between 6k and 10k rpm. Keep it within this range and you should have no problem keeping up in the twisties. Another saving grace of the vtwin is that if you enter a corner a gear too high the torque will pull you back out so there isn't too much worry about being in the wrong gear. It will top out at 125/130mph so those looking for top speed thrill may want to look elsewhere, but if you want a torquey engine that will pull in most gears and want to have fun with out too much risk of loosing your licence then this is deffinately one to consider.

After 20k miles the Gladius is still going strong, i have no issues or faults mechanically or electronicly. I look after my bike well and ensure that I service regularly. It's an easy bike to work on and most service items can be fitted easily. One thing to keep an eye on is the paint on the central part of the tank, this can scratch easily and I would deffinately recommend a tank protector. There is no sign of rust or corosion yet, the front down pipe is slightly discoloured but I do commute everyday in all weathers, as mentioned earlier I look after the bike and wash after use in the rain and apply ACF50 to keep corrosion at bay!

The bike is cheep to maintain, I change oil and filters more regularly than most, but this is worth doing to increase reliability. I get about 130 miles before the fuel light comes on and reserve is about 3-4l. Insurance is low and should be fairly cheap for new riders.

As expected with any budget naked equipment and extras are basic. Spedo is clear and digital, revcounter is analogue and in my opinion preferable to digital, there is a gear indicator thay llt I'm sure new riders will find useful. Two trip meters, odometer, clock and miles traveled on reserve can cycled through on the display but only one can be viewed at a time. ABS is optional, no slipper clutch or any fancy electronic gadgets. Fuel injection is smooth. Seat is hard. I run pilot road 2 at the moment and find they suit the bike well.

The bike is cheaper than a lot of others and you can feel this in the suspension. As with my other bikes the rear had an extra click on the pre-load for a firmer feel. The front could do with a little more damping but is OK. So far I've ridden the bike on short [under 200 miles] trips and a few of 400 mile days out and it seems happy, but the seat has a 'plank rating' of 4 on a scale where a plank of wood is 5. It could do with a bit more padding or I could do with less soss sarnies. I've sat at motorway speeds for over an hour and twisties for tens of miles and the bike is happy at either. The steering feels a little quick as if the front tyre was under inflated but feeling this on the palm of your hand means you can easily counteract it, and the closer you sit to the tank the less you feel it.

4/5 as I am still adjusting to a V-twin. After parallel twins and inline triples and fours the V-twin engine is a bit of a novelty. The engine pulls from nothing to the red line but there is no surge of power-the delivery seems a bit flat but a look at the speedo shows you may be going faster than you thought. There is no real 'power band' that you need to chase. Coming from a twin/four background the engine noise is also subdued it sounds more like a single rumble than an inline 2 or 4 scream so you may be revving the engine more than you think. 30 mph in 4th will still give accleration. There are no vibes through the handlebars on my low mileage bike. The low fuel light seems to come on with 4-4.5 L left after about 130 miles.

5/5 based on 11 months and 6000 miles of ownership. As soon as I had the bike all the readily accessible fixings were removed and given a bit of copper grease and the bike treated with ACF50. I would recommend this for all bikes. It wasn't ridden much through the first winter as I have other bikes I use year-round, but in the last 8 months I have covered over 5000 miles. So far no issues but it is a low mileage bike.

OK, so the bike is still under warranty and dealer serviced hence the £600/year figure. When I am home servicing this will drop substantially. The rear tyre was replaced at 4000 miles including the running in period, the front looks good for a bit longer. As for fuel economy I see 55-75 mpg. I don't know if the 'official' test bike was track ridden or had a leaky tank but as with other tests the real world fuel consumption is less than the test results, even when ridden enthusiastically

An analogue speedo and temp gauge would be my preference. The LCD display toggles between total miles, two trips, low fuel miles and clock-the rest of the lights are basic idiot lights but there is nothing wrong with that. A separate clock would be welcome. Departing from the standard I have a ful set of Givi luggage and swingarm bobbins as the bike cannot have a centrestand fitted-very poor.

It is very comfortable for me I am 6 foot tall and I can ride it all day long and it doesn't bother me at all

good power but once you get comfortable with it it doesn't excite anymore i

There has been a few recalls but after 4000 miles it hasn't left me pushing it home

You do not get a lot for the price you get a key and a very reliable bike that is it there are no extras from the company that I know of. As well as there are very little aftermarket things for the bike

Suspension is soft and squishy with little cushioning from the seat and the brakes are soft at the front yet lock up easy on the rear

Gorgeous V-Twin engine with all the low end power you'll ever need, buttery smooth going through the rev range and sounds like Thor himself is under your seat when engine braking

Not a hint of rust after 9k miles with no broken parts, only replaced parts are filters, oil and tyres. Fuel injection starts the bike every time even after a month of bad weather

Not had the bike for a full year yet but not looking at more than filters, tyres and tax (about £70)

Gear indicator and Hazard lights are all you really get with the Gladius, you aren't buying it for the bells and whistles