![]() ![]() It lets down the otherwise excellent chassis and impressive motor. The biggest complaint with the bike is the too-soft suspension. The chassis, with its cradle-type steel frame, is right up there with excellent big-bore bikes like Yamaha's Warrior and Kawasaki's Mean Streak. He kept saying how well-connected the bike felt, and the rest of us have to agree. Getting off of the bikes for a cold beverage at the Backwood's Inn, Calvin was also enthused at the Volusia's pace. But there was Calvin right behind us the whole time. How else to explain the way Calvin was able to keep up with me and Lisa on Honda's ST1300 during a recent flog on a beautiful afternoon? I know I wasn't poking along since the ST was dragging some hard parts and Lisa was a bit tense, squeezing other not-so-rigid parts. We were expecting to see more like 50-plus horsies and torquies. And while we're sure that's correct, the bike feels quite a bit stronger. Our Dynojet Model 250 measured out just 42 horsepower and 43.2 pound-feet of torque. In fact, the motor feels quite a bit stronger than the dyno numbers suggest. The Volusia likes to run, and by the time you realize there's no hard limiter to bump into (the Volusia uses a soft limiter) you've already grabbed another gear and are on your way. There's none of that rev-limiter cutting in seemingly right after you've released the clutch and get underway. The thing that so many of us like about the smaller-displacement cruisers is the way they rev, and this Suzuki will wail. Seven positions of preload adjustability are available out back, though there's no concession made for either rebound or compression adjustments at either end. The forks are set out at a 33° angle and the shock works through a link-type system to smooth the ride over the Volusia's 65.2 inch wheelbase. Again, it's standard take-no-chances cruiser fare pretty much across the board. The handlebars are wide and the foot controls are out front, though not stupidly so. It's your usual cruiser layout with nothing fancy and no terrible eye-sores to loose sleep over. Maybe it's got to do with less mass bumping around inside the cases or the way the motor's fastened to the hard chassis bit, but there's a nice, connected feel there.įrom the seat, just 27.6 inches from the ground, you see the fuel tank-mounted speedometer with LCD fuel gauge, clock and indicator lights. At speed on the road, there's just that pleasant cruiser thrum that reminds a rider he's on a motorcycle, not in a cage with a coffee cup holder, stereo, GPS and glovebox. Hands just slightly rock and butt cheeks slightly bump up and down at idle. And to keep things "green," a pulsed-secondary air-injection system introduces air into the exhaust ports to ignite unburned hydrocarbons and reduce emissions for bike delivered to all markets.įrom the rider's seat, which is a comfortable bit in its own right, the Volusia's vibes are nearly perfect for a cruiser. To keep vibes to an acceptable level, the crankshaft feature 45° offset crank pins to reduce engine vibration. Suzuki claims to have installed a short-duration cam and, of course, the tuned dual exhaust system to help make even more power out of the relatively small motor. Technically speaking, the heart of the Volusia is an 805cc, eight-valve, liquid-cooled, 45° V-twin fed by a single 34mm carburetor. And, of course, it had to have untraditional performance. Suzuki introduced their Volusia 800 a year (or was it two?) ago, and aimed it at cruiser enthusiasts who wanted classic cruiser looks without the classic cruiser heft - a seemingly unshakable side-effect of cruiser manufacturing. They already make some of the most powerful engines in any given category, and their legacy with the Intruder line of cruisers is steeped in horsepower. If anybody was going to surprise us with a strong-running motor, the smart money was riding on Suzuki. At least, that's the way it has always been until now. There's no respect given due to their comparative performance vacuum when placed alongside such monsters as Harley V-Rods and Honda VTXs. It's an unfortunate place that non-behemoth-sized cruisers inhabit, then. Torrance, California, J- In cruisers, just as in stacks of money and the size of your house, bigger is always better. ![]()
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