Gear:
Helmet: Icon Mainframe
Jackets: Kushitani
Gloves: Rev It Monster
Boots: Harley Interstate
Feed the throttle, drop the clutch, kachunk.
A puff of tire smoke, a lurch, and just like that the tach reads 5000 rpm.
Three cogs later the speedometer needle is resting on a number that can't be considered reasonable or prudent. Oh yeah. Now you remember why they call it a power cruiser.
Frankly we'd forgotten how much fun the M109R is, so when Suzuki called us with the news that the much-delayed M109R2 had finally landed on these shores, we practically wet ourselves in anticipation of riding the 120hp beast.
We last straddled the beefiest Boulevard in the Big Toys megacruiser shootout comparison nearly two years ago, where it was stacked against Kawasaki's Vulcan 2000, the 1800cc Star Roadliner and Honda's VTX 1800. Big-bore company to be sure, and indeed, the smaller-displacement M109R was out of its element. Not so much because of any power concerns (it still packs the biggest pistons in the land); it's just that, well, it's not really cut out for touring duty. And Suzuki said as much at the bike's world launch in Texas back in 2006.
The R2 still delivers heaps of lash from the shaft drive;
What it is cut out for is power cruising. So while Suzuki is calling the M109R2 a new model, it's really just a variant of the M109R. And although we're calling this a First Ride, really it's more of a second date. Sure, it's a date with dynos and mean streets, but then that's really where the M109R lives anyway.
Upon its arrival it took only that balls-out blast on the R2 to drive the point home. The thing rips. This latest Boulevard shares the same 1783cc, fuel-injected powerplant as the standard model, and it had lost not one whit of punch in this version. The R2's styling and flowing bodywork likewise mimic the standard R. The only traditional cues on it-the wide solo seat and a classically shaped fuel tank-remain, though both are heavily influenced by surrounding swoops of plastic.
The flowing lines, integrated side covers and radiator cowl still look striking from afar, but a closer inspection reveals the sportbike ethos-acres of plastic stuffed into empty spaces. The cast aluminum wheels still get fat radial Dunlops: a 130/70R18 in front and a superphat 240/40R18 in back.
that's one stylish radiator shroud, but the tank seam has to go;
The R2 is being called "a variation of the original," but the only tweak here is the headlight and an upgrade to metal engine covers (from plastic). The aerodynamic configuration features a less bulky nacelle than the M109R's-the R2 takes that nacelle and slices it at an angle, much like you would a piece of bologna. The result seems sportier, but really we're just happy the Boulevard-iers didn't screw with the original's dyno-chart-busting performance.
If it's the M109R2, does that mean it's twice as fast? Not quite, though all the powerful promises of the first version are still lurking where it counts-in the engine. The R2's fuel-injected mill is just as rev-happy, and yes, the biggest pistons of any gasoline-burning motor (112mm) can still be found here. It all translates to 108.4 hp and 101.3 lb-ft of torque on our dynamometer. In fact the M109's power characteristics reminded us of Triumph's Rocket III (the original, not the neutered Touring version) so much that we dug into our archives for a closer look.
On The Wheel: Doing The Dyno
Then we went to our Superflow CycleDyn dynamometer to compare the numbers. Our suspicions proved pretty accurate-the Suzuki's 108.9 hp (measured at the rear wheel) peaks at 6500 rpm while the Rocket's more prodigious 132.4hp reading comes on at a similarly peaky 6250 rpm. From there, though, the Rocket's power plummets like a stone, while the Suzuki's simply levels off, giving plenty of usable power all the way to the 7500-rpm redline. The remarkably linear horsepower "curve" comes at pretty darn near a 45-degree angle.
And the shape of the Rocket's torque curve, which impressed us at the time with its duration (nearly a third of the rev range) can't compete with the Suzuki's more consistent line. Its torque range is more usable, hitting its 102-lb-ft peak just as immediately but leveling off more slowly, dropping down significantly only at 6000 rpm. The torque keeps coming to the redline where the bike is still pulling hard.