Suzuki made their own stab at L-twin Superbike glory, and while a championship wasn’t in the cards, the memorable powerplant made for a great street ride. Today’s TLR looks excellent, with some nice mods and moderate miles.
2002 Suzuki TL1000R
With many changes from the TLS engine, the 996 cc’s aboard the TL1000R claimed 135 hp, an excellent 78 ft.-lbs. torque – plus an interesting sound from the hybrid gear / chain cam drive. Suzuki kept the engine upright to ease intake and exhaust issues, and since the rear cylinder occupied the monoshock’s usual spot, a rotary damper was used on the side of the alloy swingarm. Difficulties with this shock provided most of the criticism when the bikes were new, though weight and lumpy styling were co-conspirators.
For 11,448 miles this TLR presents extra well, with just an isolated rub and certainly clean as can be. The carbon rear mudguard is all but hidden by the Yoshimura mufflers, and the rear signals are likely now built into the tail light. Looks like a Hagon shock kit has replaced the factory deal, a gear indicator has been installed, and though the running light front signals might cause a wince at least they didn’t need another hole in the fairing. Not sure what our nationwide audience will do with the warranty or suspension set-up, but might help a northwest buyer. Notes from the eBay auction –
- UNMELLOW YELLOW TWIN
- YOSHIMURA RS-3 EXHAUST
- FENDER ELIMINATOR + FLUSH MOUNT TURN SIGNALS
- ALMOST NEW MICHELIN PILOT ROAD 4
- CARBON FIBER HUGGER
- WELL MAINTAINED UP TO DATE ON SERVICE
- KFG CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED 50 POINT CHECK AND TEST RIDE
- 1,500 MILES AND/OR 30 DAY WARRANTY
- INCLUDES DYNO SESSION
- INCLUDES CUSTOM SUSPENSION BASELINE SET UP
As if out-doing Ducati in the L-twin department weren’t enough, Suzuki and Honda were trying to beat each other to the showroom as well as the racetrack. Suzuki may have rushed their homework a bit, and when the TL1000R wasn’t competitive out of the box, they returned to their 25 years of GSX-R development and surprisingly binned the TLR race team. But in just a few years the bike acquired a healthy fan base, and one comment on the drivetrain is that Bimota chose it for the SB8R. As presented here, this TLR is about as different and nice as a Suzuki can be.
-donn
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