Suzuki's GSX-S family has always been about bringing sportbike performance to the commuter and touring market, and the 2019 GSX-S1000FZ looks to be Suzuki's new flagship model in that particular stable. The “FZ” combines the beating heart from a Gixxer with top-end suspension and brakes in a slightly more relaxed package to put the “sport” back in sport-tourer. Suzuki finishes up with the two most common ride-quality/safety subsystems – TC and ABS – to make the FZ competitive on the world stage all the way around.

2019 Suzuki GSX-S1000FZ Design

A sloped front fairing leads the way with an angry-bird mien that splits the headlights below a smoked, vented windscreen. The cowling opens up like a gaping maw that all but swallows the front wheel to give the FZ a superbike-like visage and an all-up-front profile. Too bad the factory didn't see fit to sink the front turn signals into some recesses or incorporate them into the mirrors or something. Here we are instead with standoff blinkers in a position that'll guarantee one side or another will get wiped out the first time you drop it. Oh well, it is what it is.

An LCD screen serves as a one-stop shop for all your instrumentation needs with an adjustable white-out background that makes for decent visibility, day or night. The cowling connects up at the bottom of the chassis to form a belly pan while the trailing edge has ample ventilation to reintegrate the cooling air with the slipstream and generate as little drag as possible in the process.

We get just a glimpse of the drivetrain in the unclad midsection that leaves most of the twin-spar frame visible and narrows up top to meet the skinny seat-tank junction in a bid to help those with shorter inseams deal with the 31.9-inch seat height. The upswept subframe forms a deep swale that cradles your butt and pulls you into the bike even while it lofts your passenger on a tapered p-pad. Subframe-mount, fold-up footpegs complete the ensemble.

In keeping with the current preferred style, the LED taillight resides in the tip of the tail while the blinkers, tag and taglight are mounted to the mudguard. A closed-off subframe section and swingarm-mount hugger completes the rear fling control. The clean rear end and aching void between the tail and the rear wheel reinforce the all-up-front panache and give the FZ something of a racebike finish.

Speaking of finishes; the FZ comes in a matte black color with blue accents on the fairings and wheels over blackout just about everywhere else to give it a sinister overall look. Take a look from a few steps back and you'll see a trio of body lines that radiate from a common origin at the tip of the tail and fan out across the design. That's a nice touch, and it shows a welcome continuity of design.

2019 Suzuki GSX-S1000FZ Chassis

Welded aluminum members on the 2019 GSX-S100FZ make up the twin-spar frame to keep the standing structure relatively light with a gull-wing swingarm to finish the skeleton. The steering head sets a rake angle of 25 degrees with 3.9 inches of trail over a compact, 57.5-inch wheelbase for a certain eagerness in the corners. In the parking lot, the 62-degree steering arc and 10.2-foot turning radius make it fairly handy for close-quarters maneuvers. KYB supplies the suspension with a pair of 43 mm, usd front forks that come with the full trinity of adjustments and 4.7 inches of travel. Out back, a monoshock takes care of business with adjustable preload and rebound-damping adjustments. Oh well, two out of three ain't bad I guess.

Brembo makes an appearance up front as well with dual Monobloc calipers that run with four, 32 mm pistons in an opposed arrangement and bite fully floating, 310 mm brake discs to slow the front wheel. A 240 mm disc and single pot, piston-and-anvil Nissin caliper slow the rear wheel. Brake lines at both ends were improved to beef up performance by limiting hose expansion so in the end, hydraulic pressure goes to the calipers and very little stopping power is lost.

Cast-aluminum, Y-spoke wheels mount ZR-rated Dunlop hoops in a 120/70 and 180/50 on the front and rear, respectively, in a symmetrical 17-inch layout that's pretty much standard for sportbikes at the moment.

2019 Suzuki GSX-S1000FZ Drivetrain

Suzuki borrowed the FZ's engine from the Gixxer 1000 to really punch up the sportiness for those who are unwilling to compromise on performance for a little extra comfort. What kind of numbers are we looking at? Well, the liquid-cooled four-banger churns out 147.8 horsepower at an even 10 grand with 79.66 pounds o' grunt that tops out at a lofty 9,500 rpm. That means this engine prefers the top end, so you can go ahead and flog it if that's your thing.

The six-speed transmission and final-drive gear are geared for a top speed of 155 mph, but of course, individual results may vary according to conditions, elevation and testicular fortitude. Oh, and it has a slipper-type clutch to manage the backtorque and lighten the clutch pull.

A quartet of 73.4 mm bores run with a 59 mm stroke to give the mill a total displacement of 999 cc with a 12.2-to-1 compression ratio that'll put you at the “supreme” pump. Dual over-head cams time the 16-valve head, and they're ground to deliver street-friendly torque down low while it preserves the race-tastic top end.

Cast-aluminum FEM pistons ride in SCEM-plated cylinders in a bid to reduce reciprocating weight and mechanical losses from piston-to-cylinder friction. There are a couple of computer-controlled valves in the system that tweak both the intake and the exhaust. On the exhaust side, a butterfly valve delivers variable backpressure control to optimize the exhaust gas scavenging effect, and on the intake side, the Suzuki Dual Throttle Valve operates a secondary butterfly in the throttle bodies to smooth out the difference between rider demand and what the engine can smoothly deliver.

Suzuki chucks on its Idle Speed Control to stabilize the idle and help prevent stalls as you come out of the hole, plus it helps out on cold starts. Speaking of starts; the “FZ” rocks an Easy-Start feature that lets you light the fire with a single momentary press and release of the button – no need to grind on it till it catches.

Traction control comes with the stock package, and it delivers three levels of intervention plus “Off” so you can dial in the desired level of rear-wheel slip. With great power comes great responsibility, but it seems like Suzuki gives you all the tools you need to keep it between the stripes.

2019 Suzuki GSX-S1000FZ Pricing

You can score a 2019 GSX-S1000FZ (AL9) in Metallic Matte Black No. 2 over Glass Sparkle Black for $11,599 MSRP.

2019 Suzuki GSX-S1000FZ Competitors

For my head-to-head with the GSX-S1000FZ, I wanted a domestic competitor, and I didn't have far to look before Yamaha's YZF-R1S presented itself as a worthy adversary. Like the GSX-S1000FZ, it's built for the streets, but with much the same level of performance and fandanglery you can expect on a proper race bike. The Yamaha leads the way with a ram-air port in the center of its windtunnel-tested front fairing to take advantage of the pressurized air wave ahead of the bike and use it to gain a cheap increase to the volumetric efficiency.

Low-drag penetration is obviously the driving force behind the Yammy's design, and as far as bodywork goes, it winds up in about the same place as the Suzuki, looks-wise. The R1S gains a slight edge with fully-adjustable KYB suspension all around, and that edge continues into the electronics suite. An inertial measurement unit reads the forces acting on the chassis and sends that info to the traction control and ABS for corner-sensitive performance.

Unified brakes, slide control, launch control and wheel-lift control add to Suzuki's woes. On top of all that, the Yamaha's plant generates a whopping 200 ponies and 82.9 pound-feet of torque to leave the Suzuki at quite a deficit, though if I'm honest, you'll never do either machine justice on public roads, not safely or legally anyway. You'll pay for that extra electronic delightfulness, to the tune of $14,999 if you want what the R1S brings to the table, and therein lies the rub I think; it's hard to justify the extra expense and power at the end of the day.

He Said

“I don't know, maybe I'm just getting old, but I can't see paying for even more power that I'll likely never use. That said, it looks like the FZ fills the niche at the top of the sport-tour bracket, with an emphasis on the 'sport' aspect. As for the 'tour' aspect, if it ain't got bags, it ain't a tour bike of any sort, says me.”

She Said

My wife and fellow motorcycle writer, Allyn Hinton, says, “This is kinda the every rider's Gixxer, taking the heart and soul of a GSX-R1000 and spinning it for the street and making for a capable sport-tourer. Available in 2019 for the U.S. market, the dark blackout finish has just enough highlights to show its class. I really like the matte black; it's very sinister.”

2019 Suzuki GSX-S1000FZ Specifications

Further Reading

Yamaha YZF-R1S

See our review of the Yamaha YZF-R1S.

Suzuki GSX-S1000

See our review of the Suzuki GSX-S1000.

Suzuki GSX-R1000

See our review of the Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Suzuki

Read more Suzuki news.