News Flash!!!
NEWS FLASH!!!
Suzuki shows Sport-Twin
Providing further proof that the V-Twin performance wars are about to boil over, Suzuki has unveiled its latest backroad blaster. Like Honda’s VTR1000, the halffaired TL1000SV was inspired by Ducati’s 916. Consider the similarities: two liquid-cooled cylinders 90-degrees apart; electronic fuel injection; trellis frame, albeit manufactured from aluminum rather than chrome-moly steel; 916-like steering geometry and wheelbase dimensions; inverted, fully adjustable 43mm fork; race-worthy brakes and wheels. Suzuki then upped the ante with a GSX-R-style ram-air intake system and an avant-garde rear suspension.
“Ducati was a benchmark,” admits Suzuki’s Diane Carter. “Ducati has been very successful, at least in AMA and World Superbike racing. If Ducati can build a motorcycle like that, then Suzuki can, too.”
Ninety-degree V-Twins have inherently perfect primary balance, but packaging can be a problem, even with the short, 66mm stroke (same as the 916 and VTR1000) used on the TL. Suzuki broached this blockade with “semi-gear-driven” double-overhead camshafts. Basically, each cam pair is actuated by a short chain and a centrally placed intermediate gear, thereby reducing overall height for compactness and added cylinder-tofront wheel clearance. Claimed dry weight for the entire bike is 411 pounds, 22 less than the VTR.
According to Suzuki’s Mark Reese, engineering aimed for 120 crankshaft horsepower (14 more than the Honda). To give the engine a broad, stumble-free powerband, the TL’s fuel injection has two running parameters: one for high-load conditions, another for acceleration and deceleration. Power is transferred through a slipper-type clutch, which uses ramped engagement cams built into the clutch hub to increase plate pressure under acceleration. Under deceleration, pressure is reduced, smoothing highrpm downshifts.
Designed to reduce stiction and improve damping control, the “rotary damper” rear suspension is unlike any we’ve seen. A pentagon-shaped cast-aluminum housing located above the swingarm pivot contains a pair of rotating vanes that control compression and rebound damping. The vanes are connected to a shaft that runs through the damper body and is joined to the swingarm via a linkage. There are no exposed moving parts or sliding seals. A preloadadjustable spring is mounted separately alongside the rear cylinder, just inside the lower right-side frame rail. It works through its own swingarm linkage.
As with the VTR1000, full-pop racebikes are at least one year away. “We won’t be racing it in ’97,” Carter says. “Not officially, at least. Concentration is on the GSX-R.”
Slated for spring delivery, the TL1000SV (available in either red or dark green) will retail for $8999, about $100 less than the VTR1000.
Look out, Honda. -Matthew Miles
