Dr. Jekyll Or Mr. Hyde? Original And Low Mile 1997 Suzuki TL1000S
How do you remember the TL1000S ? Was it a worthy Ducati alternative with innovative ideas and a very nice 90 degree V twin or the widow maker from Hammatsu? It is definitely a bike with a sorted past but how much is real and how much is legend? I remember stories of violent and unexpected head shake that would scare even those with the highest of testosterone levels. I’ve read of issues with the rotary damper rear suspension. There apparently were general quality control issues with the initial model year bikes as well. That is the Dr. Jekyll
The Mr. Hyde? Well, for the most part people absolutely love the darn things. Most say though, ditch the rotary damper rear suspension as soon as possible. For a bike released in 97 it had some nice features. The frame is a light weight trellis design and the engine featured fuel injection and a back torque limiting clutch. From the reading I did the bike could be summed up in a word: “Fun”!.
If the Dr. Jekyll still has you worried, this bike did go through the Suzuki recall program. I believe the recall was for the steering damper but I also saw one for the fuel tank as well.
If you’ve waited, this is the one you want. Almost 100% original and only 2,300 miles. The only changes are a tasteful exhaust system and a fuel injection update.
The details:
Up for auction is an extremely clean example of a 1997 Suzuki TL1000S in the rare green color. This bike is as close to new as you are likely to find anywhere, only 2300 miles on it. The photo shows 2200 something but I’ve been riding it, this bike runs awesome and is a blast to ride. The sound is absolutely addicting! I don’t think it’s possible to ride this bike and not be smiling, it’s that much fun! The bike is all original except for the stainless steel/carbon fiber exhaust. I do have the original pipes, mufflers, brackets and rear seat pad. All are included to the winning bidder as well as a Yoshimura fuel injection adjuster, factory service repair manual, and an owners manual. The bike has a brand new Yuasa battery this season. There are NO scratches dings or dents, again very clean, very original. No disappointments if you are looking for a sweet TL1000S. I do reserve the right to end the auction early as the bike is for sale locally. Thanks for looking and good luck! Please email me with any question that you may have.
The bike did have all the original recalls done as proven by the “Suzuki OK” sticker on the right side of the frame. Yes this bike does have the factory steering damper installed.
As I’ve said before, it impresses me when an “average” bike has been taken care of this well.
I think the styling has held up well. It would look just fine in a showroom in 2011. You may know Suzuki sold these engines to Bimota for the SB8K but did you know they also sold them to Cagiva for the V-Raptor and Navigator? Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of those two. They never made it to the United States. Knowing Cagiva, they probably barely made it out of the factory.
A quick spin of the internets revealed there aren’t a whole lot of TL1000S’s for sale. It turns out to be a bit more rare than I thought. I didn’t come across a single one that was as nice as this example. If you aren’t spooked then check it out here.
Ian
Nice write up (and nice bike!) overall. However, in sentence 3 may I suggest that “sordid” works better than “sorted”?
PJ
Sortof Sorted…
You are telling me you guys actually read what we write? Damn, now I actually have to watch what I’m doing!
Good catch.
dude. youve got your literary reference backwards.
dr. jekyll was the nice guy, mr. hyde was the evil one.
Well, that depends if you’re a glass is half evil kinda guy
I called my doctor after reading what you said about high testosterone levels needed to ride this thing. He reviewed my latest blood work and said at 59 years of age, my levels are as high as a 20 year old and to start bidding on this thing. I forgot to tell him about the testosterone treatments from my other doctor. Steering dampener?…. “We don’t need no stinkin stearing dampener”!
Walter,
You refer to a wordsmith such as myself as dude? I need to stop writing these darn things under the influence of Bombay Saphire.
Having put a couple of relatively hard seasons on my ’97 1000S, I feel somewhat qualified to speak on the issue.
-Some sort of a steering damper is MANDATORY, just like on any other superbike.
-Properly set up, the stock suspension works just fine, even on bumpy roads. Be careful of dialing in too much spring preload on the rear.
-Remove the stupid, complicated, and restrictive intake air temp control system (that’s right–cut it off! There’s a nice outline on the inside of the air filter inlet.) This not only frees up more horsepower, it also lets some of the ducted, formerly “ram” airflow under the tank and over the rear shock, thus providing much needed cooling to both. No more shock fade after this mod!!
-Install a later model “R” engine, and use as many of the sensors/locations from that engine. Somewhat complicated, but you can use the ’97 S management system with this setup. Just make sure the TPS is set correctly (very critical).
-Both TLs were just a little too large, dimensionally to make ideal track bikes, and ignoring this fact gets people in trouble.
I’ve more to add, but only if prompted.
Howard,
Good stuff, I like hearing from owners. That is some serious mix and match.
I have a 97 myself. Love it. I wasn’t even in the market for this bike until one showed up at my local Duc dealer. I wanted a Touno but the legroom was lacking quite a bit. I took a seat on the TL and I was hooked. Comfortable, fun, and lightweight to boot. Great bike to ride hard and I can stay on it all day. I have a hard time imagining what I’d ever replace it with.
Couldn’t agree more with ZachB!
Just did a round-trip blast to MotoGP from SouthBay/LA.
Six-pot cali’s from an R really help out with the stopping.
In fact, all of the conversion mod’s I’ve done are holding up quite well–definitely a useful trait found in Japanese M/C’s.
Fuel economy for the TL was also a gripe of others, but I get over 30mpg when hammering; close to 45mpg when cruising @75-80ish. Did one fuel stint from SLO to Trancas Canyon/ Malibu (something like 170+ miles, according to trip odo!).
It also is a superb performer @ high altitude (10K ft.)
Let the uninformed complain, say I. That’ll keep the prices down so I can buy more of ’em!