The VX800 looked immaculate despite being nearly three years and 9000
miles old. Garaged during winter, only ridden in the sun by a born-again
poseur - an old rhyme but one in this particular case that came without
any apparent riddles. Two grand for cash, the newly bankrupt owner demanded.
After the shortest of blasts I didn't have the heart to demur. Love at first
sight and all that stuff.
The beefy, 805cc, watercooled vee-twin engine had its roots in the Intruder
customs but didn't seem to suffer any from its lack of sporty specification.
Many might think 60 horses from 800cc pretty pathetic but the go-go juices
peak at a mere 6500rpm. Backed up by 55ft-lb of torque 1000 revs lower down
the range. A five speed gearbox was mated with a shaft drive that was eons
ahead of the junk fitted to BMW's, and the like, but not quite the slick
shifter found on chain driven Suzukis. Nothing to worry about, though, just
a comment on how well this particular manufacturer makes gearboxes in their
more sporting models.
So this was grunt city. The machine was also very narrow, lacking the
top heavy feel of many fours. It was a bike that could be leapt on and quickly
become used to its ways. Neutrality in its steering was immediately inspiring
and within a quarter of an hour of purchase I was pushing the bike hard
through my favourite Wiltshire back lanes. It certainly needed a bit of
muscle, but had a similar steady feel to a well set-up Norton Commando.
The chassis was burdened with an excess of mass (nearly 500lbs fully tanked
up) and a peculiarly long wheelbase. Added up to some effort on the bars
but resulted in a very sure-footed feel. It all depends on what you like
and what you're used to - those into flighty race replicas would soon be
complaining, with both the heavy handling and the lack of top end.
Overall performance was no better than a sixties Triumph Bonneville (which
weighed a 100lbs less), though the Suzuki had more low end grunt and didn't
churn out the vibration, even if I could always feel the mill working through
the combustion process. The bike felt best in the 75 to 95mph speed range
- perfectly suited, that is, to UK road speeds. The front end felt a bit
loose above the ton and the engine had a rather plaintive note. 120mph on
the clock was possible, probably 110mph in real life.
This all sounds reasonable enough, even jolly good fun. Where the engine
really lost out was on economy. Or lack thereof. The really strange thing
was that even the mildest of throttle work didn't really improve its frugality
compared to using all the torque and power all the time - 45mpg compared
with 40mpg. The four gallon tank capacity barely seemed sufficient for serious
riding but was better than the comfort afforded by the seat. The latter
began to rub into my thighs after about 80 miles and went rock hard 40 miles
later. Ouch!
I couldn't blame the riding position for this - bars and pegs were perfectly
matched for sensible riding, taking a lot of weight off my backside. The
suspension wasn't exactly plush but it took out most of shocks but could
rumble over closely spaced mild bumps. Either wear to the foam or plain
bad design of the saddle let the side down. Placing a pullover between self
and saddle did wonders for my comfort, though the concave shape of the seat
meant it was extremely difficult to move around to find a plusher perch.
My short of leg pillion had no problems but some six foot babe would doubtless
soon be cursing. Unluckily, I don't know any women with legs up to their
armpits so never tested this theory but if any female readers want to volunteer...
A spate of wet weather had me wondering how the Avons would react (having
fallen off on similar tyres before) but with a little attention to the rate
of throttle opening the bike rumbled along quite securely. For such a pose
vehicle, the mudguarding was surprisingly good - along with the long, narrow
radiator, most of the muck was kept off the engine. Twin rear shocks, that
never annoyed me, were also to the good with regards to the lack of linkages
to wear, tear apart and service. I added gaiters to the forks to keep them
in their pristine state as I had no intention of locking the bike away over
the winter.
The one area where the Suzuki was a bit lacking was in its braking. A
disc at each end, 9000 miles of wear had the pads almost down to the metal.
I assume they were original. There was a lot of rattling, the odd squeal,
and not a lot of braking from 80mph plus speeds. I would've preferred a
drum rear brake, the calipers already becoming a little gummed up and not
wanting to liberate the pads. WD40 solved that PDQ.
A new set of EBC pads all round got rid of all the odd noises. If I'd
waited much longer they would have broken through to the metal with the
inevitable score marks in the discs. The new pads were much more predictable
in the wet but didn't add that much extra retardation from high speeds.
Two thousand miles later the front brake went very spongy. Goodridge hose
and new brake fluid were added, got rid of the disconnected feel and would
make the tyre squeal at low speeds if I put in a full power grip on the
lever. High speed retardation was still marginal, especially when going
for it in the faster curves. If the forks showed any sign of wear then I
would look around for a complete, twin disc front end replacement.
I managed to nick the finish on the front wheel whilst playing around
with the brake; in no time at all alloy corrosion had spread all over the
place. Low quality alloy kept in check by a high tech finish, but it does
boggle the mind a little when you think how essential the wheels are and
the way the Japanese insist on cost-cutting even when they sell bikes at
prime prices. Do alloy wheels suffer from aluminium stress-aging? Don't
know, only time will tell!
Some 17,400 miles into the game, the front light blew. I was 50 miles
from home at the time, not amused when pilot, main and dip beams went down.
I followed a car most of the way back, wasn't stopped by the cops. Turned
out to be a loose wire in the headlamp shell. All was well for a couple
of weeks until the fuses started to blow, went as quickly as I could put
them in. Went to the local dealer who diagnosed a faulty rectifier; told
me I'd better get it fixed fast before the ignition was ruined as well.
He quoted silly money, I bought a used unit from the breakers for forty
notes.
For a month or so the problem went away, then I had hassles with the
battery draining off overnight. I really wasn't sure how far the bike would
take me without cutting out. This was extremely annoying, spoilt the great
sense of fun I had when using the Suzuki. It was probably one of the alternator
coils burning out, but I began to lose interest in it; didn't clean the
bike every week. By the time 20,000 miles were done it was looking slightly
sorry for itself and draining the battery within 70 miles. A quick clean
up and trawl around the dealers - three grand trade-in on a new 1200 Bandit.
The big Suzuki is another world. Splendidly fast and full of torque but
I'm not too keen on the handling, although the bike weighs about the same
it is much more top heavy in feel. I'll get used to it! The VX's full of
character, a bike to keep for a long time...if you can find one without
any electrical problems. I may well buy another, newer, example.
Charlie Hopkins