The Unofficial Swedish Suzuki TL1000 Page, Review

Riding Impressions:
Brent Plummer, Editor-in-Chief

"Be afraid" was the first thing that came to my mind when a newbie rider recently asked me if I thought Suzuki's TL1000 would be a good bike for first-time riders. The TL1000 is pure evil: It bucks, wiggles and wheelies under hard acceleration, shaking its head over bumps at top speed. And don't you dare miss a first-to-second or second-to-third shift under full throttle -- it'll try and tankslap you off. Newbie riders should simply skip the TL and go straight to the morgue.

Each time I ride the TL1000, it's an adventure, a conquest, and I feel I've overcome the beast one more time. Mind you, it's not ugly, it's menacing, and I can hear it taunting me now: "Come on, Plummer, go for that big wheelie, powerslide me, you haven't come close to my limits yet, you ninny. So get off your ass and let's go riding!" And for two weeks straight, that's what I did, showing up late for work every day. Suzuki's TL1000 is one of the few bikes that'll make you waltz into your boss' office and spout: "you can fire me, but I'm going riding!"