Tl1000s

[daz]

iv fitted a Scotts steering stabilizer and ohlins to mine and much better. The convertibars are a reve;asion aswel as i can now alter position to suit the day

[kc1717]

tap the rad with a wrench( sometimes works), you can try to loosen the drain bolt and have the exit flow slower then the input ( keep adding fluid faster than than it draining), then once it seems to be moving around and the air is out of there, tighten the bolt and top her off.

[spasonatwin]

Sharp looking bike, mate ;)

If by 'air-lock' you mean big pockets of air getting trapped in/around the thermostat housing after you drain/refill the coolant, yes. Mind you, I have an SV1000s, but I believe the motors are very similar in these respects. there should be a bleed screw on the water pump housing. Failing the bleed screw routine, I've had success with running the bike while tapping frequently on the thermostat housing with a box end wrench ;). It usually takes a little while, but the thermostat will eventually get enough coolant behind it to kick open.

Hope that helps any

Edit: ..ahh... seems he snuck in right before me. :D

[spindarubber]

Man, those TL's are hot. How different from the SV1000 are they?

[cf828]

The Sv 1K Shop manual procedure involves the bleed screw, tapping, and rocking the bike side to side .. I'm not sure how much of this applies to the TL (Sharp bike by the way.) But I think it may be common to most liquid cooled bikes..

[Darth Lefty]

Originally posted by spindarubber
Man, those TL's are hot.

Seconded.

I saw an R model a month or so ago back in Phoenix and was impressed. It's kind of like the SV-R that we've been asking for and never get. It had black and blue stripes on white, looked fantastic. But it's pretty different from the R version - different frame and etc.

How different from the SV1000 are they?

Been Googling it... Seems like the SV1000S is a pretty straight replacement. Apparently the engine carried over to the V-Strom and SV1000 with a few changes and was FI to begin with. Makes you wonder why the 1st gen 650 is carbed - cost? The frame shows a similar approch as the 1st gen 650, as do the cosmetics. Apparently there were some initial problems in the 1st shipment of bikes that got it a bad rap and it didn't sell well. Too bad...

[acer66]

Originally posted by Darth Lefty
[BApparently there were some initial problems in the 1st shipment of bikes that got it a bad rap and it didn't sell well. Too bad... [/B]

so what year(s) are the ones to stay away from, saw a very tempting one couple of weeks ago at marina suzuki

thank you

and yes that bike looks very cool

[Darth Lefty]

Well here's what I found.

Website:
http://www.suzukicycles.org/TL-series/TL1000S.shtml

"Sadly enough, the first TL1000S model suffered from some (for Suzuki) embarrassing technical problems. There were number of problems; oil-leaking engines, slipping clutches, miss-firing engines to name a few. Later all the cured all the problems the first bikes had, but the damage was already done. Unlike the most Suzukis, the TL1000S got a reputation of being an unreliable motorcycle."

And also

"The first models year's bikes suffered from some child deceases. The engine could spit out oil to the air filter when riding at full speed, the back torque-limiting clutch could malfunction and the engine could suffer from bad throttle response. Complaints about nervous steering were also heard, and a steering damper was fitted to the bikes in some countries by the importer."

I think "child deceases" is probably a bad translation of "infant mortality". It appears the author is Swedish. The first year was '97.

[acer66]

thanks, that doesn`t sound good guess my sv is not getting a tls sister for now, but the yellow (?) of the 01 model looks pretty good to me

[Guzzigirl2000]

the silver coloring is sharp
the bike is definitely not for the faint of heart and the steering damper was a must
the TL hauls ass
the only problem I had (the recall stuff was taken care of b/4 I got the bike) was a water pump leak that cost $10 to fix

[bloodclot]

there were a few years where the TL had a funky rear suspension.

i dont remember the deal with it, but it wasnt a normal set up and a lot of people didnt like it for some reason, especially racers.

a little searching should turn up what im talking about, but in too lazy :D

[TIFOSO]

All TLS's had the rotary shock....and it was almost infinitely adjustable, which made it hard to get right.

[No_Brakes23]

That's a sweet loking TL.

The TL is what made me fall in love with the SV in the first place, but the TL-S and SV1000 are NOT the same bike. The TL-S was higher end, where as the SV1000 is pretty much an bigger SV. I would take the TL-S over the SV1000 in a heart beat. It had some problems in it's early years, but it is still a sweet bike.

On the other hand if I was looking for a used half-faired litre-twin, I would prolly just buy a Falco, as they aren't too 'spensive.

[smokescreen]

didn't the TL-s have a standard spring, shock combo on the right of the tranny at a diagonal angle?

[kc1717]

Originally posted by smokescreen
didn't the TL-s have a standard spring, shock combo on the right of the tranny at a diagonal angle?

might have looked that way, but it was rotary

[{PMS}fishy]

Originally posted by acer66
so what year(s) are the ones to stay away from, saw a very tempting one couple of weeks ago at marina suzuki

thank you

and yes that bike looks very cool

97 was the year of the widow maker.

They offered retro fit steering dampers for them.

I've riden one, they are pretty fun, and don't like to keep the front wheel down.

[daz]

Hi chaps, thanks for the interest and help.
Ill try the wrench thing first. from across the pond, Daz.

yes iv changed my damper for the Ohlins which is a much better job. the standard steering damper was far too heavy so iv gone for the Scotte steering stabilizer which is out of this world

[zippytls]

Hey daz.... come over from the Dark side... check out www.tlplanet.com we have covered anything and everything... just like socalsv has. my wife has an 00 sv650s so i am constantly looking here for help. Been a great website. Now if i can just find some one who has installed a Factory Pro stage one jet kit... :D