bit disappointed with L2

[mr_mal]

a bit of an overstatement, but here's why.  Do feel free to set me straight.

Well I've been running my bike in and recently passed 500 miles so now can take it to 7,500 revs.

My point is, that I was expecting a bit more 'umph' shall we say.  Yes it's only a 650, and it's not a sports bike, but it doesn't pull as much as I'd hoped in my imagination! It's my first bike and only ever ridden 50-500cc machines before, but was just a little flat!

Is this something that improves with engine wear, do I have to re-adjust my expectations, or am I completely wrong, and it's the way I'm riding it?!

All comments welcome...

cheers,

Mal

[TheFamousGrouse]

I think that although the bike doesn't have savage acceleration it still has enough poke to cause embarrassment for most sports car drivers.

I'm quite a new rider too and I wasn't exactly taken aback by the power of the bike either, but, it has plenty of torque and I'd rather have that than top end power all day long.

Where it excels is in the cornors, particularly when the road is somewhat uneven and bumpy, it just eats it up and gives you bags of confidence.

My only dissappointment with my bike so far is the top box barrel lock that holds the top box to the bike keeps coming out its housing.  Its only secure in its hole when I have the top box locked to the bike (atleast that's something)...

[doboy]

mr mal, don't expect to much from a 650 twin ..the new 2012 wee has had its power lowered to make more mid range so use that plus its excellent handling & it,ll have no problems keeping up with other 650s.... just enjoy ...

[Piglumps]

As above and they do loosen up and improve a little as the miles roll on...

[Satsuma Mick]

Keep the revs between 3500 and 5500 and use the gears. It'll out pull lots of other bikes on the twisties.

[Iggy]

Well yes the engine is probably still rather tight. However, don't take this the wrong way n'all, but it is your first bike.... Are you actually wringing the throttle wide open ?? (you probably shouldn't be till its properly run in anyway). The secondary throttle bodies do a fair bit of nannying and you need to really give it large on the twistgrip to make the engine do its stuff on these things...  

Also, didn't you take a demo out and give it a good thrashing so you knew what to expect ?  


Iggy

[greywolf]

First bike? I'm not familiar with UK law. Is there any chance it's restricted?

[mr_diver]

I've got a k6 model with 26k miles.

they do loosen up after 10k miles or so.

mine revs to 9k in the blink of an eye and takes off nicely.

recently removed the secondary throttle butterflies to sort a problem with their mechanism- now resolved. they do restrict the buggery out of the engine when you give it the boot. (I wouldn't do this if your bike is under warranty, Suzuki will most likely drop you if you have any issue with the engine.

went on a trip to north Wales with a mate on a GSX-f 750, I kept the bike around 5 - 7.5rpm around the twisties and he couldn't get near me, and he's a far more experienced rider. he's now thinking of getting a wee.

just wait till you can use the full rev range.    

[Sea-Strom]

Mine's one of the last of the old models. 2,000 miles and goes like shit! I've started taking her up to 7,000rpm to change ( higher to really move it)  whenever I can and riding in town at 30 mph around 5,000 - the engine begs to be pushed to my mind. I like to leave 6th gear spare whenever I can. I did test ride the new model and found it smoother with a better top end but preferred the lower end oomph of my model - that's why I bought it ( and the knock down price) I think the new model is a great motorcycle and suggest you wait for your 1000 mile 'now go for it!' before you make your final assessment. Now you can go to 7,5000 rpm you should be able to see some useful torque in lower gears.

[greywolf]

The L2 makes a little more horsepower and torque at all rpms than earlier models.

[Arto]

On reading this post I went up the bypass dyno test this morning,  I revved to the rev limiter in 1st -4th, IMHO the L2 isnearly as quick as the Vee, the Vee used to get to just under licence in the bin speed by the 40mph zone braking marker, the L2 is 5mph down.

The grunt starts at 7k revs and just gets stronger till the rev limiter cuts in, to be fair there's no top end rush but who needs that,  give it more time till you can use all the beans.

[jabmotorsport]

Mines 33 bhp restricted and goes like a certain substance off a shovel!!!!!!

[blackops]

How would you visibly tell if the bike was restricted to 33bhp?

[mr_mal]

On reading this post I went up the bypass dyno test this morning,  I revved to the rev limiter in 1st -4th, IMHO the L2 isnearly as quick as the Vee, the Vee used to get to just under licence in the bin speed by the 40mph zone braking marker, the L2 is 5mph down.

The grunt starts at 7k revs and just gets stronger till the rev limiter cuts in, to be fair there's no top end rush but who needs that,  give it more time till you can use all the beans.

Thanks for doing the test Arto  

[Steve33]

How would you visibly tell if the bike was restricted to 33bhp?

My wife's Gladius just had a different ECU fitted, so the only visible difference was the serial/model number on a lump of black plastic.

You'll be able to tell when riding though - if restricted it runs out of steam about 75mph, eventually getting to a max 85-90mph. (again, this based on the Gladius)

[jabmotorsport]

Yep its on the CDI still plenty there though

[frez]

If you give the dealer a call they should be able to give you the part number for the restricted and unrestricted versions, you can then have a look at what you have installed.