Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX Review | Better Than The Suzuki GSX-S1000GT? 

In case anyone is 'on the fence' and looking at these comments. First check out the direct comparison with Neeves as he gets it spot on. If you're a fanboy of either, then go with that brand But, the Kawasaki pips the Suzuki in most areas but it is close.

Had a chance to ride both the Suzuki GT and the Kawasaki SX. Both are comfy for hours and offer more go than I can use. Ended up with the Kawasaki. Preferred the suspension, the brakes, the layout of electronics, the large existing aftermarket and dealer service department knowledge of which 3rd party accessories integrate best for upgrades like driving lights. Totally happy with everything except - I really REALLY liked the Suzuki blue.

I get that i am an one guy these days, but i just love sport tourers. WAY more involving to ride than being a human sail on an ADV style bike. I’m happy to see traditional sport tourers making a bit of a come back. I just picked up the new V100 Mandello. Wonderful bike too

I just pulled the trigger and wired the funds to a dealer I trust. My 2022 GT+ is in the crate and will probably be assembled tomorrow! I've owned a Hayabusa, Yamaha FJR, and a HD Fat boy, but I'll tell you, I (paper) love this motorcycle already. It's multiple purposeful, beautiful, has great tech, and very reasonable! I can't wait to cruise Sanibel Island on it!

It’s such a shame Yamaha won’t put their CP4 engine in a proper tourer with a big fuel tank as it would blast a lot of the competition

You doing a very good review job.Good way of translation from ride feeling to words. Keep it up! I seen a few of your reviews and your nailing the important stuff every time!

Both bikes look great. I think the SX seems to have the edge, especially over distance. However, there is something unique and a tad less sensible that actually makes the Suzuki more appealing. Great review, SX is certainly a great platform. I wish Honda would get back closer towards this style of bike. Maybe a vfr with similar riding position and a bigger engine.

I’m about to pick one of these up for my first bike, and yes I’m aware that starting on a 1000 isn’t a great idea but I’m doing it anyway and I can’t wait

I just got a ninja1000sx 2024 model and i love it!

The Kawasaki 1000 SX needs a new look. It wouldn’t hurt. But you cannot debate on the built quality which I believe is slightly better than the Suzuki.

My best friend, OMG! So wonderful! I really love this! Thank you so much!

Well done again! You do a good review my friend. You have the knack! Good and honest.

I much prefer the new Suzuki GT, fantastic looks, good value for money and reliability Suzuki are known for 👍

Had a Z1000SX ,sold it and bought a gsx1000f ,the suzuki is much more fun to ride

Just traded in my ninja 400 I had for about a year and a half and upgraded to one of these. Gotta get used to the additional weight, but I love it as it was everything I was looking for.

I have the Suzuki and zero regrets. Such a stellar machine.

Good work mate. Also a nice bike. Enjoyed it. Agree with the weight feel comparison and riding description. Keep up and drop by when have time. 😀

what about the rear seat ??? anyone got a second person there ??? did the suspension turned to gelly ? did the bike behave ??? its a tourer usually you tour 2 up

Good man, I agree. In a few hours , I'll be riding my new candy daring red GT plus. The Suzuki definitely has an edge in the looks dept. Tough to beat a K5 engine. Looking forward to it.

First impressions thought it needed machine guns mounted on both sides.. Don't know why.. Nice video! Like the fact there's no bull in your video's Cheers Angus

Not ridden the Suzuki GT but only because I couldn’t get a test ride for love nor money. The Kwacker is a good bike, very polished but I’d love to ride the Suzuki

Me too of course I have not ridden either but just for looks the Suzuki would be my choice nice one Red totally agree 😊👍

Love my ninja 1000 sx performance tourer, fully loaded. Suzuki looks nice however i have a thing for symmetry and the GT lights are not lit in symmetry, the kwak is, add to that the kwak finish is far superior, and brakes and suspension are way better. Sorry to disagree

Pretty simple. They are both "Sports Tourers" with the Kawasaki learning slightly more towards the "Touring" side and the Suzuki towards the "Sports" side. Both great bikes, just have to decide which aspect is more important!

This is a very tough call just on paper alone. A more touring oriented motorcycle should have a large informative screen for the cockpit. The Kawasaki gets a smaller one designed for a naked bike. While the Kawasaki has an adjustable windshield. I love the looks of the Suzi GT+. But with the Kawasaki, having "NINJA" on a sport tourer screams "race me!" around town. It seems the Suzuki leans a little more towards the sportier side while the Kawasaki leans towards longer distance comfort, and I feel that is almost backwards between the two :)

New subscriber. Loved your content. 🇰🇪🇰🇪👏👏👏👏

It is a weekend solo sport touring bike. No electric adjustable windscreen. No shaft drive. No centerstand. Rear passenger pillion limited. Lacks full aero body panels and top box option.

Put a delkevic slip on for my 21 1000sx. Big improvement over the stock sewing machind sound. The intake sounds great either way

I bought my 2022 Ninja 1000SX in March. I rented a GSXS1000GT when my bike was made ready. I have to say, the Suzuki rides great as well. But it has some downsides. The passenger seat on the Suzuki is smaller, which isn't great if you ride with a passenger a lot. Also, the single LED headlight of the Suzuki bounces a LOT, to the annoyance of cars in front of you. I also noticed it myself with the reflection on roadsigns that bounced like hell. All in all, with a lot of things and options (I have the Performance Touring package from Kawasaki), I prefer the Ninja over the GSX-S. Even though the Suzuki is a great bike as well

Didn’t get the warm fuzzy from the Suzuki quite the opposite it went straight to the top of the nope list without pause. Haven’t ridden this yet but big fan of Kawasaki so I’m betting this will be a top choice

I back to back tested the GT and the sx through blade. Both great bikes. I was coming from a bmw s1000r. The sx seemed more grown up and mature, the GT was fun and put a huge smile on my face. I extended the test ride on the suzuki because I was enjoying it so much. That decided the choice for me. I'm 182cm and found the air coming off the GT screen was cleaner than the sx but this seems to be personal to every rider.

I had a zx14 and a Concours, both Kawis and they were great bikes, 176 and 150hp respectively and both fun, fast and comfortable. Kawasaki, Suzuki and Honda all make wonderful bikes just not a British classic.😀

I bought a 2019 ninja 1000 in December and I think it will be a good touring bike

Dude you are on a motorcycle wind comes with it free of charge. Don’t want any wind ride in a cage. 😎

Recently, i test rode those two bikes back to back. I think the Ninja is overall a better touring bike. Feels like more accomplished, more refined, better equiped (despite the bigger TFT of the GSX S) And the Suzuki lacks the low end torque of the Kawasaki. I did not like the feeling of the Suzuki ride by wire either. The Ninja will replace my current VFR very soon.

I've got a 2021 SX with Yoshy end-can cos the oem looks like a long bread bin.

I like the looks of this one way more then the Suzuki. Its 105*F here in Texas today, and I rode my Speedmaster to work lol

My 1998 Kawasaki Concours 1000 cc is way better than those bikes , it has 2 factory hard bags and a 3rd for my helmet and a smooth shaft drive system and a nice tall clear windshield . Has lots of passing power when you need it . Well done Kawasaki ! 👍

I like the honest review. I'm torn between this 1000 and the H2. I need to choose soon.

Think you would be pleased with either to be honest. The ZX is better spec’d but that isn’t always what it is about.

Have you ridden the BMW R 1250RS? If not, I recommend it - I know you liked the Triumph Tiger 1200 and BMW 1250 GS, but the RS is (in my opinion) a brilliant bike. A different bike to the Tiger and the GS for sure; it's a sport tourer like the Kawasaki, not an adventure bike - but , like those two, shaft drive; lower down weight, lighter, more planted, and the same Boxer engine as the GS. All in my humble opinion of course. A good review as ever, thanks.

I like this like bike than the new suzuki. Especially the tail section is sleek and much better design than suzuki.

When I write this, it's December and prices have reached it's lowest time over the year. I live in northern Germany where you can get the Suzuki for 2000 € less than the Kawa. That's a really big difference. :)

Just a random question - in the UK can motorcycles ride in bus lanes? Just a personal opinion but for the spec sheet warriers 140 vs 150 HP . . . in real life both are more than enough for most of us mere mortals

I have just bought a brand new Ninja 1000sx. I moved from a Tracer 9 GT. So why? Well, I agree that from a solo rider point of view, the Suzuki has the edge, but the pillion seat is not overly comfortable - I'm told - and the grab handles are "awkward," and as I have lady friends who like to ride pillion that is an important consideration. Also the touring options on the Suzuki are expensive. I loved the Tracer, but with the new GT+, there seemed little point in changing for another GT (considering future value). I could not justify the extra cost for the GT+ and as I do not like adaptive cruise in the car, I cannot see me enjoying it any more on a bike. Having ridden and reviewed all three, the best all-round package for me was the Ninja 1000sx. It has just had its 600 mile service, and naturally the weather has changed for the worse... significantly.

Hi I test road both the Suzuki gsxs1000gt and the Kawasaki z1000sx I liked both bikes about the same but i ended up buying the Suzuki as The Suzuki dealer gave me a better trade in price for my old bike.

A few journalists reported that the Ninjas quickshifter/blipper was fairly notchy.

I know they're different class/beasts of bikes, but I'm torn between the Ninja 1000 and the Hayabusa for my next purchase

The bigger and more tourer is the gtr but this looks great

Screen does adjust and better just left on its highest setting. Below the clocks is a little button you press with your finger tips pointing down. I had the same colour bike but traded after 10 months for a tiger 900 gt pro, now loving it.

Great review

Think this Kawasaki looks far better than the Suzuki. For me it trumps it on everything except Suzuki's K5 engine which was a gem in the old GSXR 1000. I would rather get an older GSXR 1000 K5 than one of their new GSX-1000GTs. I think it looks ugly compared to the Ninja 1000SX. Or get a Hayabusa or mint Honda CBR1100 XX Blackbird if you can find one, bu the latter is an old bike now pretty basic old school, no ABS even as a minimum which all new modern bikes have to have. Still a stonking engine though from Honda. Great review in difficult conditions. The suffering you go through to produce videos for your channel!!! Mind you, I prefer the warmth to the cold though. Btw Angus you might be interested in what these guys TTS Performance at Silverstone can do with bike engines, predominantly supercharging, but they do all sorts of mods/mapping kits. They look like a great outfit who know what they are doing. A bit pricey may be , but some really high quality engine mods. Perhaps something for your Speedy? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v9cq084dtQ8.html www.tts-performance.co.uk/product-page/triumph-bonneville-bobber-supercharger-package

Re the suspension, the GT will also feel much more supple after the 4000 odd miles that this SX has done.

Screen is four position adjustable

how does it compare to yamaha tracer 9gt?

6-1 and 71 years young. I wonder how I'd fit on this bike for a really long day?

Well done mate. Another simple and honest review. Sometimes too much technical stuff is no good to normal people like me. We like to just enjoy riding on motorcycles. But I am sure technical stuff do matter to a lot out there as well. How would you rate the Suzuki and kawi over your speedmaster for long distance cruising. I currently own a speed twin and now looking for something more for long distances. Speedmaster/ Tiger 900/ Kawasaki z1000sx and Suzuki gsx100gt are the ones on my list. Don't have the option to test ride kawi and Suzuki. Any advice would be well appreciated mate.. Thanks

Let me state first that I love STs and the Ninja 1000 sits in a special place in my heart, having owned an '11, but... I really wish Kawi would make bikes in other colors than black- so sick of black bikes and Kawi seems married to them. The red/silver highlights are nice but not enough. C'mon, Kawasaki. I love the new Suzuki however Kawi has 10 years of evolution w/the N1K, plus the adjustable windscreen. The only place I see where the Suzuki prevails (potentially) is in passenger accommodations. The N1K is NOT a 2-up bike, don't care what the ads say, whereas the new Suzuki seems to have addressed that matter a bit better.

Which one would you say felt smaller? I’m 5’6 and would prefer the smaller one of the two

Windshield has 3 settings, all the way up for the highway riding.

Regardless of how much anyone likes the experience of either, Currently Suzuki is not putting out a product that matches the quality of Kawasaki. New Suzukis look and feel cheap. After seeing the Gsx- 1000 Gt in person, I walked in the dealership ready to buy one and walked out extremely disappointed in the feel, fit and finish of the Suzuki. Suzuki has turned it’s back on the US market.

Question! I'm getting a Yoshimura slip on for this bike, at a later date what headers would you suggest/would be compatible? Would really love to bring out the full potential of this bad boy.

Put on a yosh alpha exhaust and the kawi has character and i believe it trailbrakes and corners better than the suzuki. My son just bought a v100 mandelo. Better than both imho. Stunning bike.

Can anyone not use the term creamy smooth, in every review?

I got the chance to check out the GSX-S GT, without the windshield (for some reason) and I felt that the wind "issue" was gone. It felt like the wind on a naked bike. So I think for Sports Touring bikes, just remove incompetent windshield to avoid the wind hitting the helmet or the neck area.

You omit to mention things the Ninja has that the Suzuki hasn't. 6 axis IMU that gives amongst other things, lean sensitive ABS and traction control. It also has headlights that illuminate both LED lights on dipped and main beams. The Suzuki has the stupid one eyed look. I also believe the Suzuki screen is non adjustable, whereas the Ninja has 4 positions. I'm sure there are others !

Which one you think has more straight line stability at high speeds? gsx or ninja ? Also tell me which gives good feedback from the front end at high speeds.

Well you had a pig endorsement on the Suzuki and it did seem friendlier somehow. My dad had both makes and he preferred Kawasakis.

Nice looking bike.

had the same bike was written off only had it for seven months it was a good bike to ride

I think the Kawasaki is better in that you can guy a used one for ~£4-5k, at that price its competition is a later Honda CBF1000 or Suzuki Bandit 1250 and it wipes the floor with both! At ~£12.5k it's really down to brand preference more than anything else, Honda NT if you want a DCT or a BMW R1250RS if you want shaft drive. Really interesting that you prefer the wind protection on an adventure bike too, I find whilst the decibel level of wind tends to be higher on a sports tourer the smoother air is much more bearable than the buffetting from an adventure bike, I'm 6'2 with a similar inseam to you though so my head sits much higher above the screen than yours will!

Took one out fir a test ride loved the bike ....engine sounded revvy i was in 5th and 6th gear but sounded like i was in 3rd.I couldn't work out how to get the black screem on all the time

he likes that bus lane

Whats the price difference between kawa and suzu . ? :)

IMO (apart from the quickshifter) the 1000SX is the better bike in every aspect!

im in this conundrum. test drive booked for suzuki and will look for local stock to arrange test drive of ninja , ill only know after that which one suits me

Is the wind screen more effective at highway speeds on the Kawasaki or the Guzzi V100?

After riding a Concours 14 for 2 years, the Ninja 1000 feels like a 600.

Lol about the bull encounter...funny

Forget suzuki the Kawasaki is better in every way and will hold up way ,way, way ,better I know from experience I have been driving bikes for over 50 years🧝⚡

they need to make a R1 version

Kawasaki needs to buy some new paint other than black and green.

What year is this Kawi?

You can't go wrong with either, but the SX is better by a hair.

Test rode both the Suzuki GT and Kawasaki SX. In my view neither are suitable as long distance tourers: too much weight on the wrists, poor seats and too short a wheelbase. I make this observation from my current bikes including a GTR1400. In my view Kawasaki need a new model GTR with the 1000SX engine.

Sorry but did he just kept praising Kawasaki during the whole video and then settled for Suzuki? I like Suzuki winning here but I thought he was going to pick Kawasaki because of all the praises.

Nice bike

I'd sooner have the earlier Z1000SX - nicer looking imo with its dual exhausts

What were you using to mount your phone between the bars?

I own a 2021 model ninja 1000sx and love every bit of it. I am part of a huge motorcycle group but I could see that suzuki got more fans than Kawasaki. Suzuki got a better aesthetics, and more sportier engine character, apart from that, all other comparison, Kawasaki slightly doing better.

The wheelbase on the SX is too small.

"So much torque, espiecially this Kawasaki" - difference is 5 Nm vs Suzuki, 100% you will not even feel the difference !

How tall are you?

Still want one unfortunately no here has any

My FatBob 306kg wet weight!😀👍

Güzel motor

I did not like the way it looked when I saw it in person. It looked cheap and thrown together. The front looks big and the back is skinny. I saw it without the side bags. It looks sought of like a dragon fly to me. I don't see it as a high-end road performance bike. The 636 and 10r are top notch but I don't feel this bike is in that class.

Kinda looks like the versus 1000

I have it and it takes me 1,5 to 2 hours of constant riding before my ass soar.... and I have to pull over to stretch my legs. Also, the supposedly more confortable seat available in Kawasaki store didn't help me at all, in the contrary, because the inclination of the seat push you to the tank where the seat in thinner and narrower. So that make more pressure just behind your balls instead on your ass, which is very uncomfortable quickly... You certainly can make a move to reposition yourself on the rear side where it's larger but you will slide again along the way to the tank anyway. Also, the "comfort seat" mean a different padding inside the seat but not more padding in height, which would make an obvious difference. If I were Kawasaki, i would keep the look of the comfort seat, take the same shape of the basic seat (inclination backward to stay on the larger rear side), add more volume padding and change the padding for a gel instead of foam. The large windshield looks much better than the original one, and it is more efficient if you know where to push the button (bottom right) to set it before you go... I recommend to change to touring tires for 15.000 km Michelin (Road 6) endurance after your first 8.000 km, as the basic tires coming with the bike are not that so good. Unless you plan to do track days with Power GP tires.

They might be good bikes but they look very generic and uninspiring.