Suzuki Tl1000s
SUZUKI TL1000S
CYCLE WORLD PROJECT
STOP THE MADNESS!
SUZUKI's TL1000S IS NOTHING IF NOT CONTROVERSIAL. As evidence, consider the fact that an international panel of magazine editors recently voted it the 1997 Bike of the Year, while simultaneously naming it Dog of the Year!
How can a motorcycle that garnered Best Superbike honors in Cycle World's 1997 Ten Best Bikes competition be the subject of such ridicule? It’s a long story, which began at Miami’s Homestead Motorsports Complex at the end of 1996, when Suzuki hosted the TL’s worldwide press introduction. The bike stole headlines the world over in the weeks that followed, as one magazine after another touted it as a Ducati 916 killer.
Unfortunately, the TL earned a reputation as a different kind of killer a few months later, when it was reported that an Englishman had died while riding his TL to the dealer for servicing. According to the man’s wife, who witnessed the incident from the seat of her own motorcycle, the Suzuki went into a violent tank-slapper while negotiating a gentle bend at about 60 mph and spat him off, whereupon he struck his head on a large rock by the side of the road.
An unfortunate accident, for sure, with no apparent cause, but even that didn’t prepare us for the avalanche of negative press that followed. In due course, virtually every British motorcycle magazine ran stories on the “flawed killer.” Diagnoses for the TL’s so-called “problem” ran the gamut, with most of the blame cast at the bike’s revolutionary rotary-style rear damper-though there also were accusations that the bike’s swingarm was too short, that its weight was biased too far rearward and that its abrupt fuel injection coupled with its mega low-end power made the front end go light. Our favorite, though, was a story in Motor Cycle News titled “Fats the way to do it!,” wherein the editors polled TL owners and found that riders weighing more than 15 stone (210 pounds) hadn’t experienced any problems. So have another donut, mate!
Suzuki’s response was predictable: The company recalled TLs for mandatory fitment of a steering damper.
Now, we here at Cycle World have ridden TLs in a wide variety of conditions, on all manner of roads, fast and slow, smooth and bumpy, and on no fewer than four racetracks, and we’ve only experienced headshake once, after fitting a set of race-compound Dunlop D207 radiais. And none of our testers weigh more than 15 stone!
Still, we realize the TL isn’t perfect. This became especially apparent during an outing at a Dennis Pegelow Safety School at Buttonwillow Raceway, where by day’s end our tester had reached the limits of three of the four damping adjusters: The fork required maximum rebound and compression, while the “shock” (if you can call it that) worked best with maximum rebound and still wanted more. Twiddling the compression-damping screw in the rear didn’t seem to have _ much effect, due to its small range of adjustment.
We also found that increasing spring preload in the rear and pulling the fork tubes up in the triple-clamps helped the handling, making the front end feel more planted in comers, and less flighty exiting them. The downside, though, was that we were now regularly dragging the mufflers. Clearly, some work was in order.
Our solution was three-fold: First, we trucked the TL to Race Tech, where suspension technician Todd Davis installed a Gold Valve fork kit and stiffer springs (.95 kg, up from .75 kg), and then pulled his hair out trying to fine-tune the rotary damper. Several different shim-stack combinations were tried in an effort to gain the rebound damping we desired without increasing compression damping to an unacceptable level.
Davis also spent considerable time reducing friction by greasing the numerous rubber seals inside the damper body, as well as the bushings in the separate linkages for the damper and spring. Also of concern was slop in the linkage, which allows a modicum of undamped movement; perfectionists may want to have new bushings machined with tighter tolerances.
Back at Buttonwillow, Race Tech’s upgrades made a dramatic improvement at the front, somehow feeling plusher and stiffer at the same time. The shock mods also helped somewhat, the main improvement being that we were now able to run the rebound damping adjuster in the middle of its range. But again, there was little effect on compression damping. Because of that, Race Tech has no plans to offer rotary-damper revalves to the buying public-though that may change once the company gains experience with the new TL1000R.
Our next step was to install a rear ride-height adjuster. Made by VMR Products (as in “Vintage Maico Racing,” but who’s counting?), this easy-to-install part replaces the stock cushion rod with a threaded one that let us raise the back of the motorcycle to transfer more weight onto the front wheel without reducing cornering clearance. It worked as advertised, though we were disappointed to find that swingarm/ header contact is the limiting factor.
Lastly, we bolted on an adjustable steering damper. We’d already tried the factory recall unit, but that made the steering unacceptably heavy at low speeds. The Italian-made Paioli damper we fitted (with carbon-fiber canister-natch), let us vary the level of damping to suit conditions. Much, much better.
With the chassis sorted, we focused our attention on the engine. Our TL had already been fitted with an updated black box meant to rectify customer complaints of low-speed surging and erratic idle, and to “reduce the degree of precision required to tune a TL,” whatever that means. And while that helped tone down the TL’s abrupt throttle response, the system still has to meet emissions standards, so there are gains to be had if you know where to look for them.
Fortunately, we did. We’d heard good things about Dynojet’s new programmable module (called the Power Commander), which plugs in between the stock wiring harness and ECU, and lets owners vary the fuel/air ratio at various rpm settings and throttle openings using an ordinary home computer. Subsequent installation of a modified airbox (Dynojet hogs out the flapper-valve mechanism in the bottom to increase airflow) and Indigo Sports exhaust system, coupled with diligent twiddling of the fuel/air ratio, netted a gain of 6 horsepower, for a peak of 114.1 bhp at 9500 rpm at the rear wheel. More impressive, however, were the torque gains, with as many as 4 additional footpounds delivered across the entire rev range. That friends, is power on demand!
With the TL now working like it should, we decided to do something about its looks. To that end, we bolted on a prototype set of bodywork that Richard Moore of Indigo Sports had commissioned from Rob Brady of Robrady Design. An industrial designer by trade, Brady fashioned an upper fairing, tailsection and chin cowl that not only look sexier than their stock counterparts, but which are made in one piece, without any unsightly seams or fasteners. Whether Indigo will sell these parts, however, will depend on customer demand. So place your order now!
When all was said and done, our TL lived up to its performance potential. Contrary to the sensationalist headlines, there’s nothing really “wrong” with Suzuki’s TL1000S. It wasn’t ill-engineered. It wasn’t underdeveloped. It wasn’t rushed into production. The only thing Suzuki is guilty of is satisfying enthusiasts’ demands for a powerful, light, quickhandling V-Twin sportbike that doesn’t require taking out a second mortgage on one’s home to own. With a few select modifications, ideally can be a Ducati 916 killer.
-Brian Catterson
SUPPLIERS
Air Tech 2530 Fortune Way Vista, CA 92083 760/598-3366 Sub-fender: $240 Heel guards: $89
Dynojet Research Inc. 2191 Mendenhall Dr. Suite 105 N. Las Vegas, NV 89031 800/992-4993 Power Commander: $399 Airbox: $109
Indigo Sports 207 Banks Station, Suite 617 Fayetteville, GA 30214 770/719-3800 Fairing: $395 Chin cowl: $225 Tailsection: $225 Body bolt kit: $82 Engine bolt kit: $85
Exhaust system: $1035 Steering damper: $379 Brake lines: $135 Swingarm stand spools: $14
Race Tech 3227 Producer Way Suite 127 Pomona, CA 91768 909/594-7755 Fork springs: $90 Fork kit: $225 installed
American Suzuki Motor Corp. 3251 E. Imperial Hwy. Brea, CA 92621 714/996-7040 Gel seat: $140
VMR Products P.0. Box 5993 Florence, SC 29505 803/665-9255 Ride-height adjuster: $175
