Troubadour was perusing the interweb and happened to find a May 2010 article on the Suzuki Gladius GPDesign NaSty Concept Supermoto, which he shared with me. The article is from Top Speed and can be found by clicking this ----> LINK
I happen to love the look of the concept bike and think it is a great idea to make the Gladius more versatile. Considering the article is a few years old and I've never seen any of these running around, I am sure no more were never made.
All photo credits in the post go to Top Speed.
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| (New seat and handguards) |
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| (Higher front fender) |
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| (Aftermarket exhaust and new license plate holder) |
To quote the article: "What's best about this concept is that it features fluorescent paint on the rims, tank and handguards, which makes the thing more visible at night and implicit much safer to ride."
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| (oooohhhh......) |
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| (aaaaahhhh......) |
So, what do you think? Was the concept a hit or a miss?
And as far as Max goes.....I already have reflective wheel tape, and V-Strom handguards. Wonder how much work to get the higher bars and higher front fender? I suppose all it takes is money, doesn't it always?
- Au Revoir
"Genius is more often found in a cracked pot than a whole one." - E.B. White
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Would this be more versatile than yours? I like the concept of the Motards but haven't ridden any.
ReplyDeleteI think the higher front fender would give it more clearance for rocks and mud, but more off road tires would be needed.
DeleteMy bike now handles forestry roads pretty well as it is, but the higher bars could be nice.
Hi Brandy,
ReplyDeleteLooks really nice. Funnily enough, some of the concept parts are available for the Street Triple! I have the Acerbis hand guards on mine but in black. The muffler is also available for the ST. Can't remember the manufacturer but they're hydroformed and frighteningly expensive - around US$2000 if I remember correctly!
Wow, expensive is right on the muffler. I like the sound of my nice little $100 IXIL slip on. The price made it sound even sweeter.
DeleteTrobairitz:
ReplyDeleteI love the fluorescent paint the most . It would also look great with knobbies
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
My Flickr // My YouTube
They do make TKC80s for the Gladius now, but they wouldn't be very good for everyday street riding.
DeleteIt's interesting, but the glow in the dark paint reminds me of the bikes from the movie, Tron...
ReplyDeleteI too was thinking Tron.
DeleteOMG a girl should definitely have a bike that is NaSty!!!! love the look of it. There was a used Gladius here at our dealership and if I had the money it would have been mine, it was magenta in color OH MY it sung to me! You need the NaSty bike!
ReplyDeleteThey never did sell the magenta/white combination here in the USA, if a person didn't want all black the only other option was white/blue like I have. Have you seen the green/black combination? It is pretty sweet.
DeleteIt is an interesting design exercise and looks pretty good. I guess I don't know what the designer was trying to accomplish. More versitile is a pretty open statement. I think I'll go with Bobskoot on this and say add more aggressive tires and you now have something more versitile.
ReplyDeleteSo when do the mods start up again?
Or rather, how many motowreaths does it take for each farkle?
DeleteHmm how many wreaths would it take per farkle?
DeleteNo mods planned. We do have 2" Rox pivot risers for it but the cables aren't long enough so I'd have to custom order them.
The suspension sure is better with the GSXR shock it it. A big difference compared to the forestry roads a year or so ago. Of course maybe I just have more experience on the bike so I'm used to it.
The bike looks great, does this mean max is going to turn into a working project bike with lots of goodies thrown at him?
ReplyDeleteI don't think there are too many more goodies to throw at him. Suzuki makes a stock higher seat that people have said make a difference for long inseams, but I think I'd get a local guy to do a custom seat instead. Mr. Ed's Moto is the go to place. Do is a master at custom seats. That and installing the risers is about all I'd do. Although the Ermax seat cover looks pretty cool in blue and white white....... link to pic
Deletehttp://www.same-same.fr/seat-cover-suzuki-svf-650-gladius-2009-p-72.html?zenid=89a328a2affe324cdb2a5bb4c24bdb5d
I do like the front fender. I also like the handguards. I have Acerbis on my Kymco with a LED light stripe. I think the Gladius is a great looking bike as is. That said, the front fender on the concept bike does does speak to me.
ReplyDeleteHandguards are great. I know some people take them off during the summer, but I leave mine on all year round.
DeleteBrandy, I'm all for high vis ... I love the relfective paint.
ReplyDeleteThat would be reflective!
DeleteReflective is good as long as it doesn't cause target fixation.
DeleteGotta love the TRON effect. Handsome little machine.
ReplyDeleteIt would be eye catching at night, yeah?
DeleteIt looks great, but how practical would that front guard be in a wet climate such as, oh lets say, Oregon? The pipe is THE BUSINESS.
ReplyDeleteAre you talking the belly pan or higher front fender? I am thinking the belly pan would just be raking leaves and such but the front fender would give great clearance for twigs and rocks flicking around as well as allowing for a taller tire.
DeleteI don't think I've ever seen a Gladius over here. I've been looking since we `met` but nothing so far - then again, it is December...:(
ReplyDeleteIt is odd that you haven't seen them as they are much more popular overseas and have been sold longer. They were only ever sold in the USA for the 2009 model year. Supposed to be making a come back for 2013 though.
DeleteI echo your oooohhhhhh and aaaahhhh!
ReplyDeleteThey are bringing the Gladius back to the USA for 2013 but only in black. How boring, lol.
DeleteBeautifully done, I have always loved this bike
ReplyDeleteLooks like it would be fun to do some forestry roads on this one.
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