Suzuki GSX-8S
About
Suzuki Motorcycles produce some of the fastest and most enjoyable motorbikes on the market, and for the 2025 season they contacted us to produce a commercial for the brand new GSX-8S. The GSX comes in two slightly different models – the 8S (a semi-naked bike with more upright riding position) and the 8R (a more aggressive bike with racing fairings and a lower riding position).
The bike is typically marketed in Europe and the specific riding conditions north of the equator, but this time around Suzuki wanted to see it being ridden in Australian conditions for the Aussie market. That’s where we come in.
Task
Australian roads are pretty rough. And by that we mean that they tend to vary a lot in quality, temperature, scenery, and scope. Suzuki motorcycles need to be able to handle the variety and still be an enjoyable ride – something that the GSX-8S does with ease.
Suzuki head office tasked us with creating a commercial that took in a wide range of riding conditions – from the Aussie bush to the inner-city, and across different times of day from early morning through sunset, and late into the night.
We needed to showcase the GSX-8S in these conditions, make it look enticing, and show riders out there what they’re getting when they throw the leg over a Suzuki.
Approach
The concept for this commercial is “24 Hours with a Suzuki GSX-8S”.
Our Hero rider (who happens to be Birdhouse’s Director Hans) is woken up in the early hours of the morning by his alarm clock. It’s not a shock, he’s ready for what’s to come, and he’s excited.
Cue a dynamic riding sequence whipping through the trees of the Perth Hills at sunrise as our rider descends into Perth City. For this sequence we enlisted high-speed FPV drone flying as well as our very expensive and technical car-mounted camera rig. Most of this filming was done in and around Kalamunda and the Zig Zags of the hills.
In the city our rider becomes a “commuter” showcasing the GSX-8S’ ability to be both a fun bike and an everyday bike.
Once coffee is out of the way we transition into full riding leathers and the energy kicks up a few gears. We fly along the banks of the Swan River at sunset and meet up with a rival rider after dark at the Swan Belltower.
For this sequence we needed to apply for road closure permits and get approval to film in the city at night.
If you look closely you’ll be able to spot Optus Stadium and the Freeway Tunnel as our two bikes fly by. The yellow bike is the sporty Suzuki GSX-8R with racing fairing.
Finally our Hero rider makes his way home in the late hours of darkness, parks up, and crashes into bed.
No sooner than his eyes close and he’s woken yet again by his alarm clock beeping and the cycle starts all over again. He knows what’s coming. He’s ready, and he can’t wait.
This is what 24 hours with a Suzuki GSX-8S feels like.
Result
Yes this is a looooong commercial. It doesn’t fit the traditional 30 second format but we also created several shorter cutdowns for social media usage. The final product is an unspoken narrative with the motorbike as the star.
It was such a fun process to produce this project right from the start – we generated the initial concept, storyboarded each scene, spent weeks filming in various locations, created the graphics, and finalised the colour grade all in-house.
Our team was exceptional and all worked in a choreographed effort to make this happen.
Plus we love motorbikes
