Suzuki GSX-S1000GX+ is a touring-ready version of the ‘lifted superbike’

The Suzuki GSX-S1000GX might have only just been launched, but a new variant of the superbike-engined ‘crossover’ has already been announced.

In the form of the Suzuki GSX-S1000GX+, this new version brings panniers to the GX model as standard. In this way, the GX+ is the same to the GX as the GSX-S1000GT+ was to the regular GT when it launched last year.

In the case of the GT and GT+, the price increase brought by the addition of panniers as standard was £1,100, and that is matched by the GX+, which comes in at £15,599 compared to the standard bike’s £14,499. Suzuki says that choosing the GX+ will save customers around £175 compared to buying the regular GX, and buying the panniers separately and having them fitted. It also works out better for those paying for the bike on finance, as the extra cost can be split across the deposit and monthly payments. 

The panniers are colour-matched to the bike, offer 36 litres of storage space each, and are shaped such that each case can hold a full-face helmet.

It is the aforementioned Suzuki GSX-S1000GT from which the GX, and now GX+, is derived, including that charmingly archaic K5 engine. But the GX marked a first step for Suzuki when it launched last November as the first bike from the Hamamatsu brand to use semi-active suspension.

Aside from the panniers, the specification of the GX+ is identical to the standard bike, meaning 150bhp and 78lb ft from the aforementioned 999cc K5, electronics supported by a six-axis IMU from Bosch, a 6.5-inch colour TFT, and that new-to-Suzuki semi-active suspension courtesy of Showa.

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