It's got six appeal

Updated on: 26 February,2009 10:06 AM IST |
Chetan R |

Suzuki's new bike, the GS150R, has six gears, and will be out on Friday

It's got six appeal

Suzuki's new bike, the GS150R, has six gears, and will be out on Friday

On Friday, 20 of Suzuki's GS150R, the only six-gear bike in the 150 cc segment, will roll out onto the city's streets.

The Suzuki GS150R with XTP (extra torque power) technology will compete with bikes such as Yamaha's macho street-fighter FZ16, Honda's Unicorn, Bajaj Pulsar 150cc and Hero Honda Achiever though all these are five-gear bikes.

The bike is designed to facilitate an aggressive ride on city roads. Its six gears support strong acceleration and good mileage. "Its features are expected to set aside existing bikes," said Hemanth Kumar V, an auto consultant.

The bike's XTP technology competes with Pulsar's DTSi technology. It will facilitate a smooth ride at 30-km speed even on top gear, unlike in other bikes. The torque speed takes the bike to a top speed of 120 kmph.

The design of the stylish headlights is from Suzuki's sports bike, GSX-R, whose engine balancer technology avoids vibration even at top speed.

The technology, including a digital speedometer with dual modes, digital timer, an automatic gear indicator and fuel economy indicator, makes the bike attractive to young people.

But auto consultants say the bike may not make a big impact because of the cost and the fact that there are already more powerful bikes on the road.

"The bike's price of Rs 68,500 is not encouraging," said Rajiv K, another auto consultant. "We can get 180 cc bikes for the same cost."