The riding position on the Intruder's well weird. Tall pull-back bars, forward pegs at the front of the engine and a low 28 inch seat height. It might look comfortable from afar but took a couple of weeks before my body adapted. The pain in my thighs was the greatest limit to my comfort. At least the seat was plush and the controls easy to use.
The big 1400cc 45 degree vee-twin rumbled away effortlessly, great stonking pulses of torque right off from tickover and a final drive that was smoother than most. Surprisingly, there was a five speed box when two or three ratios would've been more than enough.
With seventy horses at 5000 revs this was stomp city, the maximum torque developed at a 1000 revs below that, a whole 80ftlb to play with. Big Harleys might match that, or even better it, but when they do they weigh more than the Suzuki's 550lbs. Many will consider this excessive for a mere vee-twin but the Intruder sits securely on the road and is very well made for a seven grand Jap custom.
The kicked out forks, giving a bus-like wheelbase of 63 inches, give good stability but makes for some odd handling. The front wheel can suddenly whip inside the bike or flip up to the vertical in slower curves. This was a trait brought out by less than smooth operation of the controls, especially the harsh twin discs which could make the forks twist and flop, but time and adaptation to the machine's needs soon produced a much smoother ride. It's more a function of the chop look than any particular fault of the Suzuki.
Less excusable was the pathetic lack of ground clearance. I felt the machine was capable of much faster speeds through bends than the chassis allowed. Whenever I was overwhelmed by the exuberance of the engine and charged through the curves, the undercarriage shuddered and scraped as great chunks of tarmac were churned up. Sometimes the angle between the bike and road bump caused the whole thing to try to pivot off the road.
This is a custom bike, which means riding in a laid back way within the limits of the chassis, but it often seemed to me that the mill was a bit wasted in a custom chassis and something like a Featherbed frame would've made the bike much more useful. Of course, that would ruin the looks, the pose of a cruiser.
Which brings me back to the armchair riding position, which was comfortable within certain limits. Up to about 60mph it was fine, nice and relaxed, but above that the wind pressure began to take its toll. 70mph was questionable, 80mph was beginning to resemble hell on earth, with pains in arms, shoulders, neck and thighs. I never went above the ton, as some quite vicious back wheel weaves turned up, although with 70 horses the plot should have done 120 to 125mph. Above 80mph there was nothing for it but to assume a head in the clocks position, as undignified as it was spine challenging.
After a couple of months on the Intruder I was converted to its way of doing things, relaxed and laid back. The pillion was okay for the younger, more supple, woman but far too intimate for someone of the same sex. I much preferred to travel solo, as it happens, the combination of seat and back-rest giving a very secure mount for my bag when combined with a couple of bungee cords.
Easy cruising, travelling into the sunset, got a grip on my mind so the bike was lightly loaded with my bag full of clothes, the pre-load on the twin shocks turned up to th eir highest setting and the throttle blipped enthusiastically one early, sunny morning. London to Edinburgh by the back roads was on the agenda, the only worry I had in the world was that the fuel tank would run dry - a touch less than three gallons gave a range of just 100 miles. Better than some Harleys, maybe, but no fun.
After two hours of gentle pottering I was becoming a bit concerned. Heavy traffic meant I'd only done 65 miles, heat coming off the motor was turning me into a damp rag and my wrists were beginning to ache. On a proper road bike I'd have given it a hard blast to get the adrenaline going and blow the traffic away but on the Intruder the wind pressure would've just blown me off the seat or sent the forks fluttering.
The ride was relaxing, especially the reverberation of the vee-twin motor out of the slash pipes. Throb, throb, throb - I would've liked a bit more volume as cars didn't hear me coming and would do the usual trick of stepping out of nowhere. Made me thankful for the triple discs, anyway.
The Intruder was a bit of a handful to throw around cars, either at a walking pace or at speed. The bars were wide enough to help with leverage but the curious length of the wheelbase made the bike as sluggish as a Gold Wing. More air in the tyres helped but turned the ride uncomfortably harsh.
The bike was slightly sensitive to road markings in the wet, both tyres religiously clinging to their contours. I tried to avoid the rain because the VS needed to be cleaned immediately afterwards to stop the chrome or alloy tarnishing. This on a three year old bike that only had 4000 miles on the clock when I bought it. Wet weather also deposited loads of water into my lap, it swirling up from the naked front end as if the designers were having a laugh at the expense of the would-be posers. I lost a lot of face when getting off the bike and waggling around in wet underwear, bearing a disturbing resemblance to Donald Duck on one of his bad days.
This was pertinent because when I finally made it to the Scottish border, late at night with sleek shadows running from the mild front lamp and tiredness dogging my body, the heavens opened and in the two minutes, before I could grab my waterproofs, I was soaked right through. All the way to Edinburgh I swore at the Scotland, motorcycles in general and the Intruder in particular. Scottish landladies were not overwhelmed to have a wet and bedraggled 'Hells Angels' on their doorstep and I had visions of having to sleep out doors until I found a rather desperate doss house that wouldn't even let me park the bike inside.
The next week was wet all the way, as I wasn't in the mood to waste time on the back roads, pissed off I headed home on the motorway. Rain followed me all the way home as I sped along at a dangerous and edgy feeling 80mph, just with stops for fuel. The Intruder didn't mind, running just as righteously at the end as at the beginning. I looked like I'd aged by five years and was sniffing with a cold in the middle of the so-called summer. Cruisers have their limits in the UK!
Around town there were some limits as well, due to the long length and the forks rattling over pot-holes. The engine temperature went into the red after an hour pottering in traffic, the heat congealing in the gearbox which almost locked up solid. Doing a lot of town riding meant I had to do the oil changes every 800 miles because a lot of condensation formed in the sump. Apart from that I didn't bother with any engine maintenance in about 9000 miles of mild riding to no ill-effects. The overall impression of the motor was one of toughness, which given its low state of tune and low revving nature was what you'd expect.
As the bike came with newish Bridgestone tyres and EBC pads, I was pleased to see that they didn't wear out, making running costs just a combination of fuel and oil. The former was a bit of a disappointment at under 40mpg, probably from a combination of excessive mass and zero aerodynamic efficiency.
Given the limitations in handling and the riding position, I might've been better off with the LS650 Savage and its big thumper torque but vee-twins have a certain charm. Harleys and Ducati aren't to my taste, still seem like dubious engineering to me. I've rather gone off the cruiser part of the deal, the looks are all very well but it severely limits serious riding.
The big vee-twin engine's brilliant but needs a more dedicated setting, like the VX800 which is probably going to be my next bike. Anyone want to buy a VS1400 contact me via the UMG.
L.K.R.