Hello everyone) My name is Denis, I’ve been sitting at the bike post for a long time, but there wasn’t much to write. I think there are enough stories about how “I passed my license”, “I bought a motorcycle”, “I sat on it for the first time”, “I washed it for the first time”, so I was waiting for the mood or a special event. And now it has come! I skated 4 seasons on a 400cc cruiser and would like to talk about it.
I just like to ride and ride a lot, but I’m more of a user, so I won’t tell you the exact data, such as compression in the cylinders or the compression force of the fork, but for those who are interested in just the opinion of a person far from mechanics, I ask for the cat
About choice.
Everything was simple with this. January 2014, I have about 200tr, I want a big beautiful cruiser. And the search began, the searching began, and the trips to the dealerships that carried motorcycles from Japan. Of course, the eye fell on the Yamaha Drag Star 400, Honda Shadow and other Steeds; the budget did not reach anything more cubic in size. But here I realized that in showrooms there were only rusty motorcycles from the late 90s with “traditional” mileages of 30,000 km, and since this was the first motorcycle and I did not have a garage full of tools, much less any skills/knowledge on device - I was looking for the most recent copy so that I could just ride and have fun, and not dig into it. I've been monitoring the author for weeks and then accidentally found him:
Suzuki Intruder 400 Classic, 2005, mileage 6700 km. We called the seller, went with a friend and looked at it, it’s in excellent condition - we should take it! Out of curiosity, I looked for information on it - I found absolutely nothing, except that this motorcycle is a strangled version of the VL800 for the domestic Japanese market and they are not at all popular here.
About appearance.
This is the largest 400 cruiser available! Full of chrome, everything shines and it is not deprived of attention. Externally, it differs from the VL800 only in the inscription on the tank, that’s all. I got it in stock + saddlebags and rollbars. Even experienced motorcyclists were very surprised when I told them that it was only 400 and started talking about the strangled engine, etc. After some time, I got tired of telling all this and answering the questions: “why so big?” or “why didn’t you take a liter?”, so to the questions of ordinary people about: “oh wow, is this a liter?” answered affirmatively: “one and a half!” and no long stories, etc.
How it drives, brakes, how much it eats.
“In two weeks you’ll get tired of it!”, “You won’t go long distances on it!” they said.
I had nothing to compare with, 32 horses for 247 kg of dry weight - it carried my 65 kg body perfectly! Especially in the first season, the joyful smile on my face never left my face when I unscrewed the throttle! With the second number weighing 50 kg, I didn’t feel any difference, but when I skated with my father at 100 kg, it was already difficult to accelerate, steer, and brake) If you have a weight of 100, then forget about the second number. You can drive around the city with confidence and not feel like some kind of slow-moving vehicle. The cruiser holds 110-120 on the highway. My consumption in the city was 6.5, on the highway 5.5, so the tank lasts for 280-320 km, which is quite good for a cruiser. As for the controls - here its light weight played into my hands, it steers very easily, the center of gravity is naturally low and I literally got used to it within a week. There is a single disc brake at the front and a drum at the rear - even during emergency braking, they always handled it with a bang! What was pleasing about it was that you can adjust the hardness of the rear brake from “pressed and locked” to “pressed all the way - it brakes softly, without blocking.” The gearbox engages clearly and smoothly, without unnecessary kicks or rattles.
About long-distance driving and reliability To my satisfaction, I drove 40,000 km on it! Moscow and the surrounding regions, Minsk and three trips to Crimea) Like all small-capacity cars, after 120 km/h there is almost no speed reserve... If you drive on a two-lane road at 120 km/h and decide to overtake in the oncoming lane, it’s just a lottery! Such maneuvers had to be calculated and waited for a long time... and more than once I had to slip between the oncoming oncoming traffic and the passing lane. BUT! It is just sooooo comfortable, a wide seat, platforms under your feet - you can ride while standing, a wide steering wheel - in a day I had to drive up to 1350 km without severe fatigue. We M4 somehow managed to accelerate it to 148 km. In a straight line. Downhill. In about 5 minutes. During all my trips, he never let me down, he always brought me to the right point without a single breakdown (not counting a burnt out light bulb). Of course, this is a motorcycle for good asphalt, it’s also tolerable to ride on dirt roads, I haven’t climbed into mud, and it’s not the same equipment.
Rode the slides at White Rock
Sea of Azov
The coolest view on Fiolent
Along serpentine roads
Service.
I only changed consumables, everything is available everywhere, all parts fit VL800. The cardan also did not cause any additional hassle.
Extras
For the second season, I installed a passenger backrest so that the second number would not fly away and for conveniently securing luggage. After the first long-distance trip, I got a windshield, but after 1000 km I got pretty tired of fighting the wind. Glass is a thing! At first I thought about putting it only at long range, but somehow I left it that way. I'm used to it. I also installed a cigarette lighter and mounts for the phone, as a navigator is not superfluous when traveling. That's all) Nothing more is needed.
My opinion, thoughts, result This is a great motorcycle for starting a motorcycle life, lightweight, maneuverable. The motorcycle does not provoke high speed, it simply teaches you to ride calmly and not rush anywhere. I spent 4 excellent seasons with daily trips to work and motorcycle holidays, but after the September trip to Crimea and Belarus, I came to the conclusion that it’s enough to torment him, to drive him along the highways with the throttle fully turned off, this is not for him. In September I put it up for sale in this form:
On the same day, the buyer called me, a week later my Intruder left for Samara with a new owner - now he will make someone else happy) While I was selling the Intruder, I found a new motorcycle at a good price, Yamaha XVS1300)
everything was the same as with the Intruder - I looked at the first option and took it a day later. Before selling the Intruder I was sad, but when, after 3 days of riding the new Yamaha, I got on the Intruder and took it to the buyer for a show, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to ride it anymore, because the dynamics are completely different and I’ve simply grown out of it . Now new roads and new emotions from Yamaha await me!
Review of the Suzuki VS 750 Intruder motorcycle
At first, the Intruder seemed so big and very heavy, due to the low ground clearance, the bottom scraped curbs several times, which is why I really regretted not buying a city enduro - but the days passed and the kilometers clicked by, all the dry weekends in the saddle, every day work -home-work... In general, I got used to the small ground clearance very quickly, and it’s not that small - it doesn’t bother me at all, and the lowest point is the horizontal frame pipes, they won’t get scratched too much
