There is an interesting silent war brewing between our team-mates. Some say that the Gixxer has overtaken the 150cc segment as the best looking bike, but the others still bet on the naked new FZ (obviously the R15 is not considered here). Amidst all this, there is an interesting speculative bit reported by Zigwheels.com.
They say that the company is planning on doing something that Yamaha had done successfully a few years ago – make a commuter based on the same engine and platform of Gixxer.
Back then, Yamaha had a gap to fill between the FZ and the slow-selling 125cc Gladiator and so the Yamaha SZ was born. The bike had ‘sober’ styling to appeal to the average office-goer for whom the FZ would have been either too flashy or its saddle too short for when he is playing his family roles. So, the SZ carried the FZ’s 153cc engine in a detuned state in the interest of better fuel efficiency.
![Suzuki-GS150R [bike advice]](https://bikeadvice.in/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Suzuki-GS150R-bike-advice.jpg)
Similarly, Suzuki now wants a reattempt to please this demographic, something that it has not been able to do with the current GS150R. The new motorcycle will have the Gixxer’s 155cc engine, albeit may get a little lesser power and torque amidst a few other detunings and this may also result in better fuel efficiency figures. At present, the Gixxer produces 14.8 PS at 8,000 rpm and 14 Nm of torque at 6,000 rpm and returns about 63kmpl (ARAI figure).
Depending upon what Suzuki may have in mind, the bike may also get dual shock absorbers and staid styling to keep costs in check. This brings us to the other side of the story – this means Suzuki may discontinue the GS150R (it uses a different engine) and to enhance economies of scale, the new bike will take its place.
Rumors these are at this point of time, however, Suzuki Gixxer based commuter will be an interesting player in the heating entry level 150cc segment.
Related: GIXXER vs Xtreme vs Trigger vs FZ: Price Comparo [Updated]
