Boulevard Bruiser
BOULEVARD BRUISER
ROUNDUP
IF I HAD SOMEHOW OR other conned my way into Kevin Schwantz’s GP retirement party a decade ago and told him that one day he would be leisurely escorting a pack of power-cruiser-riding motojournalists through the Hill Country of his home state of Texas, the 1993 500cc world champ probably would have laughed in my face—and deservedly so. After all, the roadracer in Schwantz equated motorcycles with speed, not sightseeing. And, at the time, the closest thing Suzuki made to a power-cruiser was the chopper-like Intruder 1400.
Nevertheless, this past February, there was Schwantz, looking sharp in his signature Arai helmet and fancy Dainese leather jacket, astride Suzuki’s new ultrafat-tired M109R, leading said writers on a casual, 180-mile loop that concluded with a full-on Texas barbecue at his racing-memorabilia-packed home near Austin.
Suzuki had good reason to
pair up Schwantz with its radically styled V-Twin. Over the years, the Japanese bikemaker has come to be known for its performancefirst GSX-R sportbikes and
RM motocrossers, with Suzuki and cruisers rarely mentioned in the same breath. About 18 months ago, in an effort to amend all that, Suzuki began referring to its cruisers as “Boulevards.” At first, these were little more than warmed-over versions of existing models, renamed to reflect their respective displacements in cubic inches-C90, C50, M50, S83, S50, S40, etc. The M1O9R, however, is an all-new design that's sure to shake up the establishment.
How so, you ask?
Put it this way: I When was the last time Suzuki produced a cruis er that would smoke its rear tire off the line, grab fraction and then wheelie?
Boasting the largest cylin der bore of any road-going, gas-powered engine-bike or car-the fuel-injected, liquid cooled, semi-dry-sump, 1783cc V-Twin certainly revs quickly and pulls hard through the gears. Suzuki alleges 127 horse power and 119 foot-pounds of torque at the crankshaft, though the M1O9R has a lot more in its arsenal than eyes-wide accel eration.
For example, La-Z-Boy looks aside, cruisers are rare iy all-day comfortable. The M1O9R rider, however, leans forward into the wind, gloves and boots leading the way and weight on buttocks. It may not look relaxing, but it
is. Near-freezing early-morn ing temperatures aside, I could have done the loop twice without complaint.
Flaws? Shifting on my lowmileage testbike was a little sticky, a mid-band EFI glitch was a bit bothersome, and steering, though better than on most fat-tired cruisers, isn't neutral. Those nits aside, the M1O9R is sure to be a contend er for the power-cruiser crown.
As for Schwantz, don't be surprised if an Ml 09R takes up residence next to his RM Z450 and championship winning RGV500. Hey, stranger things have happened.
Matthew Miles
