5th Nov 2007, 14:58

I bought a 2007 S50 this spring and love it. It has excellent acceleration and you always feel in control. It's light enough to push around. It looks great! The only things I would complain about are:

1. The seat is uncomfortable for long rides

2. It needs an extra gear

3. The front brakes squeak

These 3 things I mention have all been pointed out before in older models, and by many different people, so I don't know why Suzuki hasn't improved them. Do they listen to people or do they just not care? If I were Suzuki I would read the reviews on my motorcycles and fix what needs fixing.

19th Jan 2008, 17:12

Hi all!

I'm Dave from New Zealand and I am just about to buy a Suzuki S50 SV800.. well actually I have already brought it; I am just waiting on delivery which is going to be about 2 weeks.

It was very interesting to read everyone's comments about the bike.. I can't really make any informed comments until I've done a bit of riding on the bike myself, but one thing I do know is that the highways here in New Zealand are very different to your highways in the US.. they are generally a lot rougher with more twist's and turns and more narrow as well.. plus of course we drive on the "wrong" side of the road here.. LOL, but anyway I just wanted to drop a line and thank you all very much for your thoughts on the S50. Happy riding all!

25th Jan 2008, 20:11

Does anyone out there experience front wheel wobble at around 85 mph on your S50? I added a windshield, maybe that causes it? Of course, I never drove it to 85 without a windshield! And don't tell me not to go 85!

Otherwise, love this bike. Once it went through its first service and adjustments, it's perfect. Fun on the freeways, fun on mountain roads, and back roads.

3rd Feb 2008, 08:09

A few things. I have not bought the bike yet, but will be upgrading to from my S40. But anyways:

The reason it backfires is because it's carburated. A carburated bike will backfire occasionally. There is nothing wrong with it.

As for the spiting and chugging, that is due to the fact that you are not getting you timing down with accelerating and letting off the clutch... I know because I had that problem with my S40 till I started to get the hang of it.

You are going to have to choke if it gets too cold because it doesn't have an automatic choke like some bikes do. You have to choke a lawnmower when it's cold... and you use to have to choke cars back in the old days. There is nothing wrong with it. It only take a small action of pulling out the choke, starting it up and letting it warm up and then pushing the coke back in... boom simple done. If you don't want to have to bother with a choke, buy a bike that has an automatic choke or is fuel injected.

Now for the dealer blaming you for the problems... That is just a crappy dealer, get a new one. Any company should be willing to look over the bike if there seems to be a problem. Not just blame you for it.

The front brakes might need to be checked to stop them squeaking. It could be just simple brake dust or road grime.

Same with the S40; the seats are uncomfortable on long rides. But you can buy gel seats and other types that might be more comfortable for you.

The wobbling is most likely from the windshield. There are also cross winds when you have a windshield, and that also factors in with the wobbling.

6th Apr 2008, 00:52

My wife and I bought two of these last August. In general, I love the bike. I have had a few problems, though. Our brakes squeak as well, it is the dust accumulating and if I blow it out with an air hose, it will go a couple days before the squeak returns. On my bike, the ignition key tumbler fell apart, requiring an ignition lock replacement.

As for the bike stalling, I experienced this on both bikes and found that the two part battery terminal on the battery to be the culprit. If the screw holding the lead block on the terminal comes loose, you can lose power in turns and during acceleration. I now remove the battery every couple of months and check these retaining screws.

18th Apr 2008, 16:02

I bought my bike in August, and from the first day I had to choke the bike to get it started. Not really a complaint, but it was the middle of the summer. I have never been able to start it without the choke, and the dealership said that it only needs to be choked when it is cold outside. I live in Southern California and it rarely gets cold!!

It has gotten so bad that if I push the choke back after riding it for about 10 minutes, and I stop at a red light, the bike dies, so I have to ride it with the choke out the whole time. It also takes me about 15 minutes to get my bike started, even with the choke out.

At first I thought it was a problem with just my bike, but I see other people have been having the same problem... Not cool.

Dede.

17th May 2008, 00:07

2007 S40, 2500 miles, just today started backfiring more than normal, all electrical cuts out when it does this, and the motor stops firing.. may reset and go, or may sputter along, or could quit completely.

Visual inspection of wiring shows no apparent short, but it could be either the kickstand wire or the emergency switch or, possibly a battery cable issue, but I doubt the last one since it has lots of cranking power.

Any thought out there? Common experiences?

Alan.

25th May 2008, 16:43

I bought my S50 last summer, and the dealership's repair guy has seen it more than I have. Brakes squeak, it dies constantly (if I can even get it started), and the last event was the engine blowing up on the highway - I am afraid to get back on it now because I almost went down with it when it happened.

The dealership replaced the engine, drive shaft (because that broke), and I am not even sure what all else. All of this occurred before I could even get 500 miles on it.

I also was told by the dealer that he had never heard anything about these problems occurring with this bike before, and he has been hard to work with. I am not happy with this bike and advise buyers to look at other options.

-Laura.

18th Jan 2009, 01:02

January 17, 2009.

I have around 2700 miles on my 2007 Suzuki S50. It is only a little over a year old. Since I bought it I have experience several problems with getting it started. There seemed to be a problem with the choke. After many trips to the dealer they never found the source of this problem.

Shortly after that the front brakes started squealing very badly. I took it in to the dealer and they blew them out a few times. Finally they replaced them.

In the last few months I have experienced problems with getting the bike started again. This time the engine will start but then the power shuts off. No lights, no horn, no nothing and you can almost hear a something like a switch go just before that. Took the bike to a different dealer than the one I purchased it from. They said one of the ground wires to the battery was not grounded out or something to that effect.

Today I rode my bike and it appeared to be running fine then I lost all power in the middle of a busy intersection. I pushed it out of the way of traffic and attempted to get it started several times. Finally it started up.

Driving on the freeway I could feel the bike losing power and then the engine died. I managed to get to the shoulder but it was scary.

The bike is beautiful, but it has been in the shop many, many times since I bought it and they never really find anything wrong with it. I am afraid I may be stranded somewhere or worse if the dealer can't find the real problem.

Sandy.