To put it in Gen Z parlance, retros are currently ‘trending’. Apart from their retro rendition of the Katana, Suzuki has not played much in the retro space. Their two new 800 models, the GSX-8T and GSX8-TT, run thoroughly modern underpinnings but are dressed up like ‘70’s kids. With the Katana, the heritage is obvious, but the 800s, not so much. Suzuki styling in the ‘70s was predominantly tank silhouettes that sloped to the front and back. The tank on the 800s is broader in the front, tapering to a slimmer back. Thinking back, it harks back to the tank shape on the GT 380 and the last of the ‘water buffaloes, or ‘fridges’, as we called them—the iconic water-cooled GT 750 3-cylinder two-stroke. Be that as it may, the subject of this review, the GSX8-T, is particularly easy on the eye.
My test bike is painted in Candy Burnt Gold. The tank is the only coloured item on the bike, with motor, mudguards and side-covers in a flat black. The radiator shrouds are brushed aluminium with a retro-style ‘8’ atop a small GSX logo on each side. The subframe is a metallic grey. It all puts together nicely, and the result is one sexy scoot. Suzuki is certainly getting their money’s worth from their 776 cc 4-stroke, DOHC, liquid-cooled, 4-valve per cylinder, cross-balancer-equipped parallel twin motor. It powers at least 4 different models in Suzuki’s lineup. It sports a 270-degree crank with characteristic strong midrange torque (78 Nm at 6,800 rpm) and linear power delivery across the rev range. It is velvety smooth with a belly rumble when you get hard on the gas, culminating in a decent top-end hit (83 hp at 8,500 rpm). It is a gem of a motor.
The fuelling is flawless, and allied to the linear power delivery, the 8T is a sweet ride. Ergonomics are good. My 6’3” frame felt super comfy on the firm but yielding seat with legs in a reasonable bend at the knee, and a light lean to the nicely shaped bars, complete with bar end mirrors that work superbly at all engine speeds. The tank has rubbers on the side, which enhance the grip when you squeeze the tank with your legs. The instrumentation is a clear, bright TFT display with all the information you need well presented.
Suspension is by KYB with 41 mm upside-down forks with no adjustment. The rear shock, also by KYB, is preload adjustable only by means of a ringed stepped collar. For those who want to moan about the lack of adjustment, I will pose only one question. How often, if you have adjustable suspension on your bike, do you change your suspension settings? Manufacturers generally get a pretty good average setting, which works well for the application.
The gearbox is a 6-speeder equipped with a bi-directional quickshifter. Not the best out there, but it does the job without fuss or bother. The rake on the front forks, often an indicator of how the manufacturer wants the bike to steer, is pretty neutral at 25 degrees. By comparison, the Ducati Monster has a steep head angle of 23 degrees whilst the Yamaha MT-09, like the 8T, sits at a more neutral 24,7 degrees. And so it is on the road. The Suzuki is neutral and stable. As you begin to push the speed up, the lack of wind protection (the fly screen is purely cosmetic) has you tightening your grip on the bars. As is often the case with naked roadsters, the effect of the wind on your torso can introduce some vagueness into the steering, which can be interpreted as slight high-speed instability.
Enter the tank shape and the rubber tank pads. Rather than gripping the bars tighter, I increased my leg pressure on the tank, thus negating the need to hang on tight. Keeping the bar pressure low, corners and sweeps can be attacked with gusto without any vagueness whatsoever. Riding the 8T in attack mode is great fun. It will take a racetrack to find the limits of the suspension.
The brakes, 2×310 mm front discs with 4-pot Nissen callipers, and a single-pot rear calliper chomping on a 240 mm disc are superb. Climbing on the brakes hard feels like you have thrown out an anchor. The power, control and feel are excellent. The lights are LED, look good and work well. The seat has the option of a shroud on the back seat, which can be swapped for a passenger perch. Passengers for short hauls only need apply. If your significant other is prepared to ride far and wide with you on the back seat, you can be certain that she is seriously into you! The rider seat, by comparison, is proper!
The bike is equipped with a fast-charging USB port, and much is made of its ‘Eliiy Power’ battery. It is apparently a new-fangled high-tech number that is light, reliable and durable, enhances ‘startability’, long life and resists discharging. There you have it. As is the case with all Suzukis over the ages, they love stickers. All over the bike, various stickers adorn the bike. Three on the tank announce what fuel to use, the fact that you have an Eliiy Power lithium-ion battery, and the third advising you to read your owner’s manual and wear all the gear all the time. When I was young and foolish and a purest wannabe, I would peel all the stickers from my Suzys. These days, it’s a Suzuki idiosyncrasy that I find endearing.
The 8T rolls on a 120/70×17 front wheel and a 180/55×17 rear. Pretty standard middleweight sportbike fare. With the 16,5-litre fuel tank topped up, the 8T weighs in at a lightish 201 kg. Tank range at touring speeds that are sustainable on a naked roadster should easily exceed 320 k’s. Three engine modes, A, B and C, allow you to tune the throttle response to suit, with A being the most aggressive and C the least. For me, B mode was like Goldilocks’, and baby bears porridge…just right. Similarly, there are 4 traction control settings. ‘Off’, and three with varying intensity.
The bottom line is that the GSX-8T is a lovely bike to look at and to ride. It has decent performance, more than enough to scratch ‘that’ itch. The suspension is nicely dialled in, giving a great compromise between sporting performance and comfort. Given some wind protection, it can do brilliant one-up touring duty. It has no idiosyncrasies that would irritate you, but rather is like a good red wine; the longer it is around, the more you would enjoy it. It offers decent value at R179,950. To put that into perspective, my son has just bought a R135,000 Cannondale mountain bike!
The bikini-faired and belly-pan-adept 8TT offers better wind protection for an extra 10 grand. For me, oddly enough, the biggest opposition within the Suzuki line-up comes in the form of the other retro, the Katana. At R232,950, a tad more than the 8TT, buys you an uber cool 999 cc four-cylinder beast with 150 plus hp and 108 Nm of torque, all wrapped in 1970’s nostalgia. No one buys a naked, or minimally faired roadster for practicality, but rather for visceral appeal and a more raw and authentic motorcycling experience. Whichever of Suzuki’s retros floats your boat, I can promise you one thing. You will not be disappointed!
Suzuki GSX-8T
For more information on the bike that we tested in this article, click on the link below…
