I tend to agree. i liked the nearly new Step I rented better than the Airblade I used to own--for about three weeks until it started having one thing after another go wrong with it. Then I changed rental companies and went through the same thing all over again, and gave up. I have had good luck with Yamaha Nuovos and Airblades, but dislike every other automatic moto I have ridden either due to reliability or design issues.HsRob wrote:Step is an absolute piece of shit, but that's why AK was talking about semi-automatic Suzukis being a lot better than semi-automatic hondas.Buscador wrote:Suzuki Steps have a bad reputation for reliability, but I have not seen evidence of a reliability problem with Suzukis in general.
I believe automatic hondas a lot better than automatic suzukis.
Are Suzukis really that bad?
^yeah I owned a step sometime ago. It was ok - first week. And then I had so many headaches with it and put so much money into trying to fix the bloody thing, that at the end I was happy to sell it with a significant loss from all the repairs. Moved on to airblade and loving it: mostly headache free bike (knock on wood), very comfortable seat for this range of bikes and nice and smooth driving experience.
- KukukaChoo
- 440 newbie - handle with care
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My friend had a step and it was horrible.
My husband had a Djebel and it almost cost my marriage. Suzuki's aren't bad, they're just not durable nor are they reliable.
My husband had a Djebel and it almost cost my marriage. Suzuki's aren't bad, they're just not durable nor are they reliable.
- eurothrash
- I've got nothing better to do
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I've had no problems with mine for years, I have my gf take care of the repairs, her uncle works with the police, he knows a few good places, it's not a stellar ride, but hey this is Phnom Penh not the French riviera
It might be worthwhile to have a look at the Yamaha Town shops. In my opinion and others' good and reliable bikes (and excellent service). They sometimes have special offers. I can personally recommend Yamaha Spark and the full automatic ones seem to be good, too (although the Fino is downright ugly and girlish).
http://www.yamaha-motor.com.kh/english/lineup/
http://www.yamaha-motor.com.kh/english/lineup/
Haha, my Djebel nearly cost mine.KukukaChoo wrote:My friend had a step and it was horrible.
My husband had a Djebel and it almost cost my marriage. Suzuki's aren't bad, they're just not durable nor are they reliable.
Have a Smash Fi now, not a bad little runabout and pretty economical.
Massive stalker
In terms of semi autos, I'd much rather have a Suzuki vs. a Honda as I've seen lots and lots of good things from them (from my personal bikes as well as friend's and family bikes), but passed that I have no recommendations. I liked my Intruder 800 and GSXR 600 but that's a completely different beast.
As for automatics, I've heard bad things about Steps and Hayates but have no real direct experience with them except for riding one occasionally.
As for automatics, I've heard bad things about Steps and Hayates but have no real direct experience with them except for riding one occasionally.
Reckless driving cucumber - 成
Have had my Suzuki Hayate since 2007 . Great bike , few problems.. If they offered new ones I would buy..
^^ Vietnam,
http://www.suzuki.com.vn/xemay/chitiet/ ... 25-ss.html
In honesty, the more I think about it, I think that the reason new vehicles always get a bad rep here (even bulletproof makes like Honda cars and Yamaha bikes) is because Khmer don't know what the hell they're doing when it comes to repairing things often, so they effectively ruin anything new and then blame the bike. Just look at bikes in Thailand and Vietnam for instance, Suzukis and Yamahas EVERYWHERE, but here...the dullest, crappiest, simplest overpriced yesteryear designs and it's the best seller by a massive margin.
http://www.suzuki.com.vn/xemay/chitiet/ ... 25-ss.html
In honesty, the more I think about it, I think that the reason new vehicles always get a bad rep here (even bulletproof makes like Honda cars and Yamaha bikes) is because Khmer don't know what the hell they're doing when it comes to repairing things often, so they effectively ruin anything new and then blame the bike. Just look at bikes in Thailand and Vietnam for instance, Suzukis and Yamahas EVERYWHERE, but here...the dullest, crappiest, simplest overpriced yesteryear designs and it's the best seller by a massive margin.
Reckless driving cucumber - 成
The Smash Fi bought new is at 7000km now, with regular oil changes.
Problems:
Cutting out- especially from a cold start, but even when warm there is the occasional cut out at traffic light stops etc.
2-3 gear can be impossible to find, either stuck in 2nd or limbo until a few up and downs with the right revs can stick it in place. Sometimes 1st gear can 'ghost out too) the gear indicator lights don't always work. Suzuki world guy told me this is a common design fault on this model.
Front suspension makes funny knocking sound sometimes on breaking.
Chain needs tightening a lot.
Light switch can be a bit dodgy on full beam on/off.
All regular problems but on a brand new moto, I don't really think they've been built too well. The fuel economy is pretty good, nowhere near the 118km/l promised, but probably around 1/2 that for day to day driving.
Bought a new Scoopy clone in the shape of a Lets this week, I will Lets you know how that fairs over a few months.
Problems:
Cutting out- especially from a cold start, but even when warm there is the occasional cut out at traffic light stops etc.
2-3 gear can be impossible to find, either stuck in 2nd or limbo until a few up and downs with the right revs can stick it in place. Sometimes 1st gear can 'ghost out too) the gear indicator lights don't always work. Suzuki world guy told me this is a common design fault on this model.
Front suspension makes funny knocking sound sometimes on breaking.
Chain needs tightening a lot.
Light switch can be a bit dodgy on full beam on/off.
All regular problems but on a brand new moto, I don't really think they've been built too well. The fuel economy is pretty good, nowhere near the 118km/l promised, but probably around 1/2 that for day to day driving.
Bought a new Scoopy clone in the shape of a Lets this week, I will Lets you know how that fairs over a few months.
Massive stalker
^^I've personally had similar experiences on two new NCX/Thai Hondas as well. I had a new Scoopy in 2011 which always had issues with the MIL (malfunction indicator light), and my Icon was bad as well. My Wave S was pretty flawless aside from the "normal" problems like an occasional plugged up carburetor and speedometer cable snapping (3 km after I rode off the showroom floor). In general, Thai bikes aren't very good compared to almost what a lot of "us" foreigners are used to. Like me, I'm used to buying a 15 year old Cub, giving it a little recondition and then use it without issue for years on end whereas it seems like SE Asia is very far behind with quality control and initial quality on certain things, Nissans, Fords (touch wood), and Hondas. That's why new bikes are $1,200-2,200 though, because you sort of get what you pay for!
Sorry to hear those issues you're having. I think I mentioned in one of my posts that when I took a look at the Smash FI that I didn't like where it was going with the bike in general. It seemed very cheaped out to me and the advertised fuel economy is blatant bullshit in the highest order, so whoever is in charge of Suzuki SE Asia needs a Swift (pun intended) kick to the nuts.
Misc: The 2-3 switch issue (I fixed one just recently) I found was easily remedied with proper shimming of the internal gear selector drum and a simple polishing of the gear shafts inside. It's a big job for sure, but it goes hand in hand with what I suspect is going on with Suzukis now a days. They're getting cheap and cutting corners with the new bikes, not something I think is good for long term anything.
Also, my old 06' Smash is still going since it's last rebuild and has another 19,000 km on it. No issues to report, runs smooth as silk happily.
Sorry to hear those issues you're having. I think I mentioned in one of my posts that when I took a look at the Smash FI that I didn't like where it was going with the bike in general. It seemed very cheaped out to me and the advertised fuel economy is blatant bullshit in the highest order, so whoever is in charge of Suzuki SE Asia needs a Swift (pun intended) kick to the nuts.
Misc: The 2-3 switch issue (I fixed one just recently) I found was easily remedied with proper shimming of the internal gear selector drum and a simple polishing of the gear shafts inside. It's a big job for sure, but it goes hand in hand with what I suspect is going on with Suzukis now a days. They're getting cheap and cutting corners with the new bikes, not something I think is good for long term anything.
Also, my old 06' Smash is still going since it's last rebuild and has another 19,000 km on it. No issues to report, runs smooth as silk happily.
Reckless driving cucumber - 成
Without getting into details what problems which model might have I'd say that since Honda has almost three-quarters of the market I'd always go with a Honda. Selling way more bikes than the competition means parts can be bought cheaper or better parts can be supplied for the same price. Honda can produce a better quality bike for the same cost than Suzuki on about any model. For every Suzuki sold Honda sells about ten, so Suzuki has to either be more expensive than Honda or use cheaper parts, leading to lower quality.
Also most Suzukis have been beaten with the ugly stick, most of their bikes look kind of fugly.
The Airblade looks way better than the Hayate. I'm a fan of the Nouvo 135 (RIP) because it looks like a motorcycle and has 16" wheels.
Also most Suzukis have been beaten with the ugly stick, most of their bikes look kind of fugly.
The Airblade looks way better than the Hayate. I'm a fan of the Nouvo 135 (RIP) because it looks like a motorcycle and has 16" wheels.
That's the main reason why Honda's sell better. We're all humans though, need to look good right?Snickers wrote:.......Honda has almost three-quarters of the market I'd always go with a Honda.....
.....most Suzukis have been beaten with the ugly stick, most of their bikes look kind of fugly.......The Airblade looks way better than the Hayate.
Another thing as well, Honda has really hit the nail on the head with a lot of things (bulletproof Super Cubs and Dream Type-D for a start), but for some reason I see people overlooking their glaring faults as well. No one seems to mind that the new bikes are never updated and yet the price rises, and no one seems to mind that despite costing 20-30% more here, they offer zero mechanical and feature advantages in the Cambodian market except high rates of theft and unoriginality. It's much the same in the U.S. though (not as much in Japan) that Hondas seem to always be bought by people that "know" it's good, but don't know why.
Funny point though, I usually make it a point to drive something that people don't bother with stealing or that draws attention. In the beginning regardless of Suzuki's build quality/perceived reliability in the first place, I picked up my first small Suzuki because no one had good things to say about them. It was only after that I realized that the fuel economy was the same, the reliability (09' and 11' Viva and 06' Smash) were the same as my Hondas, it was much more powerful, and that they were better in a lot of ways than my Hondas as well mainly with component strength/design and mechanical ergonomics.
I can't say the same for the automatics because I've seen a lot of them with issues (and I've never owned one), but many of their other bikes have a bad rep probably because of one or two sour apples.
Reckless driving cucumber - 成
- Miguelito
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A spammer tried to bump this thread, but it did remind me of an early ‘80’s Suzuki Samurai I once owned for fun. The thing was amazing. It was jacked up, had 15.5” by 31” tractor tread tires, and could go anywhere. It didn’t have enough horsepower to break anything, but enough to crawl through the mud. I’ll have to search hard for a photo...