Quick Ride
QUICK RIDE
INTRUDER 800 Suzuki’s bigger and better boulevard cruiser
THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A V-Twin to stir the soul. And when such an en-
gine is mated with a simple chassis, plenty of chrome and boulevard styling, the end result is hard to beat.
So, it’s no surprise that Suzuki’s Intruder 800 is a winner. And like previous Intruders, the 800’s greatest asset is still its engine. For ’92, the liquid-cooled,
eight-valve V-Twin was given slightly bigger cylinder bores. This change resulted in one extra horsepower and a small increase in torque.
Not that the Intruder needed a lot of help in the powerplant department.
Even before these small changes, it offered the best acceleration in the 750cc cruiser class, with the quickest quarter-mile times and excellent top-gear rollons. The additional displacement only enhances that performance. Around town, the Intruder blasts away from stoplights and effortlessly rushes through gaps in traffic, accompanied by a throaty exhaust note escaping from its chromed, slash-cut mufflers.
Wrapped around the newly enlarged engine is a low-slung chassis that gives the Intruder the lowest dry weight in its class. This is in spite of an absence of plastic: Both fenders and the sidecovers are made of steel.
When introduced in 1985, the Intruder was an immediate styling hit. “A turning point in the evolution of the cruiser genre,” Cycle World said in picking the Intruder as one of its Ten Best Bikes of the Year. Seven years later, the bike’s smooth, contoured lines have neither changed nor grown old.
One important addition to the Intruder was a 21-inch front wheel in 1988, replacing the previous 19-incher. This eliminated the ten-
dency of the raked-out front end to flop inward during low-speed turns. The 1992 Intruder is light-steering and maneuverable in town, yet remains stable and secure on the highway.
Problems arise if the bike is hustled too quickly down a twisty road, though. Most cruisers have ground-clearance problems during hard cornering, and the Suzuki is no exception. Also, its suspension is calibrated more for boulevard cruising than backroad blasting, and definitely is not happy when pushed hard. Fast riders will also detect some frame flex and fork twisting, and an injudicious jab at the foot pedal can cause the non-floating rear drum brake to chatter.
But anyone who rides this bike in that manner has chosen the wrong machine. The Intruder 800 is intended for those riders who want to settle into a comfortable, good-looking motorcycle, reach out to a nicely shaped, pullback handlebar, and indulge in the joys of a strong-running V-Twin. The Intruder has style and it has speed. And, at $4799, it’s the best of the middleweight cruisers.
Matthew Miles
