Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Intruder carries a speedometer and a m inimum of lights; (below) the basic double-cradle frame w ith lines smoothed by stamped covers . (A bove) The Intruder has to have the lowest seat of any full-size motorcycle - 27 inches off the ground. It's easy to touch the ground. Which makes th e Suzuki sound distinctly different, and, at least in the view of the Suzu ki en gi n eers, better. (Do not think for a moment that the Suzuki 's firing points are copies of the protot ypica l V-twin, by Harley- Davidson. Ha rleys ha ve 45° cylinders sharing a co mmon crank p in, and fire at 0°·3 15°-405°-720°. T he wa v the men from Suzuki see it, the Intruder doesn' t copy the H arley's sound, but improves upon it. ) Bor e a nd stro ke of th e 699 cc VS700GL are 80 x 69.6mm; the 747cc non - U .S .A . VS750GL 's bore and stroke are 80 x 74.4mm . The 700 ma kes 58 bh p a t 6500 rpm , the 750 62 bhp a t 6500 rpm . Torq ue fig u res are 47.7 lb .-ft. for th e 700 and 51.3 lb.-ft. for the 750, both at 5500 rpm. Ea ch cylinder's intake valves m easure 30mm; ex haust va lves a re 26mm. Inta k e an d ex ha ust lift are bot h 8.5mm, and va lve timing is 27-55° intake a nd 65-23° exha us t. The sing le over head camshafts are driven by linkpl a te cha in s off eac h end of the cra nk shaft, with a u to ma tic ten sio ners. The cams o pe ra te th e valv es via forked , screw-tappet ro cker arm s. There 's o ne 34m m Mikuni CV ca rbu retor for each cylin der; the fo rwa rd cyli nde r's ca r b is a downdraft design ' posi tio ned a bo ve the cylinde r head s, underneath th e gas tank . T h e rear cylinder's sidedraft carb is behind the rear cyli nder, underneath the sea t. The carburetor id le adj us tment screws a re linked by a ca ble; tu rn ing one knob adjusts both ca rbs sirnul taneo us ly. Dual exhausts - one coming out of the front of each cylinder head are linked j ust ahead of th e m ufflers, beh in d the engine. Ign ition is the usual transistorized electronic. T he oi l filter sp ins on. Wa ter-cool i n g avoids p rob lem s with air-cooli ng 45° V-twin s but adds th e dil emma of wha t to do wit h the radiato r. T h e Suzuki's radiato r is made as inobstrusive as possible - in b lack, mounted o n th e frame do wntubes. T he ra diator h oses are close to i n visibl e - the top hose lead s from the front of th e fo rwa rd cylinder head to the to p rea r of the radiator, and the bottom hose feeds into the left frame do wn tu be; th e do wntu be ca rries th e coo la nt to the water pump, located on the left side of th e en g ine undern eath the drivesh aft junction . A chrome tu be leads straight ba ck from the bo ttom of th e rear cylinder, th en cu rves a ro u nd to th e water pump; ho ses co n necti ng th e cylin de r water jack ets a re h id den bet ween th e cvlin ders , in th e vee. . That typ e of effort to simplify the lin es of th e Intruder a nd to dev el op th e cruiser styling is typical. T he steeri ng head area o f th e 33°-ra ke, 60.8-inch-wheelbase frame is strea m - (Above) Suzuki's water-cooled V -twin is compact; once installed in the frame (below) there isn't a lot of spare room . Chrome is everywhere. li ned by smoo th starnpings, spotwelded in p lace. Th e front fo r ks are h eld in th e chrome d triple clamps by recessed , h idden pinch bolts. The front ax le co tte r pin is hidden by a co ver. There 's o ne instrum ent , a speedometer; smo ked glass hides indica tor ligh ts unl ess they're lit; th e h eadl ight lack s side- m o u nt ears; th e turnsignal s are as sma ll as legall y p ossibl e; th e handlebar lever-a n d- swi tch a ssem blies are ba sic in design a nd have brushed al uminum housings; master cylinders (for th e single front di sc brake a nd th e h ydraulicallyac tiva ted clutch ) a re ch ro me d; co n trol cables a nd hydrau lic hoses a re co vered by fin e, ch ro me sp ri ng housin gs; th e toolki t is hidden in th e sis sy bar, beh ind th e sea t pad ; th e rear shoc k preload adj uster is h idden from view . 17

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