Boulevard is the most powerful cruiser Suzuki had ever produced. And it is certainly one of the biggest and nastiest bikes ever. But it’s not just about the power. It provides ultimate comfort on the road, and looks are magnificent.
Limited Edition features stylish blue center stripe on the standout white color of the bike. Other features are custom gauges on instrumentation panel, interestingly styled tail light and the seat with Boulevard logo. The 109R performance is completely out of this world, and the reason for it is the heart of this beast – it’s an enormously gigantic liquid cooled V-twin with displacement of 1,783cc. It is equipped with SDTV digital fuel injection and featuring four valves per cylinder.
This entire mind-blowing package produces 125bhp @ 6,200 rpm and the ground shattering torque reaches 160 Nm already at 3200 rpm! And on top of that engine roar is absolutely indescribable! It actually sounds like a 1000bhp dragster with nitro oxide! I’m sure whenever you will push the throttle wide grin will appear on your face. Boulevard means serious business, no way around.
What is also very impressive – this monster uses biggest pistons of any production bike or even car on this planet! Each of those unbelievable 112mm pistons (forged aluminium-alloy) use short skirts and cutaway sides to lower vibrations and provide the rider with the biggest power he ever experienced. Also Suzuki engineers have used some tricks from racing technology when creating this engine, that’s why it’s so terrific. For example it is equipped with Suzuki Dual Throttle Valve (SDTV), which helps to produce amazing throttle response even from very low rpms.
Other Various Engine Features Are:
- Idle speed control (ISC) system, which improves cold starting and stabilizes engine’s idle speed in different conditions.
- Each bore is made from Suzuki special race proven material (SCEM), which allows best heat transfer and tighter piston-to-cylinder clearances. As well as reduced weight.
- Specifically designed dual spark plug ignition system is under control of powerful 32bit ECM. It lowers the emissions and improves combustion chamber efficiency.
- SASS (Suzuki Advanced Sump System) provides the bike with reduced engine height and lower overall center of gravity.
Design of this motorcycle is award-winning as well. Special Edition has a real resemblance to the great classic legend – Ford Mustang Shelby GT500. White stripe and especially headlight, are amazingly similar to Ford’s, but still with their own original touch. Creators certainly tried to win the beauty contest with this bike, and I think they did it. Every detail is exceptionally well crafted and beautifully fits overall design, and unlike “engine monsters” like Honda CBX1000 (which I already wrote about) Boulevard looks are not based around the engine.
It has striking, aggressive lines, and big “muscular” body in modern fairing. Just look how big is the rear wheel! Suzuki engineers reported that it is the widest tire ever used on a Suzuki motorcycle – 240mm. And the tail light is very original as well; I didn’t see anything similar on other cruisers, or other type of motorcycles for that matter.
But the engine of course is the dominating factor when it comes to looks of a mighty cruiser bikes. Boulevard beat them all in this area once again. The engine is stunning – all chromed, and polished, it strikes our eyes with sheer size and style. Huge double exhaust is the best one I’ve ever seen on a production motorcycle, it perfectly suits Boulevard sleek looks.
Other small things, which improve the overall picture, are rims, radiator, and tachometer. Rims are very stylish, radiator is huge and attractive, and tachometer looks like it was taken from vintage car, really amazing. Also tachometer can be seen from the front of the bike and it is very unique-styled. And what is really impressive, that engineers were able to create all those great looking details, assemble them together and still get harmonious image of a motorcycle. Usually, such extreme designing goes overboard and some parts look bizarre.
Brakes of this machine are outstanding as well. But it’s certainly needed, to stop all that power and weight (Boulevard weights almost 350kg). Front brake system is 2 310mm front brake rotors with radial mounted 4 piston calipers. For the rear brake bike uses a dual piston caliper and a huge 275mm rear disc. Altogether this provides Boulevard 109R with immense stopping power. Deceleration is so brutal that rider feels it with whole body, and it’s not a very pleasant experience, especially if you will try to go hard on the breaks. But this bike wasn’t meant for beginners – only experienced bikers will be able to tame it.
Suspension is very complicated. It features cast aluminum-alloy swingarm equipped with a progressive shock linkage and a preload adjustable rear shock. This allows for almost 12cm of rear wheel travel, and that is quite a feat for big cruiser like this one. Front suspension features inverted cartridge forks with 46mm stanchion tubes and front wheel travel is more than 13cm. As you see it’s not just standard telescopic forks at the front + monoshock/double shocks at the rear. It’s much more than that. This sophisticated setup provides the rider with plush ride in any conditions and stability is incredible even in the corners. Well, 240mm rear radial Dunlop tire has to do a lot with stability as well.
Handling is crisp and responsive, which you didn’t expect from such a “behemoth”. Special high-tensile steel frame was built for this bike, and it allows handling all the power and torque quite good, if you have the skills. It is a really agile motorcycle compared to Harley Davidson cruisers, which had quite average cornering capabilities.
I’m sure that everyone will have complete satisfaction from riding Boulevard (of course if you will be able to control this wild beast). It is too damn good. And even the price of ~13.500$ (~Rs. 620000) can’t ruin the impression. However, if you want to own this bike, you will need to import it from foreign countries, because it is still not assembled in India.
