1999 Suzuki TL1000R

Brutal Superbike replica, or harmless scooter?


Why do I ride motorcycles?  Because cars lean the wrong way in turns.

When you get the bike leaned over this far, everything comes into proper focus.  Forget all
125 HP of primal V-twin power: it's the handling that'll make me keep this bike around.  The
bike is right at home on a race track, where all the little imperfections that show up on the
street just sort of melt away as the engine sings and the pegs scrape.

Not all has been well, though - problems with the bike so far:

43 miles: Battery spills acid all over bodywork.  Apparently, someone had handled the battery a bit roughly
during shipping or assembly ("oh, it's not good to drop those?"), and the gelled acid leaked once it heated up a bit.
Damaged left middle fairing, battery box, belly pan.  This happened on the first night, and the bike was
returned to me a full week later.  I was not pleased.  Bodywork took nearly 7 months to arrive at
dealer, through a combination of bungled orders by both the dealer and American Suzuki.

~2200 miles: Dynojet Power Commander II installed, immediately makes bike run even worse than
stock (see how to fix it here).

~5500 miles: Bike fails to start, at Pridmore's track school no less.  Bike later starts after basically
a lot of dicking around; water in fuel most likely cause.

~5700 miles: Bike does normal backfire during start-up, somehow manages to blow the throttle body
complete free of the intake duct.  This will cause the bike to idle very roughly and at 6,000 RPM.
Fixed at 10:30 PM at work.  Apparently, either the duct wasn't tightened properly at the plant, or
the duct clamp worked loose from vibration.  I'm willing to place blame on either root cause, and I'll
be keeping an eye on these during tune-ups.

Obviously, not all the problems are the fault of the bike.  Other nagging problems include twitchy
handling (it's fine on the track, but the bars will waggle around a fair amount on bumps), somewhat
touchy throttle response (result of those honkin' 52 mm throttle bodies, no doubt), and somewhat
inadequate range (about 135 miles before the fuel light comes on to stay; fine for highways trips, but
a real pain for commuting since it requires a fill-up every other day).

The ergonomics work great for my 5'6" frame, the ride is a decent compromise between real-world
(plush) and play-time (firm), the engine is by far the smoothest V-twin I've ridden (Honda, Ducati,
and Moto Guzzi 90-degree twins are paint-shakers compared to this one), and the bike attracts looks
wherever it goes.

Of course I can't leave anything alone - my modifications:

- Yoshimura RS-3 stainless-steel full system w/ carbon cans ("street" baffles later modified to
   more-closely resemble the construction of the "race" baffles)
- Dynojet Power Commander II
- Airbox lid removed
- 16-tooth front sprocket (stock is 17-teeth)
- 180/55-17 Dunlop 207ZR rear tire (stock is 190/50-17)
- Trimmed rear fender
- Custom camera mount for Sony DCR-TRV320

Oh, yea, and lots of tire wear.  Nothin' quite like making Dunlop's best look like chewed bubble gum.