Suzuki Swish first ride

Suzuki’s strong CBU line-up in the country today is among the best and caters to practically every kind of rider in that market. But the same isn’t true of its smaller, Indian-made products. Its domestic products have been of high quality, excellent build and finish but sadly for the enthusiast, the blend of performance and styling has always been conservative, mature and practical, seriously at odds with the excitement and performance of its bigger international bikes.
The Access is a successful scooter with long wait times and it has targeted the mature buyer rather well. Just like Honda did with the Dio, now Suzuki is deploying the Swish to take care of the enthusiastic, younger buyer who may have loved the Access’ explosive power – no, really it’s quite the firecracker amongst automatic scooters – but wanted it married to a, er, swisher styling package.
What totally stumps me is why Suzuki waited four years to launch the Swish since under the plastic body is effectively the rather effective Access, in engine and chassis. The plastic body saves 5kg which will mean a little more performance but the real reason is simpler. It is hard to manufacture metal panels with sculpting, edges, planes and so forth. It’s exactly the same reason why bikes like the Yamaha FZ use plastic tank covers. As usual, fit-finish quality is top notch, and the quality of plastics is impressive. The Swish also looks a lot more compact than the Access, giving the perception of being a smaller scooter. However that isn’t the case. Its 125cc engine is the quickest in the market, and is butter smooth and responsive.
The Swish feels a lot more comfortable than the Access, with a lower handlebar that allows you to keep your arms relaxed. The suspension set-up is good even on bumpy roads and along with the wide, comfortable seats makes for a plush ride. The Swish gets drum brakes which have enough bite, but Suzuki is still not offering a front disc brake even as option which we believe is a miss. All manufacturers, in our eyes, should be moving to disc brakes.
The Swish is on sale now at Rs 49,831 ex-showroom, Mumbai. It promises a little more performance and (surprisingly) comfort for the younger, more design-oriented buyer. No doubt it should do well. However, as Suzuki told us at the Auto Expo, they’re still going to play it safe. Until the 2014 Auto Expo, that’s the time the company finally opens its arms to the Indian motorcycle enthusiast.