If there is one motorcycle lineup that is known to be underrated in India, it has to be the Gixxer lineup from Suzuki. Falling into the 150cc to 250cc segment across both Street Naked and Supersport body styles. Their current guise has been on sale in India since 2016 and all four bikes (Gixxer 150, Gixxer 250, Gixxer SF 150 and Gixxer SF 250) have grown longer in the tooth.
A recent report suggests that Suzuki Motorcycles India is developing next generation versions of these Gixxer bikes. A major overhaul is expected with these bikes, bringing the design language in line with large capacity Gixxer bikes, similar to what Yamaha does with R15 and MT-15. Let’s take a closer look.
Next-Gen Suzuki Gixxer
It has to be noted that these 150cc and 250cc Gixxer motorcycles are the only locally manufactured motorcycles in India, other than V-Strom SX. With weak sales from motorcycle end, Suzuki is now known to be a scooter-manufacturer in India as Access and Burgman Street continue to grow its market share.
With next-gen Gixxer models, Suzuki Motorcycles India aims to make a comeback in the 150cc to 250cc motorcycle segment. Internally these bikes are codenamed XF181 and XF191 for 150cc offerings and XF1C1 and XF1D1 for 250cc offerings. For these next-gen Suzuki models to make it big, they need to pack a full-scale revamp and much better equipment than what they bring to the table now.
In a similar fashion, we can expect Suzuki Gixxer motorcycles to come with USD front forks across the lineup, 6-speed gearbox for the 150cc offerings, a TFT instrument cluster as standard across the range, premium switchgear and probably even a bi-directional quick-shifter with 250cc bikes and cruise control.
What to expect?
Where design is concerned, next-gen Suzuki Gixxer bikes can borrow design elements from flagship offerings from their respective genres. The street naked Gixxers may borrow design elements from GSX-8S and supersport Gixxers from GSX-8R.
In powertrain department, Suzuki might retain the current tech and setups with a little boost to performance. Currently, Gixxer bikes in India are known to come equipped with simple engine architectures. 150cc bikes come with air-cooled SOHC 2V engines, while 250cc ones are oil cooled SOHC 4V engines.
To make these motorcycles better equipped, Suzuki might bring 4V head and oil-cooling tech to 150cc offerings too, making them mechanically better products than current ones. Currently, Gixxer 150 starts from Rs 1.26 lakh, Gixxer SF 150 from Rs 1.35 lakh, Gixxer 250 from Rs 1.82 lakh and Gixxer SF 250 from Rs 1.9 lakh (all prices Ex-sh).
