Suzuki TL1000S: Every Dog Has Its Day

Mounting the TL1000S for the first time I expected the worst. Tales of its handling nastiness legion. It had a natural riding position, at least for me, and the engine revved with a gravelly edge that had me full of enthusiasm. The Japanese had hopefully combined Italian gutsiness with their inbuilt reliability. First impression were of an incredible shove in the back from the motor laying down its power and easy handling. I'd expected it to go for the on-coming cagers with a vengeance, but it went where it was pointed, no hassle. That brief ride left the impression that the bike was in a whole new league - compared to my venerable Honda CB750F1.

No, the owner wouldn't consider a part-ex and wondered why I was wasting his time with a ludicrous four grand offer for a 6000 mile, nine month old machine in absolutely pristine showroom condition. The more nefarious dealers could've clocked it and claimed it was brand new. You should've seen the look on his face when I thrust MCN under his nose - the shadow importers had them on offer for under six grand, new, and their handling reputation made them extremely slow movers. After some reconsideration, a severe ear-bashing from his wife, and an offer to throw the F1 into the deal, the bike was mine! I couldn't believe it! It was only then that I remembered to point out that the Honda needed an MOT, new pistons and valves...all's fair in love and war.

The glossies reckoned that anyone under twenty stone was going to have plenty of problems from the TL's rotary damper back end. As I weight just over nine stone, I was all ready to be thrown off at the first corner, though the bike had a steering damper and a ride harsh enough to suggest the suspension had been turned up to maximum. But it floated through the bends and scarpered along the straights at about twice the rate of the F1.

In fact, I soon gained the impression that I was going into the corners far too slowly and could've got away with much more speed. The low profile, fat tyres were a revelation in terms of grip and tenacity, also the angle to which the Suzuki could be thrown over. Bloody hell, I'll have to get myself some knee-sliders! Even more entertaining, the bike shot up to 160mph on one straight, the mildest of weaves from the back end indicating that, perhaps, things were going to turn nasty. At half that speed, the knackered Honda would try to throw itself off the road, so I was well ahead of the game. God knows how the F1's new owner got on; total culture shock, I think.

Used to that bike's lackadaisical brakes, giving the TL a handful had the front tyre screaming in protest and the bike doing a massive stoppie. For one moment I thought I was going to be thrown over the handlebars but the bike relented as I hurriedly eased off the pressure, just gave my spine a battering until the back end stopped the pogo-stick routine. For the next half mile the bike did, indeed, feel a bit like a twitchy carthorse - my guess, the violence of the back end leaping up and down under the mad braking overheated the rotary damper. It soon went back to precision city, though.

My mates, mostly Blade mounted, found my purchase of the TL a thing of great mirth. They looked a bit glum when I told them how little it had cost and weren't too amused when I burnt them off at the traffic light GP! Poseurs! True, my excess use of throttle had left the rear tyre smouldering away, taking off about a 1000 miles worth of tread! Compared with the Honda F1, which gave you enough time to compose a novel when either winding itself up or coming to a halt, the TL had an instantaneous reaction to inputs that took a little bit of getting used to. Understatement of the year!

The bike endeared itself to me no end when, in the rain, I gave it too much stick - rather than throwing me right off the road, it gave a near ninety degree twitch then hollered off as if nothing had happened. It was all quite odd in the wet - here was a bike with about ten times the grip of the Honda but speeds were about the same because I daren't use too much power and the brakes had me pissing myself because I was never quite sure how harsh the discs were going to be even just using one finger - made me all nostalgic for the F1's predictable lag. Sure!

The vee-twin motor liked to sing along at 6500-8000 revs. There was a wonderful excess of power and it smoothed out. At low revs it felt a bit too jerky but this was only in comparison to its sublimeness at high revs; compared to the worn out F1 it was paradise found even at its worst!

This is the problem that a lot of potential purchasers face. The glossies hype modern bikes and at the same time compare minor imperfections between the models as if they were huge and outrageous faults. Whereas to someone used to fading seventies and eighties superbikes they are the bees knees!

Consumables were more of a mixed bag. The O-ring chain, despite the outrageous power pulses, needed little attention rather than the F1's daily chore. The tyres were short-lived in the extreme, the Metz's reduced to baldness in less than 3000 miles - when the handling went quite vile above 70mph! With less than 1mm of tread left even the F1 could've taken the Suzuki in the bends. The F1 would do 10,000 miles on a set of Avons; the handling already so shot that the state of the tread made sod all difference. Brake pads were about the same 4500-5000 miles, although the Suzuki replacements cost nearly three times as much. I'm not complaining, though, any extra cost more than made up for by the excess of kicks.

Apart from the mentioned reaction to running around on worn out tyres (also, the front slides away with shocking ease in the wet when almost bald) the bike was shaken around on fast bumpy bends. Keep up that kind of riding for more than ten minutes, the rear damping faded a bit and gave the impression that the whole bike was about to go out of control. But it never did. Maybe it was the steering damper taking out the apparently inbuilt suicide antics or maybe it was just the press exaggerating a minor fault.

TL's are so hard to sell that it's bargain basement time. Outrageously fast, brilliantly braked and able to take corners much faster than the older style fours it may lose out to the latest spate of race rep's but all the money saved on the deal will let you have more fun on the open road. I'm converted, anyway! Doing three times my normal mileage and sporting the obligatory huge grin. The best four grand's worth in the land.

Martin Lawe