Suzuki Is the Worst Motorcycle Brand, According To Consumer Reports
The motorcycle market has several companies producing bikes of all types. One of the most popular names you hear quite often is Yamaha. You will also hear names like the powerful Kawasaki brand and, of course, the Suzuki.
With all those brands out there, which ones are the best, and which ones should you avoid? To help you out, Consumer Reports has a list of the ones they thought were good purchases and the ones you should overlook.
Who’s on the motorcycle rating list?
Consumer Reports rated Victory as the best motorcycle brand on the market. With 80 points, this bike received a perfect score of five out of five for acceleration, styling, and fun. They even scored a five when it came to owner’s satisfaction.
Coming in second on the list is the popular Harley-Davidson, which earned 72 points overall. It also received a perfect score of five for acceleration, styling, and fun. Owner satisfaction, however, only got four out of five.
Some bike brands that surprisingly fell lower on the list, include Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Triumph. But the worst-rated motorcycle on this list went to Suzuki. It got an overall score of 58 out of a possible 100 points.
Consumer Reports calculated their scores based on data received from a 2014 Annual Auto Survey, where they asked questions of 11,000 subscribers. They based the ratings on information owners gave within the survey. They also took into account whether or not they would purchase the same bike again in the future.
What makes the Suzuki motorcycle brand so lowly rated?
Consumer Reports’ ratings list includes motorcycles from 2008 to 2014. During those years, some Suzuki owners weren’t all that pleased with their purchases. According to their ratings, Suzuki received a four out of five score for acceleration and also for styling. As far as how it rode, it got a five out of five rating for fun.
However, Suzuki motorcycles only received a two out of five rating for owner satisfaction. It’s likely that electrical issues had a lot to do with owners not liking their purchase as much. Motorcycles from 2008 to 2012, especially, had starting or stalling problems.
According to Asphalt and Rubber, Suzuki recalled over 68,000 motorcycles for a defective circuit board with the rectifier/regulator module. This caused a failure, in the battery, to charge appropriately, causing the bike either to not start or to stall. Suzuki repaired the problem for free with owners of certain Suzuki models.
Are Suzuki motorcycles still considered the worst rated?
Since those ratings came from 2008 to 2014 models, it raises whether the newer Suzuki motorcycles got any better? It appears from TheThings.com website that they have. They offer their view of which ones are more reliable and which ones aren’t.
The worst motorcycles on their list include Can-Am, BMW, and Motto-Guzzi. But the worst rated is the Royal Enfield, which has a long history of making cycles like these, but they don’t update them for the American market much.
The best-rated ones are the Yamaha, Honda, and the Kawasaki. The Suzuki comes in fourth place. Since the electrical design flaw from the older models, Suzuki has since earned a higher reputation for making reliable motorcycles. Styling has changed little, but its affordability and lower maintenance costs help bring it to the top with the other bike giants.
The Suzuki motorcycle came a long way from the problems it initially saw about 6-12 years ago. Now, the newer models are better and are more satisfying to ride, plus they’re good for beginner riders.
