Suzuki Intruder M1800: Rolling Thunder

Just a couple of weeks back, around the time of the launch of the big bikes from Suzuki, I had taken a brief look at the Suzuki M1800 Intruder. Back then, I was struggling to figure what exactly this gigantic Japanese cruiser was designed to do. Well, I finally got my hands on one last weekend and let me just get my initial reaction out of the way; "OH MY GOD!!! HOLY @&*^!!!"

Whew!!! Now that that's done with, I can really start talking about the bike. It's not like I've not ridden big bikes before, nor is it that I haven't ridden faster bikes. But whatever bike you may have ridden, if it hasn't been an Intruder, like me, you're definitely in for a surprise. I had a lot of inhibitions in my mind about riding around such a big cruiser in a crowded city as well as on our highways which, on most stretches, are no less congested. After spending about two days on the bike, blasting down open highways, fighting bumper-to-bumper traffic on city streets, leaning through miles of twisties; at the end of it all, the Intruder always left me with a big smile on my face...for more reasons than one.

Design

The Intruder is an absolute beauty to behold, whether it's rolling, or stopped at a signal or even when it's parked. Believe me when I tell you, none of its photos do it any justice at all. You have to see the bike in flesh and it will immediately cast its spell upon you with its handsome proportions and its rather generous adornment of chrome. The bike has very few elements that are classic cruiser and rather leans towards the modern custom chopper in the styling department.

Right from the 18-inch alloy wheels with their axe-blade like spokes, to the headlamp with its massive chrome cowl or even the way the wide, low tank flows into the seat which in turn flows into the rear fender; you can make out that this bike just screams for attention. Even the giant chrome air box cover that sits between both the cylinders and the shiny chrome exhausts that curve around other bits of the engine feel like they would be more at home in a modern-art gallery.

The wide, flat handlebars which are fat in the center, taper down into the grips at the very end, and hold a sleek looking tachometer in the centre. The speedometer is nestled away in the centre of the big fuel tank, just about the fuel filler cap. Rather noteworthy is the fact that rather contrary to modern sportbikes which have digital speedos and analogue rev-counters, the Intruder has this the other way round. Look down the handlebars, and even the giant bar-mounts sprouting out of the huge T-section, will catch your attention as they seem to be made out of a solid block of aluminium.

The indicators are a bit of a turn-off as they remind you of those found on many of our local commuter bikes. But all-in-all the Intruder exudes presence the likes of which we've never seen in the country before.

Ergonomics

Intruder's big, wide seat will probably be comfortable to anybody, no matter how large they are, but the rear seat isn't too comfortable for pillions as it slopes backwards and is a little rounded in its shape. Also, since the bike doesn't offer the pillion anything like grab rails to hold on to, nor does it have a back rest like most cruisers, most pillions will be comfortable only for short rides. On the other hand, the wide handlebars and front-set foot pegs offer a very comfortable posture to the rider for long distance riding. But that being said, shorter riders might find the pegs and the bars a bit of a stretch.

While the bike feels too huge and unwieldy when you get astride, it just takes a little getting used to, and after a few kilometers of riding around, it really seems to shed its bulk. The seat is fairly low overall, and it should be a problem for most riders to flatfoot the bike. Be warned though, pushing this bike in and out of a parking spot with your feet while you're sitting on it can be rather difficult at times. It's best if you can manage to back it into place while parking, and just start the engine to ride it out when it's time to go.

Engine/Performance

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This bike has, by far, the largest engine found on any motorcycle in the country. Looking pristine beneath the bulbous fuel tank is the heart of this monster, a massive liquid-cooled 1.8 litre 54-degree V-twin engine. Yes, that's right... 1783cc to be exact; more cubic capacity than even most cars available in India. The interesting bit about this engine is its Bore x Stroke configuration of 112mm x 90.5mm, which gives the motor an inherently high-revving nature and 130PS of power, rather contrary to what one expects from a V-twin cruiser engine. And all this power is sent to the rear wheel by means of a shaft-drive, which makes the power delivery rather snappy as compared to a conventional chain-drive.

Now I knew that the bike produced a monstrous 160Nm of torque before I rode it, but it's just a number and nothing could prepare me for what that much torque felt like. I'm a fairly strong and heavy guy, but on the highway as I wrung the throttle hard, I was actually struggling to hang on for my dear life. The only way I can think of to describe the feeling is what one gets when an airliner accelerates down the runway during take-off; you just feel an immense surge of power pushing you back. And that surge actually feels endless - throughout the rev-range be it in any gear. And this shows in the Intruder's roll-on acceleration figures. A quick twist of the throttle while cruising in third gear at 40km/h, and the bike rocketed its way to 140km/h in a mere 8.24 seconds.

The bike does tend to warp your sense of speed though. Many-a-times, while I thought I was cruising along at 60km/h, a brief glance at the speedo showed I was clocking triple digit speeds. And just as often, it became common practice for me to get carried away by the V-twin's crescendo as the revs climbed. But seriously, the sound is orgasmic, and it can best be described as a heavy metal band playing a live concert at full volume under the seat of your pants.

While I could sing praises about the way the Intruder feels and performs all day, there are those who prefer their information as cold, hard facts. Well, from a standstill, the bike reached the 100km/h mark in a mind-numbing 5.05 seconds, though I'm sure with a bit more time on the bike and a proper drag-strip at our disposal, sub-4 second times can be managed. As for the top-speed, the speedo indicates a maximum of 240km/h and while I'm pretty confident that the Intruder will be able to top-out a few km/h short of that mark, I have no intention of trying to prove that claim.

Handling

The Intruder's riding posture is typical of a cruiser, with arms and legs stretched out ahead and a low slung saddle. Coming from a sports bike background, initially I was really skeptical about the handling ability because of this seating position and its raked-out front forks. It took me a while to get used to it and then I discovered the wisdom in Suzuki's decision to pinch the forks from their GSX-R1000 superbike and transplant them into this heavy power cruiser. The upside-down forks, raked out as they may be, endow the Intruder with phenomenal handling, which though nowhere close to a superbike, is just brilliant for a cruiser. Except for really tight hairpins, you can attack any other sort of corner with near-reckless bravado and carry mental speeds through it.

The only slight downside on the handling front I found was that the rear was a little softly sprung for my heavy weight and the bike tended to bob through some of the faster corners. But once I got my inputs smoothened out, this didn't really cause much of a bother. To my surprise, the bike really didn't show its massive 319kg dry weight when scooting through city traffic, though the cable-operated clutch can be a bit of a pain in stop-and-go-traffic. And I was really happy that, along with the forks, even the front brakes were pinched from the GSX-R. The 320mm twin discs with two-piston calipers work really well and can bring this behemoth from 100km/h to a dead stop in just 3.6seconds, covering 52.87 metres in the process.

Living with it

At an ex-showroom price of Rs. 12.5 lakh, the Intruder certainly isn't everybody's cup of tea. But honestly, for those who can afford it, I don't think there is any other bike that can deliver even half of what the Intruder does. Sure, there are a lot of cheaper ones available in the market and there are also a couple of bikes that are faster. But in terms of sex-appeal, this thing is completely off the scale. Ride this thing around town and it will fetch you a crazy amount of attention. Ride this thing down the open highway, and it will give you an insane buzz with its buckets full of torque and high-revving V-twin melody.

After just a little getting used to, the Intruder proves very able in any sort of riding requirement you throw at it; whether you like touring, or riding twisty mountain roads, or even city commutes, this monster just swallows it all up and asks for more.

Verdict

Honestly, I don't like cruisers much and I really wanted to hate this bike. I had even found a bunch of things to complain about after the first time I rode the Intruder. But after spending two days riding this bike around town, the freeways and the ghats, this big bruiser... er, I mean cruiser had cast its spell on me and totally won me over with its charm. I was really saddened when I had to give it back and it was probably the only time in my life I felt the desperate urge to have enough money to be able to afford it. After we returned the bike to the Suzuki showroom, coming back to office on the Pulsar was a totally surreal experience and the bike felt like a bicycle. And even after coming back to office, I couldn't stop thinking about the Intruder for hours on end, for while a sportbike may make me feel like an aspiring MotoGP racer, the Intruder made me feel like The King.