Gladius feed back.

Think we ( Jan and I ) have finally found the next bike for her. The Suzi Gladius 650, Non Lams version. Does anyone here have one in the family or know someone with one that can shed some feed back on the model. Seems to tick most of the boxes in a bike suitable for a small to medium size female. Cheers.

They should be good but I'd be pointing towards a GSR600 as a mid size bike.
Whats the appeal of the Glad? They have always seemed a bit bland to me with crap colour options.

Hammy. I'd skip the gladius and look around for a SV650 or 1000 (same motor but alloy frame and better suspension). They are a far better bike. The Gladius was made to a price point and is a bit crap. A mate at work has an SV1000 and he has ticked over 83000Kms without any dramas.

reddog wrote:Hammy. I'd skip the gladius and look around for a SV650 or 1000 (same motor but alloy frame and better suspension). They are a far better bike. The Gladius was made to a price point and is a bit crap. A mate at work has an SV1000 and he has ticked over 83000Kms without any dramas.

Cameron's Mum has a SV650

My understanding is that the Gladius replaced the SV650. You can either have a Gladius or an SV650S (or something else if neither of these tick the boxes). One of the guys that I went to WSBK with has an SV650 bought new now done over 30,000kms. He reckons it's the duck's guts. It's quite economical and very gentle on tyres and chains, sprockets, etc. Only problem that he has had is a flat battery - but it's not uncommon for Canberra winters to kill batteries.

The gladius did replace it...

But why have this


when you can have this

Fully agree .

Given you mentioned small to medium frame in original post and have suggested something in the 650 class, what about:

http://www.bikepoint.com.au/all-bikes/private/details.aspx?R=11659166&__Qpb=1&Cr=1&MileageTo=1581&SearchAction=N&__No=90&__N=1432%20604%201430%201429%201626%201428%201603%201480%201581%201468&silo=1400&PriceTo=1603&seot=1&__Ns=p_PriceSort_Decimal%7c0%7c%7cp_Make_String%7c0%7c%7cp_Model_String%7c0&__Nne=15&trecs=606&__sid=128A82347990

It all comes down to whether you are interested in only new or are prepared to consider second hand. If you don't want 2nd hand then this, SV1000, SV650 and many other candidates are all out (eg Hornet 900, TDM900, all those sports bikes, cruisers, etc). In the 'new' category, did you try the venerable VFR800? Bigger than a 650 (surprisingly large in the flesh in fact) but seems to be all things to all riders if you believe the rhetoric. Carries the Honda pricing premium so new price (if that is the option) is 'up there'.

I would go for a second hand sv650. They are about 30 kilos lighter than the Gladius (which was named by Dame Edna) and the same power. They are bloody cheap too. I wouldn't mind one as a commuter.

We had one (sv650,blue ) it was great and would like another one .Enough power to be fun ,handling ok (a bit weedy)
Unfortuneatlely it had an argument with a cattle truck which ran it over .Sound great with pipes

I like the look of the SV better myself. Not just saying that because we have 2 of them in the garage.

On the GSR note...very good bike but maybe not as well suited to a female? Depends on her riding style. The GSR is alot more revvy then the SV being a four.

Have you thought of the ER6 (I think the earlier models look better than the current offering)
A very good chicks bike from all acocunts (my wife and a few other chicks I know that have riden one) and can still cut it with the tourers and semi racer type

A BIG downside of the sv is the radiator which sticks out a long way ,and i mean looooonnnnng way .Any small spill and its bent .For that reason
alone i'd think twice for a leaner .(or anyone )

Easy fix gus. Put on a rad guard. I know they arent meant for smash protection. But when my bro binned his bandit, its the radguard that saved it.

Cameron wrote:I like the look of the SV better myself. Not just saying that because we have 2 of them in the garage.

On the GSR note...very good bike but maybe not as well suited to a female? Depends on her riding style. The GSR is alot more revvy then the SV being a four.

Anything will be a big step up from the cruiser.

I had an SV650s prior to buying the Bandit. They are a real suprise packet, & you can give some people on bigger sport bikes a bit of a go from a standing start because of the torque they produce.
The main reason I got rid of mine is because of the riding position. I had thought of going for the naked version which isn't so hard on the wrists etc, but couldn't find 1 at the time.
The ER6 is 1 bike that I like the look of with that underslung pipe! Tidies up the rear end big time.

Thanks guys for the great feedback. The SV has certainly stirred our interest. A quick search found a couple of low ks models. Jan likes the sound of the weight difference.

The 1 I had was a carbied version Hammy, I can only imagine the injected ones would be miles better

a mate was going to get the Gladius but went for a 650s with the half fairing in the end / the clip on bars were no problem as he is on the shorter side as well ,

When you can buy a 5-6 year old sv650 with 40-50,000km's on the clock for like 4k why would you look anywhere else for a beginner. Use it for a year then sell it for almost the same amount of money and upgrade to something bigger....

I really don't understand why people want to buy new bikes....

So you dont get an IRONMAN moment .

Thanks again. I think we will be looking for something with under 20 000ks on it. They are about. http://www.bikepoint.com.au/all-bikes/dealer/details.aspx?Cr=9&R=12009842&trecs=15&__Ns=p_IsPoa_Int32|0||p_RankSort_Int32|1||p_HasPhotos_Int32|1||p_Make_String|0||p_Model_String|0||p_YearMade_Int32|1||p_PriceSort_Decimal|1||p_PhotoCount_Int32|1&__sid=1340DEBB9EBC&__Nne=15&__Qpb=1&seot=1&__N=1432 604 1430 1429 1626 1428 4294967268 4294966919 79&silo=1400

Hammy wrote:Thanks again. I think we will be looking for something with under 20 000ks on it. They are about. http://www.bikepoint.com.au/all-bikes/dealer/details.aspx?Cr=9&R=12009842&trecs=15&__Ns=p_IsPoa_Int32|0||p_RankSort_Int32|1||p_HasPhotos_Int32|1||p_Make_String|0||p_Model_String|0||p_YearMade_Int32|1||p_PriceSort_Decimal|1||p_PhotoCount_Int32|1&__sid=1340DEBB9EBC&__Nne=15&__Qpb=1&seot=1&__N=1432 604 1430 1429 1626 1428 4294967268 4294966919 79&silo=1400

The seller of above bike states they are a "state of the art dealership". Take a look at the photos of the bike, they didn't even give it a clean before trying to sell it. Imagine what the servicing would be like.

I reckon that too expensive for what it is Hammy. I have seen low km examples (under 10,000km) for around $6,500. Keep searching mate.

Grover wrote:I reckon that too expensive for what it is Hammy. I have seen low km examples (under 10,000km) for around $6,500. Keep searching mate.

Will do. Jan has'nt even throw'n her leg over one yet. So that is the first thing.