Suzuki TL 1000R

The TL1000R was Suzuki's second attempt at creating a V-twin powered superbike. The TL-R used an updated version of the TL1000S engine, but fitted in a supersports-style track-oriented chassis rather than the half-faired roadbike chassis of the TL-S.

The TL-R has very striking styling - a wide single headlamp fairing incorporates a pair of aggressive ram-air intakes before swooping back in an aerodynamic curve round the aluminium twin-spar frame. The seat unit has a large aerodynamic duck-tail fin, designed to reattach the airflow from the back of the rider, improving highspeed performance.

Under its smooth clothes, the TL-R is a high-specification sports machine. Its engine is the same eight-valve 90^o V-twin as fitted to the TL1000S, but with some re-tuning to produce more top-end muscle. It delivers smoother, more linear power than the torquey TL1000S engine, thanks to fuel-injection and timing changes.

But it was the chassis that received most attention from Suzuki's engineers. The TL1000S suffered criticism for its lively handling, and the TL-R is a much more stable ride on the road. A steering damper is fitted as standard, to reduce any tendency for the steering to flap about under hard acceleration, although the revised steering geometry and heavier weight of the TL-R had already added extra stability over the TL1000S design.

The TL-R keeps the same unusual rear suspension system as the TL-S though. The rear spring is mounted separately from the damper unit, and the damper is a unique 'rotary' design. Rather than a conventional linear damper, which pushes a piston through a cylinder of damping oil, the TL damper uses a system of veins in an oil-filled chamber. The vanes are turned by a shaft linked to the rear swingarm, and the passage of the oil through holes in the vein gives the damping effect.