I have owned several different naked bikes including the Bking, 2 Z1000s, 2 Speed Triples, and 3 919s. I liked the
comfort of the 919, however it was lacking in handling and power. The handling could be solved but not the lack of power. I bought a Ducati Monster 1200s, fantastic bike but PRICEY (it's what the Cb1000r should have been).

But now there is a new awesome affordable naked available that I got to demo that is comfy, compliant, powerful, and handles great. The Suzuki GSX S1000. I would be the owner of one if it would have become available a few months earlier. Honda really blew it by making the overpriced underpowered CB1000r. The new S1000 lists for only $9999 ($10400 with ABS), several thousand cheaper than the CB1000r and the S1000 is SO MUCH better.

I don't work for Suzuki and I love my Monster but if anybody wants to upgrade their 919 you may want to look into the GSX S1000

Suzuki GSX-S1000 review

The press was not happy with the throttle response - very abrupt, they said, and difficult to ride in city traffic. In your experience, how was the throttle response in town?

I read the same thing and was concerned but Suzuki must gave addressed that issue because the throttle response was smooth. However, I did close the throttle and reapply the power several times without issue but I never tested reappling the power rapidly. The only bike that I have ridden that had a snatchy and scary throttle response was the 2014 FZ09.

My favorite feature of the GSX S1000 is that you can ride at 40 mph and have the comfort of the 919 or a cruiser because of the flat seat. The Bking was comfy at 40 mph but the steering felt a little heavy until going faster. The S3 and z1000 have seats that are slanted forward that negated the comfort at normal driving speeds

I was actually looking at this before I got my 919 (got inpatient waiting for it to come out). Happy with the Honda, and agree with the 1000r - same thing happened in my opinion with the VFR (haven't ridden a new one, hopefully they brought it back successfully).

I'll have to test ride the Suzuki now for sure after your positive experience with the throttle being corrected since the press release ride.

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SR lists the 919 wet at 485 lbs.
MD has the gsx-s1000 wet at 461 lbs.
MD has it's hp at a claimed 145. If that translates to 120 rwhp on a
bike 24 lbs lighter than the 9er. Sounds like a fun ride.

I believe the GSX S1000 has 145 rwhp and it felt like it. It surely felt more powerful than my 2012 Z1000 and more similar to the BMW S1000R. It power wheelies with ease. I am not sure if the fueling issue has been addressed however I did not notice any fueling issues with the demo bike from the Suzuki Demo Tour Truck.

Suzuki needed to make this bike a couple a years ago.

It has a low seat height, it does look like a 919 replacement in that sense for me. This could be the replacement indeed..

If I was in the market for a 1000 naked, the Suzuki would be at the top of my list.
The Suzuki has just been released and it is several $1000 cheaper than the 7 to 8 year old CB1000R. Incredible.

Many moto-journalists are just writers that happen to know how to ride a motorcycle and they don't have to be good at either to do the job. Ultimately they have to write something to justify their own existence so a lot of times you get nit picky subjective bullshit like "throttle response" or "driveline lash" as a talking point when both of those things are usually largely alleviated by proper riding technique to begin with.

" The second time I rode into work on the GSX-S1000, I found myself naturally selecting fifth gear at about 30mph because it reduced the throttle’s on/off tendency. It’s at least one gear higher than I’d normally go for, and obviously means more changes and clutch use."

I don't think I've ever ridden 4th gear let alone 5th gear on the 919 at 30mph. On off throttle, used to that already so yea I've been pouring the milk on my tea from a bucket for some time now.

Test rider sounds like a bitch who wants an automatic transmission. :/

I'd still be inclined to go with the Yamaha FZ-09 before the Gixxer lite....

There is no replacement. Once you think you've found one it doesn't hold enough gas, doesn't run like an appliance, doesn't handle as well, doesn't fuel as well or cost 5X as much. It will probably be ugly as well.


Once you've owned and loved a 919, you're screwed. Annoying things about every single bike you try to replace it with will drive you nuts. The only answer is to do what I did, keep it, ride it and buy other bikes for when you feel like riding something that blows your mind in different way.

Ditch for the win. My 919 is safe, it shall stay with me if it runs or not.

It's obvious that you guys have never owned a 990 Super Duke.

I've really been looking at KTM lately and either a Super Duke or a RC8 could replace the 919 very soon!

Yea whatever. I had a SMT and it was a 919 slayer, not a replacement. When it wasn't leaking oil and letting me down.

Oh, I figured some hater would chime in. An oil leak fix isn't rocket science.

19,000 mile valve check in the Super Duke. All were in spec. That bike never let me down.
I could list all the reasons a 990 Super Duke is twice the motorcycle that a 919 is.

Wasn't hating on the KTM, just bitter about my bad experience. It is not a 919 replacement though. They are about a different as two naked bikes can be.