The year was 1997 and the Ducati V-twins had been dominating magazine covers for years. Not to be outdone, two Japanese manufacturers produced similarly-configured V-twins (actually, L-twins). Honda had the SuperHawk, and Suzuki the TL1000S. I’ve always liked Suzuki better, so I went with the TL1000s. Suzuki offered the TL in two colors….a forest green with red accents; and bright red with yellow accents. For me, it had to be red.
I bought my TL at Bert’s in Azusa. If I recall correctly, I negotiated the guys down to $8700 out the door, and part of that was a Yamaha 650 twin I traded in. I had bought the Yamaha used from a guy in a course I taught at McDonnell Douglas, thinking the Yamaha would be like my old Triumph Bonnevilles but reliable. The Yamaha was a bust. It was too heavy, it had cheap fasteners, the Hopper/Fonda riding stance was awful, it didn’t handle, and it lacked the low-end grunt of my earlier Triumphs.
I remember riding the TL home from Bert’s. The riding was awkward with the bike’s low bars and high footpegs, but I got used to it and I made it less punishing with a set of Heli-Bars. The Heli-Bars were slighly taller and wider (you got about an inch more in each dimension, which made a difference).
The TL was the fastest and hardest accelerating motorcycle I ever owned. It would wheelie in third gear if you weren’t paying attention, and it went from zero to 100 in a heartbeat. The bottom end torque was ferocious. Fuel economy was atrocious, and it had a tendency to stall at low rpm. But wow, did it ever look good. Did I mention it was fast?
My friend Marty had an Aprilia V-twin (a Mille, I think, or something like that), another bit of Italian exotica, that cost even more than the Ducati. Marty’s spaghetti-bender was more than twice what I paid for my TL. We swapped bikes once on a day ride and I came away unimpressed. My TL was faster.
I wanted the look of a sport bike, but I’m not a canyon racer and the exotic look didn’t do anything for me once I had ridden the TL a few times. Then something funny happened. My Harley died on a Baja ride. I nursed my Harley home, parked it, and took the TL. Surprisingly, it did a good job as a touring platform. And I could ride at speeds the Harley couldn’t dream about. In those days, if there were speed limits in Baja, I didn’t know about them.
That first big trip on the TL instead of the Harley cinched it for me. I bought sportsbike soft luggage and used the TL on many rides after that. 700-mile days in Baja became the norm (I could make Mulegé in a day; the TL wouldn’t break a sweat). The only downside was the abominable fuel economy (the fuel light would come on after 105 miles), but a one-gallon red plastic fuel container and a bungie cord fixed that. It was Beverly hillbillies, but it worked. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a hillbilly (somebody’s got to shoot those road signs).
Even with the TL’s mid-30-mpg fuel economy, I only ran out of fuel twice. Once was on the Bodfish-Caliente Road (one of California’s best kept secrets). I didn’t have my gas can with me; Marty rode ahead and returned with a gasoline-filled water bottle he hoped wouldn’t dissolve (it didn’t). The other time was on Baja’s long stretch headed south to Guerrero Negro. That road runs straight as an arrow, and I ran the TL at a surprisingly comfortable 145 mph (still well below the TL’s top speed). The TL was fuel injected and when it ran dry it was like someone shut the ignition. I poured my extra gallon in and made it to the next Pemex station. The guys I rode with were still far behind.
I had fun with the TL, but I dropped it a lot more than any other bike I had ever owned. All the drops were my fault. The low-mounted sport bars restricted steering, and once when pulling into my driveway, there wasn’t enough to keep the bike upright. Before I realized it, the bike and I were both on the ground (my first thought was to wonder if anyone had seen me). The next time the bike was in my driveway, facing slightly downhill. I started it to let it warm up, and the bike rolled off the sidestand. Again, my first thought was if anyone had seen me. The third time was more dramatic. The TL had a slipper clutch; you could downshift with reckless abandon. The clutch would slip and not skid the rear tire. It was cool, until I used it diving hard into a corner. The curb was coming up quickly and I wasn’t slowing fast enough. The slipper clutch was doing its thing, but when I touched the front brake, that was enough to unload the rear wheel. It broke loose and I fishtailed into the curb. I went over the bars, executed a very clean somersault, and came to rest in the sitting position looking straight ahead. I had been watching the Oympics on TV the day before and I remember thinking (as I completed my dismount) I could be a competitor. A woman in a station wagon saw the whole thing. She rolled down her window and I half expected to see a sign with a 10 on it (like they do at the Olympics). “Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered. “I’m a gymnast and I’m practicing.” The window went up and she disappeared.
I loved the looks of the TL. Yeah, the carbon fiber was faux, but I didn’t care. In those days I was running a factory that made carbon fiber aircraft stuff and I never understood the attraction. Even with fake carbon fiber, the TL was a motorcycle that looked fast. And it was.
Suzuki only made the TL for a few years. Some guy in the UK killed himself in a speed wobble, the bike got an Internet rep as a tank slapper, and that killed sales worldwide. Suzuki had a recall to add a steering damper, but the damage had been done. Bert’s installed the damper on my TL, I couldn’t feel any difference , and my bike never went into a wobble (either before or after the recall). My hypothesis is that the UK guy rolled on too much throttle exiting a corner, lifting the front wheel with the bike leaned over. That will induce a wobble, you know. There was another recall to fix the low speed stalling issue. I guess it worked; my bike never had a low speed stall after that.
Suzuki offered a more radical fully-faired version called the TL1000R (I didn’t like its looks), but the TL-R didn’t survive, either. The engine, however, proved to be a winner. Today, 25 years later, a detuned version is still soldiering on in the ADV-styled V-Strom. I never owned a V-Strom, but I should have. Everybody I ever talked to who owned one loved the V-Strom. Me, I loved my TL.
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I understand the appeal . And I always thought my Suzukis back in the 70’s were built better than Kawi and Yamaha ha . And maybe even Honda .
But that was the 1970’s.
No thanks on the TL though . I was done with jap bikes well before then .
My H1 with drag bars more than satisfied my desire to hunch over the gas tank to ride. No squid bikes for me.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for posting, Hack.
One of my buds had one and he found that by switching to regular gas instead of premium the mileage actually went up. And I believe that the manual specifies regular. And like you, he absolutely loved that bike. Now, about that Yamaha XS 650 thing, I own 6 of them and while they aren’t Bonnevilles, they do succeed admirably at being a very fun and reliable 650 roadster. And they rarely leave you stuck on the side of the road. Kinda like, as we fans like to say “the Triumph without the trouble”. Used to messenger on one too and loved it for its size and weight. Made a great platform for that kind of work.
I hear ya, Bob. To me, the XS 650 had no soul. I don’t think I put even 100 miles on it the entire time I owned it.
sometimes its good to read other folks experiences with different bikes.
the xs sound tinny compared to a triumph.
cast iron barrels gives a bike that organic sound.
compare a shovelhead to an all alum evo.
its unfortunate that axle stopped making iron barrels for evo sportsters.
i would love to get a set.
i had a couple of xs650’s that were clunkers that i flipped back when i was more actively involved with stuff like that. very popular bike. especially the ones with out the easy rider style crap.
lots of them been chopped and some nice ones tracker styled. the xs650 may have actually started that trend.
a poor mans triumph i guess. they just didn’t have the sound or the look of a triumph.
no soul is an apt description. nobody wrote a pickle song about riding an XS.
Well said.
That was an “almost” bike for me…I almost bought one several times, but ended up with something else. I think I remember them having a rotary rear shock or something like that…things get a little hazy at times. I did ride the Honda Super Hawk along that time…
I had forgotten about the rotary shock. A bit of zaniness that apparently never caught on.
I worked in service at a Suzuki dealership at the time, I loved riding the TL1000R when I would get a chance. The wheelies you mentioned made me realize my license would be in peril if I got one! I Almost pulled the trigger on buying one but I opted to get a New Old stock GTS1000 Yamaha instead, another rare bird that didn’t catch on with the buying public.
Just got back from a 2500 mile ride on my other “Cult bike” a TDM850 Yamaha, Sport touring twin, not as fast as the TL but a fun bike nonetheless! People don’t believe me when I tell them it’s 30 Years old!
There were some gems out there. The Japanese engineering was far ahead of everyone else, in my opinion.
Thanks for commenting, Mark.
Joe what’s a “slipper” clutch? Compared to one like an RX3 or xs650 has? Always wondered cause I thought all clutches slip when pulling in the handle.
Any good comparisons on xs650 Yamahaha, W650 Kawasaki and the RE 650 you have? Kinda cool retro bikes that could take you places.
It allows the clutch to slip slightly when using engine compression to slow the motorcycle. If appropriately designed, it sort of acts like an antiskid feature when downshifting to slow the bike. It will allow engine compression to slow the bike up to the point of skidding the rear tire, at which point the clutch slips just enough to prevent a skid.
Never heard of a “rotary rear shock” what’s that all about. And I was a Suzuki mechanic in the middle 70’s.
Rob, I never messed with it, and I certainly never got into the thing’s guts. I think it was more a marketing gimmick than anything else.
I always wondered why my SV1000 had a steering damper.