Suzuki GSF 400

It's a light bike with a low seat height, good riding position and has very little torque which makes it a great beginner bike because it's nearly impossible to give it too much throttle or weekend bike to tear up the twisties with. However that lack of low end torque makes it a horrible commuter, it leads to a lot of slipping the clutch which reduces the life of the clutch. Suzuki isn't known for quality and it shows in some of the components on this bike. Other parts of the bike are the nicest i've seen on an off the shelf bike, the rear sets and headlight come to mind. For being a 400cc fuel economy is poor.

I'll be honest, I would never normally have gone out of my way to find a 400cc grey import for any number of reasons (lack of capacity, spares availability etc), but when I saw my GSF 400 Ltd on eBay I just fell in love with it.

The Ltd is the 70th anniversary model launched, I'm pretty sure, in 1991. 174Kg, 60Hp from a gloriously free-revving straight 4 engine (redlines at 14K and feels smooth as glass all the way there). The clincher for me was the Thruxton fairing - gives the bike so much retro charm that I simply couldn't resist.

So it looks good, to me anyway, but what's it like to live with?

There is one fundamental flaw with this series - the carb o-rings. Unfortunately Mikuni thought dunking rubber o-rings permanently in petrol would work well, with the result that the bike starts running monstrously rich on a regular basis as the float cage rings denature and break down. You need a mortgage to buy the replacements from Suzuki, and it's little comfort when paying £60 for 12 poxy rings to know you'll be doing the whole thing again within a year. But fear not - Mikuni managed to specify all non-standard sizes, but 'suitable' (for that read 'that'll do...') alternatives are available in the far more resilient Viton material. So that problem's gone then.

Suspension has no adjustment other than rear preload and whatever you can get by changing fork oil, but oddly enough I don't really miss the huge range of tweaks I'm used to on sport bikes. So suspension may be 'simplistic', but the handling of this bike is a revelation - I learnt on an NSR and an RS125 so I love corners, and this bike blew me away. Centre of gravity is low...VERY low, and I've never experienced cornering stability like it. At any speed I've tried it just feels as if you could lay the bike down another 5 degrees and still come out smiling, no mid corner tweaking to stay on line, this bike just sticks like a limpet whatever angle/speed you throw it into the corner at (within reason, obviously).

Gearbox is good after first - first is a minor bugbear as it feels far too high revving. I very quickly learnt that you basically use 1st just to get rolling then go through the rest of the box like a 'real' bike. On these terms the box performs well. Engine seems buzzy compared to 'big' bikes, needless to say (I'm used to a 750 that does nearly everything I need in 6th gear) - think I do 8000 rpm at 65mph. Then, if you've ridden a stroker that's hardly going to be cause for concern, and certainly doesn't take away any of the enjoyment as the engine just whirrs like a sewing machine all through the rev range.

Build/material quality...not bad, I guess. Frame metal needed extensive derusting and restoration, but it's a 20 year old bike that's spent far too much of its life outdoors - I'm not going to complain about that as I doubt it'll rust again as long as I have it. Body work is pretty decent for the age, so I'd have to give it 7/10 after the lack of care it's endured.

In a nutshell, I'd say try one. The key problems are easily avoided or fixed and it is way beyond a blast to ride. The big bikes will leave you for dead on the straights but biking for me is as much about the corners as it is about the easy stuff anyone can manage - I've ridden nothing that compares to the Bandit in the twisties.