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MOTORRAD presents: Suzuki VL 1500 Intruder

Test of strength

Now it’s going to be really big: With unrestrained use of materials and plenty of cubic capacity, the Suzuki VL 1500 Intruder is a late, but all the more powerful, commitment to the road cruiser.

The main thing is to be there – this noble Olympic thought is certainly not one of the cornerstones of product management at Suzuki. Setting trends with full steam instead of chasing them shorts of breath wherever possible, being number one is the motto.
So it must be a bit of a surprise that Suzuki has reacted to the signs of the times with atypical delay when it comes to cruisers and only now swings into the wide tire tracks of the competition. Anyway: The VL 1500 Intruder may be late, but it is all the more powerful.
Huge, not in the sense of an exuberant range of services. The engine is basically a VS 1400 unit, which, thanks to a more generous design of bore and stroke, now keys the prestigious 1.5-liter mark and can be credited with 68 instead of 64 hp.
On the other hand, tremendous in terms of their fullness. With a mass of well over six hundred pounds, the VL 1500 doesn’t stop at objectively being one of the very heavy chunks, no, with sweeping gestures it also blatantly adopts the "Bigger is better" philosophy: swelling fenders, cast wheels with a martial appearance, fat tires, arm-thick fork legs, a seating group like from a furniture store and in the middle of it a flash of chrome from the engine – all these flow together into a body language in which there is no room for soft tones. But for superlatives: With a wheelbase of 170 centimeters, the Suzuki is not just a big cruiser, but probably the longest (series) motorcycle in the world.
The good news in this context: You don’t notice it while driving. Anyone who sees the classic log transporter in the VL 1500, which swings around corners on a swaying course, must quickly realize that it would have been better to have given up their prejudices by grabbing the fringed jacket at the cloakroom: According to cruiser standards, the driving characteristics of the VL are surprisingly user-friendly. Without any significant physical exertion, the heavyweight can be moved to change direction, without corrections it is possible to circle the machine around tight bends, without turning maneuvers on commercially wide roads turn into a neat circular stroke. Only in corner passages are expressions of displeasure more common. As soon as the attempt is made to fill the term "inclined position" with life, the machine with ugly scratching running boards says: not with me.
Anyone who has problems with this will probably also complain about the lack of ground clearance of their TV chair – in any case, they did not understand this motorcycle. The VL 1500 is a vantage point and a matter of opinion. It only gives deeper insights into the world of cruising to those who approach the topic with the appropriate serenity.
In the case of the engine, this means: to let it trot in the area of ​​its torque zenith – around 2500 rpm – and to spare it from stumbling at low speeds as well as hectic speed surgery. For this purpose, the transmission conveniently has five gears ready, which can be called up from the ankle using an ergonomically designed rocker.
With the chassis, the motto is: take it easy. Take off the gas in good time, use the reverse thrust of the V2 and rather stab too slowly than too quickly in the corners – see above. To support the motor brake, the VL has two stoppers, which, if you take courageous access – or access – do their best against the laws of inertia, if things get tight.
In terms of comfort, only this much: reduce the demands to a mediocre level. As easy and relaxed the sitting posture as the shock-absorbing qualities of the seat cushions and the rubber-mounted handlebars – on bad roads the less flexible suspension elements clearly show who is in charge of the house.
Finally, with a view to the VL’s design phiosopia, it is advisable not to look too closely. It is true that the machine fulfills the purity law of cruiser construction insofar as it consistently dispensations with the use of flimsy plastic parts. On the other hand, it shows in some points (tank and air filter box – just two examples – are dummies) that form and function are not always congruent.
W.hat then somehow goes right again – after all, the trial of strength between existence and appearance traditionally belongs to the nature of the road cruiser.

Genealogy: To the roots of the VL 1500 – stirred, because shaken

Whether chopper or cruiser, a two-cylinder in V-format is required for the leisurely type of driving – exceptions only confirm the rule. How big the V-neck should be is of course a question on which opinions differ. A cylinder angle of 90 degrees is the optimum for comfortable running smoothness, but it entails a large construction volume and ensures irregular ignition intervals. A narrower angle – for example the 45 degrees favored by Harley – makes the engine more compact and gives it a more even pulse, but makes it a violent shaker because of the considerably poorer mass balance. When Suzuki laid down the requirements for the engines of the Intruder family A decision-making emergency seemed to have been preprogrammed: First, the engine should spread its cylinders (true to the original) to a 45-degree V, second, not exhibit more than a tolerable level of vibration, and third, the exhaust staccato of a 90-degree engine give to the best. Isn’t possible? Yes, with a handle on the bag of tricks. Instead of one crank pin for both connecting rods, as is usual with classic V-engines, the intruder engine has two, which are offset by 45 degrees to each other and thus influence both mass balance and firing order. The result is entirely in the spirit of the inventors: The Intruder-V2 has the desired appearance, sounds a little like Ducati and vibrates pithily, but not in a material and human-killing manner, unlike the small, water-jacketed Intruder engines with 600 and 800 cc the 1400 and 1500 Big Blocks use a special type of air / oil cooling. Tea forehead cylinder is satisfied with exposing its ribs to the wind, while the rear pot in the area of ​​the cylinder head is additionally extracted by a special oil circuit. Other special features of the large-volume V2 engines are the hydraulic valve clearance compensation and a clutch that enables a slip of 40 percent in overrun mode and thus prevents the rear wheel from stamping.

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