Anyway - besides these hopefully minor issues I like the bike & will hopefully be getting one myself - I just wish they would get some of these things sorted for us fussy brits & yanks!
Some good points made in these comments about the fact that this bike is, when you look at it objectively, a new offering with a very premium price tag. And, after all, it was MADE for us fussy Brits and Yanks, and that puts us in a position to complain if it doesn't meet OUR standards.
I was gonna get one, probably a red G5, but I believe I'll wait a model year and let others be the "test bed" to sort out problems, and if that hasn't happened, by then, well, I don't have to have one. I'll just finish putting my Electra to where I think it should have been before it left the factory.
I wish Suzuki would make a retro look model of the Savage 650 (excuse me, "Bouvelard S40"). Then I could have a look that I like, with a bike that has better power, almost without doubt far better reliability, less routine maintenance, and a belt drive, and at least 1,000 dollars less money. You can get an S40 right now for $1500 less, and a new retro model surely couldn't cost more than 500 more than a standard.
Plus, I wouldn't feel the need to fuss with it as much. Of course, some like to wrench, and if they do, that's fine for them, but there's a difference in working on a machine because you WANT to, and because you NEED to.
I remember the old adage about Brit bikes with Lucas electrics "ride all you like, but be home by night". That didn't happen by accident. I enjoy riding something better than working on it, I have since I started in 1961.
I think there is a lesson here, and that is, if you want to move to a different level, and compete on a more world wide stage, you better pick up the pace. Hundai (and others) learned that, maybe RE needs to, also.
What about farming out maybe 100 of these machines to RE owners, in the UK and the US, who ride A LOT, free of charge for 6 months. The owners would agree, up front, to perform, on their own, NOTHING other than routine maintenance, after which time the factory rounds up all the bikes and complaints, and then solves the problems at the factory level. The bikes could then be sold for a fair price.
There's a lot to be said for getting in the game.