Suzuki Intruder 1400

SUZUKI INTRUDER 1400

A beauty of a beast

SOMEONE PLEASE NOMINATE this motorcycle for inclusion in the Museum of Modern Art's industrial design collection. It's that beautiful.

Suzuki's Intruder 1400 is blessed with that all-of-one appearance that so few mechanical things possess. In this comparison, only the Harley Softail drew as many favorable styling comments, and even that bike can't compete with the sculpted features and finely hewn details of the Intruder.

The beast that complements the Intruder’s beauty is provided by its 1360cc, four-speed engine. Other VTwin powerplants will marginally outperform the Intruder’s, but none has biceps that ripple more. The Intruder has an angry rasp to its exhaust note, it pounces forward when the throttle is cracked open, and it’s not

above a few fits of in-town backfiring.

Actually, the Intruder isn’t very civil around town at all. With its narrow handlebar, 36-degree rake and 6.5-inch trail, the 1400 will have its owner wishing he’d checked off the power-steering option at the time of

purchase. And while the low, flat handlebar does allow the rider to comfortably duck out of the wind at higher speeds, the limited amount of leverage it provides, along with the Peterbilt-replica frame geometry, insures that the Intruder just isn’t very confidence-inspiring in the corners. It can be ridden fairly quickly on a twisty road, but requires a lot of concentration and muscle from its rider in the process. At low speeds it wants to fall into corners, and at high speeds it wants to sit up, all combining to make a very indecisive motorcycle. To help combat that complaint, Suzuki does offer an Intruder 1400 with a pull-back handlebar, but even that version will likely never be a city delight or backroad dream.

The list of complaints doesn’t end with the handling, either. The Intruder’s rear shocks get frazzled at anything more topographically active than a highway expansion joint. Engine vibration is more intense than on any of these bikes except the Softail, although it’s far from a fatal flaw. Our test Intruder’s clutch slipped from the word go, and the clutch springs had to be squished down so the performance testing could be completed.

Still, cruisers are allowed some form-over-function faults. As the poet John Keats reminds us, a thing of beauty is a joy forever. And it’s the Intruder’s beauty that remains long after its faults have faded from memory.

Suzuki Intruder 1400

$5899