Blacked-out GSR750 and Gladius

Here are two Suzukis which aren’t coming to Australia, but they have certainly piqued our interest. They are new additions to the ‘Blacked Out Suzuki Special’ (BOSS) club – the four-cylinder GSR750 and V-twin Gladius middleweight bikes.

The bikes are mechanically identical to the standard machine, but the new livery certainly adds an extra edge to the bikes, complete with matching emblems and the yellow striping on the rims.

The machines have Yoshimura pipes in the attached images – the one on the Gladius is a pearler – but they are likely to be sold with the ex-works cans fitted.

The bikes were launched in France recently in collaboration with the SERT Suzuki world endurance team, so will definitely go on sale in Europe and from what we’re told selected dealerships in America.

Australia? Suzuki Australia’s marketing manager Lewis Croft was certainly interested in the bikes when we showed him this morning, but Down Under is probably a bridge too far -- which is a pity because the GSR is currently finding it a hard slog in the middleweight naked market against bikes like the Yamaha MT-09 and Triumph Street Triple 675. Meanwhile, the Gladius is sold in full-power and LAMS versions.

In Australia, the only BOSS model – which we call the Black Edition – is the monster 1783cc M109R cruiser.