Suzuki GSX-8T & GSX-8TT First Ride Review: Are They Worth It?

This is the Suzuki GSX-8T and this the GSX-8TT. Two new retros rather nice looking too but the question is are they actually any good and should you consider buying one? And also which one is the better out of the two? Well today we're going to ride them both back to back to find out. Now I say these bikes are new but that's not entirely true because both of them are heavily based upon the Suzuki GSX-8S naked which has been on the market for a couple of years now. You see it's the same 776cc parallel twin engine with the same state of tune so they both make 80 horsepower peak. It's the same frame, the same geometry, the same suspension with the upside-down KYB fork, the same preload adjustable shock, the same radially mounted four-pot Nissin brake callipers up front and the same wheels and even the same Dunlop Road Sport 2 tires. Even the tech like the switchgear, the dash, the TFT dash are exactly the same as the 8S and they haven't even skinned up the software to make it feel a little bit old school so really they're almost exactly the same bike. In fact I'd probably say the only real difference is a threefold. One like I say is the looks this has been redesigned both bikes to be more retro, more appealing to that different potential customer but one of the side benefits of going with a different tank shape for example along with some of the other body work is that they have actually increased the fuel capacity a little bit. The 8S gets 14 litres which I say is probably you know par for the course for a middleweight naked but these are 16.5 so an extra two and a half litres and given that the engine's exactly the same you've got the same fuel economy that will translate to actually you know almost 20% more range. Number three though is a slight difference in seat height and it's a little bit counterintuitive you see the 8TT with the half fairing that looks a little more sporty actually gets the same seat height as the GSX-A test they come in at 810mm. This one though the 8T is a little bit taller 815mm and so it's not you know a humongous difference admittedly but you are ever so slightly more tail up on this particular bike. Both they've designed the seat to be quite slender at the front to help with getting your feet down at a stop but it'd be interesting to see if we feel any you know substantial difference when we're out on the road and riding them both otherwise though I'd say it's a fairly neutral open naked style riding position that should make it a balanced all-rounder. Now look there isn't a great deal of tech on these two bikes despite the TFT dash with three levels of power to choose from three levels of traction control but otherwise that's pretty much it so no connectivity features like navigation or media that means if you want to know where you're going or listen to your favorite tunes then you'll need to mount your phone on the bars and we recommend the best in the business which is quad lock who we thank for supporting the channel and sponsoring this video now on this particular ride we're using their handlebar mount pro to get the phone nice and central their vibration dampener to protect the phone from any harmful vibes from the engine the wireless charging head to keep the phone juiced up and you can run that to the standard fit usb-c port on the bike which keeps things nice and neat and easy so once again a massive thanks to quad lock for their support and you can find out more about their brilliant products through the link down in the description below so i'm lucky enough to be on the half fed 8tt first as we head across the bridge to south wales to find some proper good roads to properly test these bikes out on very nice that tim really quite good but i think you know in the interest of consumer research i really better put the 8t through its paces a couple of times up and down this road you know just to make sure there's no differences uh good similar probably should just double check though so back on the 8tt yeah that seat height though it's five mil and the windscreen just let me double check again it is a different color though mate and you just don't know how that's going to affect the riding dynamics so i'll just i'll promise tim you'll get a go soon mate but i've got to be sure haven't you i had a good time there i'll be honest but uh yeah they're the same aren't they the same as the gsx 8s as well it's the same bike i mean i do say it's very very very similar to the gsx 8s but that's not necessarily a bad thing because that already is a really good bike i mean it's a really nice smooth torquey engine it's great in this bike it's great in the 8s it's great in the vstrom 800s as well a nice variety as well of um throttle maps you've got three to choose from from fairly docile up to really quite direct and plucky a good neutral chassis it's a you know a balanced all-rounder good suspension uh good radial four pot brakes up front it definitely pulls up nicely and also the whole thing comes in at about 200 kilograms so a fairly manageable bike and quite often you'll find when manufacturers make a retro version of a naked bike and they put all the extra bling and finish and bits and bobs on it you know it can actually add quite a lot of weight but with this one i think it's one or two kilograms difference so yeah you could say they've done a very good job on that front the only thing both myself and tim have been wishing with it is a bit more sound it's definitely possible to make a legal exhaust system that's louder than this and also a bit of induction sound as well it's all right in it but it's just not it's not visceral and also it could do with some grills in the tank here or something just to get it in your face get you a bit excited not just to be you know a hooligan uh but actually when you're riding quite quick and there's a fair bit of wind noise there's not that much feedback as to how hard the engine's revving it's so smooth and so quiet that i just want a bit more tactile sense and audible sense of you know how hard the engine's working and whether i'm getting close to the red line now i did say earlier that they're exactly the same to ride and they are in terms of you know how they handle and how the engine feels but i will say in terms of comfort more than the micro difference in seat height you will find that this little fairing let's say does do a decent job of keeping some of the wind off your chest so if you're looking for something that feels a touch warmer perhaps a little less fatiguing if you're doing longer distances then it might be worth paying for this one although it is quite a substantial price hike between the two but yeah then you can also factor in the way they look and it's really surprising to me perhaps just in the flesh seeing them here now how different how much better this one looks uh just for the different paint job little fairing and the belly pan i think the seat's a little different as well but for me this one just has the edge thing is though to be fair looks are definitely subjective so what i'm going to do is take a picture of the two bikes head over to my instagram and we'll post it in a story hopefully i've got a signal which looks better gsx a tt black gsx 80 orange okay i'm gonna post that on my stories mate and we'll check in at the end of the video and we'll hopefully know then which is the better looking bike according to the biking public or at least the people who follow me on instagram beautiful down here mate just wait for this view when you come around the corner yeah i had to get the camera rolling for this wow i guess you have already seen this though with the drone shots but it was new for me clan deck fed reservoir what a anyway on to the price i mentioned there was a bit of a difference between these two models that one the 8t that tim's on is 9 599 pounds this one is 9 999 pounds and so you've got a 400 quid price difference effectively for the belly pan and fly screen the other thing to consider though i think more of a tricky decision is the fact that the gsx a test naked actually comes in at 8 299 pounds and it is very similar to ride if not quite as pleasing to look at i guess that means it's 1700 quid less than this uh top spec gsx 8 tt and so it really is quite substantial and i think if you were looking at buying one that would definitely be weighing on your mind so look we're gonna head to baffle house one of the best little biker spots down here in south wales and maybe we'll get to speak to a couple of people who've been out riding today a couple of bikers and see what they think is it worth 1700 quid more effectively for a styling package so this is the same bike as the gsx 8s which one would you take personally i'd take this one i think it's got a better look and then consider the price difference so this one's 8 299 that's 10 grand so it's 1700 quid so would you take that plus 1700 quid or that i'd still take that still go for that yeah i think that's a really good looking retro bike personally these two are based upon the same engine chassis as that so all we want to know is would you go for this 8s or one of these more retro style bikes do we show you again personally i'd go for this you've got something that's supposed to look retro how on god's earth can it look retro when the engine looks so untidy it's more consistent with the whole bike looks like modern there and it looks together yeah whereas this is something it's trying to be like my old katana i don't think you can do something by doing a paint job and a fairing don't know who this random bloke is but which one would you go for out of one of these or the 8s that one right there the black one definitely i mean i have two of these as well that is definitely the one that catches my eye the best would that change your opinion if you knew you were getting 1700 quid cash no absolutely not this one here you're a poser though mate yeah i guess you know speaking to people here it's a little bit of personal preference but for me personally i think it's so worth having a bike that you really like the look of and so probably i'd say this is one i'd go for as well as for the old instagram poll well 75 percent of people said they preferred this over the 8t and so it looks like we got a winner today and it looks like the majority think it's worth it as always though i'd love to know what you think so let me know down in the comments and would you take one of these or the gsx 8s plus the price difference in fact i'll put our review of that bike on the screen now so you can give it a watch in case you missed it and a quick reminder to hit subscribe if you want more of the latest motorcycle news and reviews like this right here on moto bob finally a massive thanks for watching today and we'll catch you in the next video