Suzuki's new Gladius (SFV650) shares some 696 traits...

[sbrguy]

if you put the aprilia underseat exhaust on the 696, that would be one badass looking bike.

i have to hand it to aprilia their exhaust along with bimota underseat, basically looks great on their bikes.  in some ways the angular shape to them could go very well to sorta contrast and bring out the lines to a monster subframe and such.

[hcomp]

Regardless of who looks like who, a Ducati rider will never look at a "Gladius" and say "I wish......"

[Holden]

Sure, take the frame and the digital display... but why the awful footpeg wings?

[Raux]

Sure, take the frame and the digital display... but why the awful footpeg wings?

I am excited to see what Rizoma will do for the rear sets.

[Travman]

I saw the Gladius at the D.C. Cycle World show.  The silver part of the Gladius frame is not even metal.  It is a plastic cover made to look like metal.  I have no idea what it looks like if you remove the frame cover.  Now that is cheap.

[Raux]

if you look on Bellisimoto.com you can find carbonfiber covers for the 696 like that.

[Cuky_Monster]

HHonestly, I had weighed the pros and cons on the Suzuki Gladius and the Kawasaki ER-6n before I purchased my 696.  Both of the Japanese bikes are about 90 lbs heavier, almost .6 inches taller and have a smaller engine by 50cc's.  There were only pros for the Duc.

Glad I stuck with my gut feeling 

[The Don]

Is it not "THESE" days or is this American grammar?
1) All that shit looks the same those days
2) You are right, looks like everyone try to build the most futuristic looking bike those days, Age of Space Look i hope it goes away if a couple years and designs go back to more traditional forms in motorcycles

[Holden]

Is it not "THESE" days or is this American grammar?
1) All that shit looks the same those days
2) You are right, looks like everyone try to build the most futuristic looking bike those days, Age of Space Look i hope it goes away if a couple years and designs go back to more traditional forms in motorcycles

He's from København...

[Rameses]

The original SV650 had a trellis looking aluminum frame. You always new what they were shooting for with the old one but this thing is a blatent rip-off of the monster. My question though is, who exactly is this bike for? Suzuki already makes a naked SV650 with the same engine and bargin bin hardware to keep the price down. Are they going to have two different newby friendly models that share an engine among other things?

And Gluteus... man I feel bad for the people who buy this thing, they will never hear the end of it. 

Correction...

The original SV had an actual trellis frame (even if it was bulky and comparatively ugly).  Then the second gen SV had the aluminum faux trellis.

[ducatiz]

For everyone who complains about the look of the exhaust (cans) just remember that bikes now have to have a full catalytic converter in the exhaust, which means HEAT so the cans need to have big heat shields for rider protection.

Anyone touch a cat after driving for a while?  They get super hot.

[red baron]

looks more like a Ducati

but no reflectors