2000 Suzuki TL1000R

History:

I purchased the bike used in May of 2003 with about 3200 miles (my birthday present from Amy) since the SR500 was experiencing engine trouble and I "needed" a more reliable bike.

It is a tremendously fun ride, though it still scares me periodically. Since one of my main interests in anything is tinkering, I have completely rebuilt the engine (putting in taller pistons, steeper cams, reducing squish, etc), and have repainted the frame and fairing.

Upon getting the TLR, we began participating in the NSR section of www.cycleforums.com and have met a number of very good friends and had a number of great experiences.

I also have frequented TL Planet (now cloned to TL Zone after some strangeness) a fair amount, and contributed my development of the "solid-state semi-active TRE" to the community.

On Dec 31 of 2004 I was riding around while calibrating my new Veypor computer, and had the cam-position-sensor pin fall out of the cam and drop through my transmission. This resulted in a complete rebuild of the top and bottom of the engine to clean out the chunks of steel that were floating about, and replace some of the transmission bearings that got damaged. Nearly every bolt, screw, clip, and seal was removed, resulting in the most involved engine rebuild I have done to date. I took the opportunity to adjust the squish down a bit more, and repaint the entire bike to get rid of some scratches that were there from when I purchased it. To my extreme surprise, it started and ran perfectly on the first hit of the starter button after going back together.

After complete rebuild and painting in the spring of 2005:

Mods:

• Dymag Full Carbon Fiber wheels
• Penske rear shock
• Yoshimura SS full system with Titanium cans
• Intuitive sliders (frame, bar, & swingarm)
• Braking wave front rotors (Galfer branded)
• Matris M4 Pro+ titanium steering damper
• Galfer SS brake lines
• Goodrich Kevlar clutch line
• Dynojet PowerCommander III USB FI computer with custom map (PCIII USB)
• Yellow Box speedo corrector
• AFAM 520 conversion kit (+2 on the rear) with DID EVR2 520 chain
• Zero Gravity Double Bubble screen
• Hotbodies undertail
• Carbon Fiber Mirrors
• Hugger
• Manual fan switch
• BMC oiled air filter
• Matte Black Epoxy painted frame
• Gold-valved forks
• Dropped tripple clamps 6mm on forks
• Flush mount indicators, and integrated tail light with custom made internal divider
• 1/5 turn throttle shim
• Home made solid state semi-active 6th gear TRE (Schematic) (and a photo for size)
• + to coils through a relay to reduce voltage loss
• Home made ECU & Rectifier mount (for the "Gap")
• Home made exhaust hangers (removed stock hangers & heat shields)
• ZX7RR Nissin gold front calipers
• Dunlop 208s (180/55 rear)
• Philips Vision+ headlights (MUCH BRIGHTER at stock wattage)
• -PAIR valve
• -VCSV valve
• Veypor performance computer (so I don't have to visit the dyno every time I change something)
• Some other stuff I am sure to have forgotten...

Total weight loss from stock: ~50lb (~20lb rotating unsprung weight)