One of Suzuki’s planned launches for the EICMA show in Milan next month is the GSX-250R but the firm has previewed the bike at a show in China.
The new GSX-250R isn’t a huge surprise. Patents had already revealed the styling and spy shots of the machine have been floating around for nearly a year. However, the official unveiling in China does confirm some of the suspicions regarding its specification.
As expected, the power comes from a reworked version of the underwhelming Inazuma 250 parallel twin. While its capacity and layout might be similar to the likes of Yamaha’s R25 and Honda’s new CBR250RR, the Suzuki is targeting a much lower end of the market in terms of both price and performance. It should add up to around 25hp and 23Nm of torque – around 10hp down on the Honda and Yamaha rivals. Weight is pegged at 178kg, which is fairly close to the Inazuma but heavier than its more exotic rivals.
The chassis is again Inazuma-derived, with a simple steel frame and swingarm, and the forks appear near-identical to the Inazuma’s.
While we’ll have to wait until EICMA next month to find out the final specifications for the European-spec version, it’s already clear the bike has ABS and meets Euro4 emissions limits.
It’s also worth noting that the bike’s title is GSX-250R, not GSX-R250. It’s a subtle difference but it means that it’s not part of the GSX-R sports bike family. With the new World Supersport 300cc championship coming next year, Suzuki might well have an eye on creating a more exotic machine in that class in the future. If it does, it will carry the GSX-R brand to distance itself from the cheaper Inazuma-based bike seen here.