Suzuki Intruder M 1800 R 2006 – looks like a “bodybuilder”

When, back in 2006, the Suzukites presented the M1800R, the motorcycle world met the novelty with interest – after all, two years earlier, the Rocket III entered the market with such parameters that no one could even imagine. And now – a blow in the same direction from the Japanese. As usual, the journalists immediately tried to attach characteristic labels to the novelty. 1800 was called a “sport bike among cruisers”, “power cruiser”, “rocket” and so on, and in the same spirit … It is understandable: V-twin of impressive volume with 125 “filly” inside, long wheelbase, The 240mm rear roller and huge brake discs with four-piston radial calipers could not fail to attract the attention of motorcyclists and inspire awe, raising the main question: How does it behave on the road?

Perhaps I’ll start with the appearance – it simply attracts the eye with its design, when I first saw this “bodybuilder” my jaw dropped. For me it was such a novelty (in the village where I lived, you will not see this live). His appearance is either sporty or classical, but in my opinion there is nothing superfluous. This perception is greatly facilitated by the elongated and squat silhouette and the headlight with an unusual fairing. If you do not try to grasp the “whole picture” entirely, but focus your gaze on some details, then doubts about the sporting nature of this Intruder will disappear completely. A rollover fork with impressive 46mm movable tubes and two huge brake discs with radial four-piston calipers – that says a lot! The landing is quite low (although, in addition to the standard seat position by 700 mm, there is an increased one, by 805), but in general – its ergonomics is universal, and a “shorty” from 160 centimeters and a “big” up to 190 can feel comfortable in a wide saddle. …

By the way, a motorcycle from a pretentious bodybuilder and an evening “weekend defilator” can quite easily be turned into a tourist. To do this, the owner will need to buy a visor with fasteners (like the seat, the glass has two sizes in height), plus a pair of hard branded wardrobe trunks covered with leather – in Suzuki, their style was developed specifically for this model. The heated handlebars will help to significantly increase the comfort on the road, and the side arches, on which you can also install the stems to rest the feet, will increase safety. So, with a “light movement of the hand” and the loss of a small amount of bills (relative to the price of the cruiser), this “bodybuilder” can be turned into a full-fledged asphalt tourer. Moreover, if the owner is not an egoistic tourist, then he will be able to take a companion with him on the trip, since the size of the passenger seat does not in any way resemble the “chicken roost” of many other motorcycles, this will be quite real. In addition, by delivering the backrest to it, you can turn the journey for the passenger into a pleasant walk.

Low start, acceleration and stop

As you know, “vashki” are famous for their powerful torque – as they say, “from the bottom.” And indeed, if you depict a “teapot” who still does not know how to deftly control the throttle and the clutch lever, moreover, decently “gassed”, but did not manage to release the brake lever in time, then you can get under way with a gorgeous slip – almost two-liter the motor is quite enough to perform such a trick, the main thing is to stop pampering in time and “catch” the bike. In principle, it is not difficult to do this – thanks to the sufficiently long wheelbase and the angle of inclination of the rollover fork, this Intruder is not only easy to control when the rear wheel is skidding, but also in high-speed runs on a straight, but not entirely flat road. Although the understanding of the phrase “not quite even” – it is different for everyone. And, if on a tourist enduro you can fly on humped-wavy asphalt, just slightly complaining about its “roughness”, then the short-travel suspension of this “Japanese” with a rather tight rear multi-shock absorber makes its significant adjustments to this understanding. Due to the landing of the “feet forward” type (albeit not so extreme) on the pits and bumps, it is impossible to get up on your feet – you can only tear off the “fifth point” from the seat if you pull yourself up on the steering wheel, which means that to enjoy the ride you will have to choose directions with smooth asphalt. Unfortunately, this season they are in Ukraine – a deficit! But only in this case it will be possible not to stare at the asphalt tape, looking for defects in it, but to take turns in graceful slopes – such a manner unusual for ordinary choppers and cruisers. But on this bike it is quite natural.

Combined with the easy accessibility of traction (at any revs), this agility, rare for a class, on some winding smooth road winding among the hills can bring you to ecstasy, the main thing is not to get too carried away by speed. Although the excess within reasonable limits is not so terrible, because, unlike many of its “classmates”, the VZR1800 has a seriously designed braking system, which is efficient enough to siege 300-plus kilograms of iron, rushing at a speed of 120 km / h!

Exploitation
According to the assurances of the owners and employees of MotoSTO, the M1800R is quite reliable and, in addition to regular maintenance with the replacement of consumables and small parts, does not require any serious investment. Except for one “but”: on models produced before 2008, there was a too weak clutch mechanism (11 clutches), and it could “cover” at any time, since its resource was highly dependent on driving style and the ability to use the lever on the left half of the steering wheel … So for “dummies” driving with a half-squeezed lever or those who loved to let “smoke in their eyes” (in this case, literally) from under the rear wheel on motorcycle riders, the sudden death of the clutch could occur even in the first thousand of runs! But in cases where the bike will be saved only by replacing the clutch, it is still better to replace it in the assembly (for a modernized one, with 13 discs). As for other operating costs of the Intruder M1800R, they are detailed in the table.