Another new 250 - Suzuki TU250

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Personally I like this bike. It fills a nice void in the market of entry level/urban commuter bikes. Not everyone wants to ride a "race inspired" bike like the 250 Ninja or CB, but not everyone wants a laid-back cruiser styled bike like the Vstar of Rebel. Its going to be upright, comfortable, visibility will be great as your head is up nice and high on one of these and it will be nimble and light. Everything you want for just bombing around the back streets of TO!

As for having old technology, how is that a bad thing? I've had my 1100 Virago (loaded with old school tech) since '97 and the bike has been FLAWLESS! I've had to replace the stator and a couple of wheel barings in 13yrs and 90,000km. If you're not worried about cutting edge performance, older bullet-proof simple technology is where its at! You rarely every need work done and when you do, its dirt cheap! A lot of modern bikes are also relatively low maintenance, but when the do need work done, it sure does cost a pretty penny.

I think this bike has a lot of appeal to anyone who just wants a fun to ride, inexpensive motorcycle. Period.
 
Morrissey said:
Personally I like this bike. It fills a nice void in the market of entry level/urban commuter bikes. Not everyone wants to ride a "race inspired" bike like the 250 Ninja or CB, but not everyone wants a laid-back cruiser styled bike like the Vstar of Rebel. Its going to be upright, comfortable, visibility will be great as your head is up nice and high on one of these and it will be nimble and light. Everything you want for just bombing around the back streets of TO!

As for having old technology, how is that a bad thing? I've had my 1100 Virago (loaded with old school tech) since '97 and the bike has been FLAWLESS! I've had to replace the stator and a couple of wheel barings in 13yrs and 90,000km. If you're not worried about cutting edge performance, older bullet-proof simple technology is where its at! You rarely every need work done and when you do, its dirt cheap! A lot of modern bikes are also relatively low maintenance, but when the do need work done, it sure does cost a pretty penny.

I think this bike has a lot of appeal to anyone who just wants a fun to ride, inexpensive motorcycle. Period.
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Old tech is not the problem. Selling old tech used in old parts made in old tooling that was probably paid off at least a decade ago, for a price that is comparatively more expensive than other beginner bikes, is the problem. Suzuki has sold plenty of old tech bikes before (Katana, GS500F, GSX650F to some degree) but the difference is that those were cheap.
 
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Ash said:
It's the exactly the same price as a Honda Rebel, and within $300 of the Marauder, VStar250, etc.
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And those prices are equally as silly. I'd like to see numbers on how many people are shelling out that kinda coin for outdated 250cc cruisers these days (other than MSF schools).
 
short stop said:
And those prices are equally as silly. I'd like to see numbers on how many people are shelling out that kinda coin for outdated 250cc cruisers these days (other than MSF schools).
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Oh yeah, I agree. There aren't crowds of people lined up for these bikes, but that's also the reason I'm not surprised that Suzuki priced it the way they did. They aren't going to conquer the beginner market with a retro-styled bike, no matter how low they price it. I would have said that maybe you just can't build a bike cheaper than this, but somehow Honda is selling the CBR125 (with very similar performance numbers) for $1700 less, and the styling of that bike is going to attract way more new riders than a UJM ever will. I get the feeling that maybe Suzuki had a ton of these bikes in storage in the US, and paid the fees to bring them up to Canada for a specific riding school contract or something.
 
As a ccompany, Suzuki has been making very poor choices lately. One has to question what's going wrong at the top. They are falling out of touch with their customers.
 
Morrissey said:
Personally I like this bike....I think this bike has a lot of appeal to anyone who just wants a fun to ride, inexpensive motorcycle. Period.
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Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit on this bike. I really liked it and would seriously consider purchasing one. As I've said several times on this forum, for me riding is not about speed.
 
At the Suzuki of Brampton demo day, this bike was not ridden for about 90% of the day, sat there all alone on the lot :p
 
I've now seen 2 of these on the road.
 
silverbullet132 said:
At the Suzuki of Brampton demo day, this bike was not ridden for about 90% of the day, sat there all alone on the lot :p
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I rode this bike that day... I was ready to go home, and realized a ride was getting ready and no one was on the 250 - so I figured why not take it for a spin.

I had to lie flat on it to hit 100kph - top speed of about 85 with me sitting upright.
But as long as you have no intention of ever getting on a highway, it would be a great little bike.
Not sure if it's five grand worth of great little bike, but maybe.
 
Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit on this bike. I really liked it and would seriously consider purchasing one. As I've said several times on this forum, for me riding is not about speed.
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This

I had to lie flat on it to hit 100kph (im only about 140lbs) - top speed of about 85 with me sitting upright.
But as long as you have no intention of ever getting on a highway, it would be a great little bike.
Not sure if it's five grand worth of great little bike, but maybe.
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But would be decent in the city.

I rode it at the very end, until you demo it (and its great that they have demos for this exact purpose) I wouldn't be dropping $5---
 
I picked one up last year, and I'm really happy with it.

I'm beyond useless with a wrench, and everyone I talk to with the 70's CBs or Nortons that I really wanted say they break down on a weekly basis. No thanks.

I think there's a downtown niche of potential first-time riders that would eat this bike up if they knew about it (West-end hipster set, think Black Dice Cafe on Dundas). But yeah the price is a bit of a hit.

The bike's got great gas mileage, it's a joy to ride around the city (upright riding position, light and nimble, easy to flick around a parallel parker), rides 2-up no problem, and can handle the Gardiner/DVP if you need to get across town quick (I get 120kph on it pretty easy, especially after dropping a tooth from the front sprocket). Plus it looks great :cool:. If you're a testosterone-fuelled 16-year-old speed freak this is not the bike for you, but she's a really fun around-towner for those of us that live more than an hour from any "open road". (The proverbial wisdom holds true here that it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow - when most of your riding is done below 70kph, you don't necessarily want a bike that's most at home at 220).

I put together a website on it, the TU250 Riders Forum, if anyone wants more info. Again, way better with a keyboard than a wrench, so I figured I'd better pull together a group of people who could tell me what the funny sounds mean! :)
 
tyrn said:
I can't tell if that is a joke or not. Out dated technology like drum brakes yet similar MSRP to a Ninja 250. Did HD recently acquire Suzuki Canada or something? At least it is FI, can't complain about that on a beginner bike. This bike would make a lot more sense at the US price point.
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This must be a joke, who in their right mind would buy this ugly junk? And $5,000+ bucks? I could buy a used R6 with that money. Now I know why some guys date girls 100 lbs overweight.
 
Rode one at last year's Suzuki demo ride (which I wish they'd repeat ) and it was ridiculously gutless , with questionable build quality as the engine paint was already peeling on a 60 km example . . I like the styling and was considering one for blasting around town but a higher power 250 motard would be a better idea .
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