Suzuki GB is doing its annual Suzuki GB thing of spending the winter working hard to convince you to buy a motorcycle – announcing this week that it is offering 1.9-percent APR financing on certain models.
If you’re a longtime reader of Dancing the Polka (hello to all three of you), you’ll know that I am vehemently against the idea of using PCP to get your hands on a bike. The possible exception that I’d make to that would be if a manufacturer were to offer 0-percent APR.
But not everyone is me, and, in fairness, Suzuki is getting close to the right spot with this deal. Compare it to, say, BMW, which seems to think it’s doing you a favor in offering PCP deals at 9.9 percent APR.
The 1.9-percent deal only applies to a handful of models, however: the V-Strom 1050DE and V-Strom 1050RE adventure motorcycles, and the GSX-S1000 super-naked. The rate applies to three-year financing deals, and requires a minimum deposit of £500.
So, you could get an adventure bike that’s effectively the same as the one I bought 11 years ago, but with cruise control, for as little as £155 a month – with a £2,730.41 deposit.
Of course, if you can actually put together that much for a deposit, you could dig a little deeper in your sofa cushions and try to come up with £3,190. That’s the price of the cheapest post-2014 V-Strom 1000 that I can find at the moment. As mentioned above, the post-2014 V-Strom 1000 is basically the 1050 but with different styling and the absence of cruise control. And as far as I’m aware, the V-Strom 1050 has not been updated since it was revealed in late 2022.
Sure, the V-Strom 1000 example I’m referring to has 48,000 miles on the clock, but the TL1000-derived engine that powers the V-Strom 1000/1050 is pretty bulletproof. Suzuki’s been using it for almost 30 years now; they’ve worked out the kinks.
Alternatively, you could get a naked version of the very excellent GSX-S1000GT, in the form of the GSX-S1000 for £109 a month with a £2,214.73.
The GSX-S1000 is another model that’s somewhat long in the tooth. Searching Auto Trader, I’m able to find a 2016 example with 26,000 miles for £3,990. That bike won’t quite have the bells and whistles of the modern version, but it offers the same delightful K5-derived 1000cc inline-four engine. Which is also pretty much bulletproof.
I’ve had a sort of change of heart about Suzuki over the last year or so, having decided that where I previously saw a company that was dragging its feet and offering nothing new, I now see a company that should be lauded for making products that actually work. No, you won’t get 87 traction control settings, cameras, and an AI system that can read your mind, but you will get a bike that starts every time.
The downside of that for Suzuki is that its used products aren’t too far off its new ones in terms of quality and features. That said, I suppose that if you really, really, really want a brand new Suzuki, it may be worth suffering the premium that financing brings. After all, at least you can be pretty certain that your bike will still be running in 20 years.
Suzuki GB’s offer runs until the end of March 2026.
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