Motorcycles & Misfits

Podcast 671: Suzuki's Biggest Flop, The Gladius

April 13, 2026·1h 50m
Episode Description from the Publisher

Is the Suzuki Gladius a good bike? Yes. Then why did it fail so big? It was the next version of an already popular bike, the SV650. Known for being great performance at a great price, the SV650 became a hit on the road and on the track. So where did Suzuki go wrong? They marketed it to women. This backfired in 2 ways. Men labeled it a 'girls' bike, and women were insulted that they substituted aesthetics over performance. Suzuki learned their lesson, and the follow up to the Gladius was the gen 3 SV650. We go into detail about what went wrong and also talk about why the SV650 was so great (and still is). With Liza, Stumpy John, Miss Emma, Naked Jim and Bagel. www.motorcyclesandmisfits.com motorcyclesandmisfits@gmail.com www.breakingawayadventures.com/shop/p/mi…-rally-v4 www.patreon.com/motorcyclesandmisfits www.zazzle.com/store/recyclegarage www.youtube.com/channel/UC3wKZSP0J9FBGB79169ciew womenridersworldrelay.com/ motorcyclesandmisfits.com/shop www.leodescapes.com/ adifferentagenda.com/products/10-days-wrwr-ada2026

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