Suzuki VS800 Intruder

After the success of the last two incarnations (the Suzuki Intruder VS700 in 1985 and the Suzuki Intruder VS750 in 1987, to be exact) Suzuki stepped it up a notch and released the Suzuki VS800 Intruder in 1992.

Entering the 800 Class

After the 750 had a good run of five years Suzuki decided to step it up a notch. They added another 50 cubic centimeters or so to the proven 45-degree v-twin and found that they had a real contender for the mid-size cruiser class on their hands.

Like the previous models, this Intruder featured four valves per cylinder (a pair of intake valves and a pair of exhaust valves). This innovation (which may have been somewhat common in the sport bikes of the time but was virtually unheard of in any of the chopper-style v-twin motorcycles) allowed for a smaller engine to produce more power by using its fuel more efficiently, thereby utilizing all of its available power to drive the pistons, crankshaft, gears, and finally the drive shaft and rear tire.

Big deal, you might be thinking, after all, all motorcycles put their power to the rear wheel!

That's true, but not all motorcycles are able to harness as much useable power as this might VS800.

In fact, for a shaft driven and water-cooled motorcycle (the water system adds more overall weight and the drive shaft takes more power to operate than a chain) that only possess eight-hundred cc's, it packed a big punch when it came to acceleration. Indeed, given the right circumstances, it could even out perform its big brother, the Suzuki VS1400 Intruder!

A Few Changes

Aside from a few minor tweaks made to the cosmetics of the Intruder that are not worth dwelling on, the new 800 version received two significant changes. One is the aforementioned increased engine size. The other is purely cosmetic but in many riders' opinions takes the Japanese cruiser from okay to perfect. The change? Suzuki increased the diameter of the front wheel from 19" to 21". (This would change again years later when Suzuki decided to change the Intruder brand and replace the name with a letter and a number, but that's neither here nor there right now.)

This Intruder Remains the Same

As I said, other than the two big changes mentioned previously, this particular line remained largely intact with the introduction of the VS800. The engine stayed water-cooled; the narrow, clean, uncluttered profile remained unchanged; no new changes were implented to the exhaust system. Likewise, the intake system kept the traditional carburetors as opposed to going fuel injected. By and large, this new cruiser was the same motorcycle albeit with a larger engine and bigger tire.

But then, when you have something that works, why fix what's not broken? And judging by the amount of these cruisers you see on the road there are many riders who feel the Suzuki VS800 Intruder needs absolutely no fixing.