The Suzuki TL1000S was a

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

V-twin A V-twin engine, also called a V2 engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Although widely associated with motorcycles (installed either transversely or longit ...

roadster

sport bike A sport bike (sports motorcycle, or sports bike) is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfor ...

made from 1997–2001.

General background

The Suzuki TL1000S was introduced by Suzuki in 1997 and was produced until 2001 and is frequently referred to as the TLS or Suzuki TLS. It is notable for the 90°

V-twin engine A V-twin engine, also called a V2 engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Although widely associated with motorcycles (installed either transversely or longi ...

which is still used in Suzuki's modern SV1000 and V-Strom 1000 motorcycles. The TLS motor featured a 90° V-twin for perfect

primary balance Engine balance refers to how the forces (resulting from combustion or rotating/reciprocating components) are balanced within an internal combustion engine or steam engine. The most commonly used terms are ''primary balance'' and ''secondary bala ...

and had hybrid chain/gear driven cams. A traditional cam chain turned a gear that in turn rotated the cams. This hybrid design eased maintenance immensely and gave the motor additional aural character because of the gear whine. The motor was also used for the

Suzuki TL1000R The Suzuki TL1000R motorcycle was introduced in 1998 as Suzuki's 90° V-Twin Superbike. Production ended in 2003. General background The TL1000R is a full fairing racing-oriented version of Suzuki's popular TL1000S. The TL1000R was launche ...

. Suzuki also sold many of the TL motors to

Cagiva Cagiva is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer. It was founded in 1950 by Giovanni Castiglioni in Varese, originally producing small metal components. Giovanni's sons, Claudio and Gianfranco Castiglioni, went into the motorcycle industry in 1978. ...

to be used in the Navigator and V-Raptor models. Bimota also used the engine for their popular

Bimota SB8K The SB8K is a sportbike made by Italian motorcycle manufacturer Bimota. The bike was added to the present lineup after the company hiatus in the late 1990s financial crisis. The bike was built with a profusion of light alloys and carbon fiber; the ...

Rear shock

Suzuki designers needed to find creative solutions to make the TL1000S a viable sportbike. V-twin engines are longer from front to rear than standard inline four cylinder motors used in most sportbikes. In order to keep the wheelbase as short as possible engineers separated the rear

shock absorber A shock absorber or damper is a mechanical or hydraulic device designed to absorb and damp shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy (typically heat) which is then dissipated. Most sh ...

/damper from the spring. The spring was located on the right side of the bike and Suzuki developed and employed a rotary style rear damper that provided its damping characteristics through rotating arms. A similar version was also used on the Suzuki TL1000R. The rear shock was similar to suspension dampers used on

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

race cars. This 'rotary' damper was said to overheat the oil if the motorcycle was worked hard and became a source of concern to many but in real world road terms was reasonably ok. Many have now had this damperset up replaced with coil over shock units like 'Ohlins' etc

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuki Tl1000s TL1000S Sport bikes Motorcycles introduced in 1997