1997 Suzuki TL1000S
Miles: 28,500
Clean Title
Starting Bid: $3,800
Auction ends: July 12th, 2024
Prior to 1997 and the advent of the Suzuki TL1000S, if you wanted a seriously fast v-twin sportbike, your only choice was something Italian, probably expensive, with “Ducati” emblazoned on the tank. At the time, Japanese sportbikes were usually powered by inline-fours that made excellent top-end power and revved to the moon, a configuration that had come to dominate racetracks all over the world. But World Superbike rules gave some real performance advantages to v-twin powered machines, and both Suzuki and Honda introduced their own v-twin motorcycles in the same year to capitalize on the existing WSBK ruleset, as well as to grab themselves a bigger slice of the roadgoing sportbike market. Both companies designed their Ducati-killers in typically overly complex, 90s Japanese fashion, introducing two separate v-twin models with entirely distinct frames and bodywork when variations of a single bike would have done the job as effectively and cost less to develop. The TL1000S was positioned as the more road-oriented model, while the TL1000R followed later and was developed specifically with Superbike homologation in mind. Interestingly, the TL1000S basically ended up landing between Ducati models: it had the power and straight-line speed of the 916, but was much more road-oriented and had more comfortable ergonomics, along with a stylish half-fairing that showed off the engine and frame, as with Ducati’s air-cooled SuperSport models. The bike’s centerpiece was Suzuki’s new 996cc engine that was naturally liquid-cooled, and had the expected dual-overhead cams and four valves per cylinder. Those overhead cams were driven by a hybrid chain/cam system and the engine put its 125hp and plentiful midrange torque through a six-speed gearbox. But in developing a chassis to house their new engine, Suzuki was also forced to solve a problem common to 90° v-twins: packaging. In order to keep the TL’s wheelbase appropriately short, Suzuki developed an innovative rear suspension system that placed the rear spring alongside the engine, a layout used several times by Bimota. Unfortunately, they also chose to replace the traditional rear shock with a compact rotary damper design borrowed from Formula 1. This damper contained too little oil for the application and quickly overheated, leading to… interesting and highly variable handling. These days, passionate owners often replace the separate rotary damper and spring with a more compact, but conventional unit that solves the problem. But when the bike was new the handling issues were not well understood, and the TL1000S quickly developed a deadly reputation that probably only enhanced its mystique.
This is an incredibly well preserved 1997 TL1000S. It has all its original body work and no history of damage. The bike runs flawlessly and needs nothing. It has an aftermarket windshield, gas cap, and led blinkers. It has Yoshimura RS3 exhausts, but is otherwise unmodified. Fork seals and exhaust gaskets were replaced 2/24 and oil was changed.
Nice examples of the TL1000S don’t show up too often and prices still seem to remain low, considering the performance and fun on tap. At 28,500 miles, this obviously isn’t a garage queen, and collectors might shy away, but the Suzuki engine was durable enough to power the touring-oriented V-Strom. Which, incidentally, I’ve always been convinced was supposed to be called the “V-Storm…” In fact, the engine found its way into a pretty wide variety of bikes over the years, including standards, superbikes, and even exotics from Cagiva and Bimota. It’s powerful, flexible, characterful, and reliable. The paint of this example appears to be in very good condition for the bike’s age and mileage, and the Yoshimura exhausts are both period and Suzuki-correct items. The massive fairing stay has a very 90s feel and is a stock item, as are the liberal and unfortunate smatterings of fairly horrible fake carbon fiber…
-tad
I got into the Japanese litre V-twin thing with a VTR, so have no experience with the TL, but these seem to be getting harder to find. My Honda had the same pipes, a winning combo in the noise department.
The VTR is a great bike, and a sportbike bargain if you can find a nice one; I kept wanting to get sidetracked and talk about it in this post. The side-mount radiators are particularly cool, unless you crash, and an interesting way to get around the packaging limitations of a transverse crank v-twin that led to the TL-S/R rear suspension and the very cool rear shock on the v-twin Panigale that was mounted alongside the engine.