Alright, so the other day, I finally got around to seeing what my old 2009 Suzuki GS500F could really do. You know, you hear things, you read things, but there’s nothing quite like finding out for yourself. It’s not like this bike is a rocket ship, we all know that. It’s a trusty workhorse, that parallel twin just keeps on going.
Getting Ready – Or Not Much Of It
Didn’t do much special, to be honest. Checked the oil, made sure the tires had air. It’s a stock bike, nothing fancy done to it. The fairing on the F model is supposed to help a bit with wind, so I was curious if it made a real difference compared to the naked GS500. I just picked a quiet stretch of highway, early enough that it wasn’t too busy. Safety first, or at least, safety considered, right?
The Actual Run
So, I got on the highway, merged, and started to open her up. Went through the gears, nice and smooth. That engine, while not a powerhouse – what is it, something like 47 horses? – it pulls decently enough for what it is. You can feel it working, especially as the revs climb past 7,000 rpm. I tucked in as much as my not-so-flexible body would allow. Every little bit helps when you’re fighting wind resistance on a bike like this.
I kept the throttle pinned. Sixth gear, wind noise picking up, the bike felt pretty stable, which is good. The vibrations were there, sure, it’s a parallel twin, but nothing too crazy. I was watching that speedo needle climb.
- It went past 90 mph pretty reasonably.
- Crept up towards 100 mph.
- Then it slowly, very slowly, made its way a bit further.
So, What Did She Do?
The needle finally settled around an indicated 110 mph. Maybe a touch over if I squinted. Now, we all know speedometers on these things, especially at those speeds, aren’t exactly precision instruments. They tend to be a bit optimistic, probably by a good 7% to 10% I reckon, just like folks say. So, actual speed? Probably closer to 100 mph, maybe a tad more if I was lucky. I wasn’t on a downhill slope, just a flat, straight bit of road.
I’ve heard some folks claim they’ve seen 120 mph on these, but they must have had a hurricane behind them or been rolling down a mountain. For a stock bike, on the flat, what I saw felt about right. It’s pretty much drag limited at that point. The engine’s got the grunt to get you moving, but pushing that air out of the way is the real battle for the GS500F at higher speeds.
It’s interesting, ’cause you hear about the old Kawasaki Ninja 500 hitting closer to 118 mph actual. That Kawi always was a bit sportier, a bit more rev-happy, even if they’re in a similar class. But for what the GS500F is, a solid, reliable commuter that can handle a bit of fun, getting up to an indicated 110 mph is perfectly fine. It’s got enough poke to pass trucks on the highway, and that’s what most owners need, right?
So yeah, that was my little experiment. No surprises, really, but it’s always good to know your machine. She did what I expected. Solid bike, that GS500F.
