Suzuki GSX650F (2007-current)

The Suzuki GSX650F’s 16-valve, dohc four was all-new in the 2007 650 Bandit, is Euro3 clean, slick and responsive and, most pertinently, tuned for real-world versatility but with an exhilarating top end rush. Fuelling mods means it revs a little higher than the Bandit, although performance is unchanged. Peak power of 85bhp spread progressively over the rev range and decent enough grunt low down means this is a powerplant that’s sufficiently willing and able whatever the gear or your ham-fistedness, yet still rewards with three-figure thrills.

The Suzuki GSX650F’s chassis is, for the most part, Bandit 650, too, being centred around the same, no frills, cost-conscious steel tube cradle and conventional forks. Yet in GSX-F guise it gets a more sophisticated shock for added sporting ability and subtly adjusted poise thanks to the fairing, new one-piece, rubber-mounted, lower bars plus new one-piece seat that all adds up to a riding position and balance that is both textbook sports-tourer and somehow impressively pure, too.

The key distinguishing feature of the Suzuki GSX650F is, of course, the fairing which at once manages to evoke and mimic GSX-R sportsbike style, provide decent protection from the elements and blend into the whole motorcycle as if the whole design was a clean sheet affair. But there are plenty of other goodies rare on a sub-£5K machine: span-adjustable brake and clutch levers; effective, widely-spaced mirrors; swanky GSX-R style sports instruments (a large analogue tacho flanked by the now usual LCD digital speedo, useful fuel gauge, plus assorted warning lights).