I've had my 2009 Suzuki Gladius for approximately 18 months now. Only the 2009 model year was imported into the USA. I bought it new from the dealer in the Spring of 2011. It was overstock and they were clearing them out $1,500 under MSRP. The only two color combinations available in this country were the standard black on black and the blue and white that I purchased.
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| (Max posing for a photo) |
According to an article on motorcyclenews.com by Liam Marsden, Suzuki is launching a new Gladius with a Barry Sheene - 1970's RG500 inspired paint scheme. The article can be read at this ------> link. It will only be available for a limited time and I am sure it won't be available in this country, but I thought it was a quite a striking paint scheme.
The following photos were taken from that article and full credits are given to Liam and the photographer, although my guess is they are stock photos originally released by Suzuki. I like the way it looks with a belly pan too.
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| (photo from motorcyclenews.com) |
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| (photo from motorcyclenews.com) |
For those of you that don't know, Barry Sheene was a British World Champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Well according to this Wikipedia article he was. I am sure there are a few people out there that can give some insight into his career such as Mr. James himself.
While I am not usually a fan of red and yellow color combinations I find this bike very striking. I am a child of the 70's, that must be it.
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| (photo from motorcyclenews.com) |
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| (photo from motorcyclenews.com) |
So what do you think? Are the Sheene inspired graphics a hit or a miss?
If it was available when I purchased mine, I'm thinking I would have had to go with the Sheene bike.
- Au Revoir
" But what is of great importance to me is observation of the movement of colors." - Robert Delaunay
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Trobairitz:
ReplyDeleteI have to ponder this for a while. I am not sure I could see you ride any bike other than BLUE.
the Gladius has never been discontinued in Canada, it is still available for 2012
http://moto.suzuki.ca/en-CA/Product%20Lines/Cycles/Products/Gladius/2012/SFV650.aspx
. . . I'm still thinking . . .
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
My Flickr // My YouTube
They still sell them pretty much anywhere but here. I like the checkered flag graphics on the one you linked. I have thought about getting the decals for Max's tank covers.
DeleteThe MSRP in Canada is crazy though. That is over $3k more than I paid and with exchange our dollars are about the same.
Trobairitz:
Deletesince the Gladius is a current model, if you need any accessories then I can go to the dealer and order them for you . . . and you will get them specially delivered
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
My Flickr // My YouTube
Not ready to pull the trigger but I will keep it in mind. Thank you.
DeleteI kinda like the way the new model balances on its tires without the need of a side or center stand...
ReplyDelete:-)
I like the way the frame stands out on yours. It looks more Ducati-ish.
The new bike must be made out of some anti-gravity material. I know mine wouldn't stand like that with no side or center stand.
DeleteMy Gladius is the poor mans Ducati Monster 696. We have thought about replacing the Gladius decals for some custom ones that read Ducopi or Ducopy.
Richard is right - must be an incredibly well balanced colour ...It's a striking bike for sure, but I'm kinda partial to white (having moved from the black side of Suzuki to the white side of Yamaha.)
ReplyDeleteWell balanced color - that must be it. I think the white is more visible when riding which might be better for safety.
DeleteVery sharp looking bike. Like the colour scheme. Not that we will ever see this in our neck of the woods.
ReplyDeleteYou have a better chance of seeing it than we do since you can actually still buy a Gladius in Canada, but my guess is UK only.
DeleteNice - very aggressive looking. I can't really say that I like it better than the blue. It seems sportier while the blue/white seems classier. Both are nice. How's that for indecisiveness!
ReplyDeleteDon't tell Max he looks classier, it will go straight to his head.
DeleteI too was thinking the black looked sportier. Maybe it is the belly pan.
Ohhhh so pretty! I have been looking at a gently used Gladius it s white & the tank is a magenta deep pink, it s about $6900 CDN only about 2,400 km. Oh if I had the money it would be sitting in my garage. I think I would rather have the Gladius than the monster. Love the retro color scheme, but I am partial to vintage.
ReplyDeleteThey are a fun bike. Not without their issues but so far I haven't found anything I let better. (Mind you I haven't ridden the Street Triple). I liked the Monster when I sat on it but it has a more forward lean on the arms.
DeleteIf you check out the Gladius section of the SV650 forum they have a huge thread on just pictures of the Gladius and I think there are some of the magenta ones One has been done in a lot of pink/magenta. Just google Gladius forum and it will come up.
Brandy, I think I prefer the blue one which you already have.
ReplyDeleteAny of us aussie's or kiwi's can tell you lots about good old Barry god bless him. After his 500cc gp racing he took up racing in touring cars and trucks. He has some sort of cronic fatigue syndrome which wasn't helped out by the cold british weather and he moved to Australia. He was a regular commentator on first channel 9 500cc GP racing then onto channel 10 for their motogp coverage(he also did touring car racing coverage). Sadly barry succome to cancer a few years ago. He was a very good racer/commentator and he had a great sense of humour. He helped a lot of up and coming racers from australia get rides in overseas competitions such as British Superbike, World superbike and motogp with Chris Vermulen, Anthony West and i think even casey stoner when he moved to england for the British 125cc championship.
Check out this video on you tube. Its a classic Barry Sheene witty comment at its best. This has to be the best lost tyre ever!
http://youtu.be/qLakFH8jaOs
In that video did he say "three wheels on my wanker?" Awesome, and it is hard to believe the tyre landed where it did.
DeleteI figured Geoff would have input because he used to live in the UK. If I had of read more of the article I guess I would have known he lived in Australia too and there would be a few of you with insight. I did see that he passed away from cancer in 2003. Sad.
Thanks for the info. You rock!
Lol no he didn't say wanker. He said wagon. Love the control tyre crack.
DeleteHe may not have said it, but I heard it, lol. I even played the darn thing more than once.
DeleteI like both colours but one of our great Kiwi Racers was pretty successful on black/gold/red painted Suzuki's. I just finished his autobiography a wee while ago.
ReplyDeleteA true champion: http://www.graemecrosby.com/
You guys are a wealth of information. Thanks Andrew.
DeleteEach color has its merits...but which one is fastest? ;)
ReplyDeleteThe answer to that riddle would be - the one I'm not riding......... bahahahaha
DeleteUnless I was riding the other one....:)
DeleteAnd, I think the belly pan is a great addition.
~k
I'm thinking you'd be faster than you think.
DeleteI laugh because we have a few people in our riding group that fight to be the slowest because they want to ride sweep.
The Sheene Replica is simply stunning to look at. This is the second generation as the earlier Sheene bikes had far more white in them. This is a Heron Suzuki paintjob.
ReplyDeleteI had a GT250A in 1978 that was painted up (from stock) as a tribute to Barry's two 500cc world championships.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pauldevall/3077847004/in/set-72157610580624251
Graeme Crosby raced the works Suzukis in this colour scheme and seems like a decent bloke when interviewed. I saw him on an episode of "Worlds Greatest Motorcycle Rides" recently.
http://www.graemecrosby.com/suzuki-XR34-XR35-500cc-square-4-2-stroke-GP-machine.php
More great info. Thanks Paul for the flickr pic too. That is one cool bike, more so because it was yours.
DeleteNice to see some famous racers on Suzukis. All the news nowadays (around here anyway) is always Ducati it seems, not that there is anything wrong with that.
Thanks for the links Paul. Merci.
I like your bike better. I find the blue more-striking than the orange-looking red. I think the orange look of the shots is why I don't like the bike. Whenever I see orange and black, my first thought is of HD. Not that I hate HDs, just that that bike is so obviously NOT an HD. I'm not sure that all made any sense. But the important thing is... I like your bike better!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kathy. I like my color combination but at the same time I still like the tribute paint scheme.
DeleteTriumph latest Bonneville is orange and black and I am not partial to it because I think it looks too much like HD colors They should have picked a different color orange, but they were going retro and I think there are older Triumph with that paint scheme.
Like you said not that there is anything wrong with Harleys (My brother worked at Harley for 20 years and my mom always favored them too), but I don't want to be reminded of them when I hop on my bike - Harleys that is not the family, lol.