TL 1000

[marty]

and having had both an aprilia RS250 (pffft the nsr) and a TL, i would rather ride the TL. the RS was fun, but it has to be pedalled. the TL loves sweeping !))mph country roads, with the booming yoshis bouncing off the hills

[slob]

I've owned a '98 TL1000S and currently own a '96 GSX-R750. Since the two have a fair bit in common it might be useful to compare them:

Handling: GSX-R750 beats the TL1000S hands down! The GSX-R is more flickable, stable and track-worthy. Mind you, despite what the mags say the TL isn't especially slap-happy. You'd have to be accelerating flat-out over some pretty bumpy roads to get the wobbles (this is without a steering damper).

Engine: TL1000S wins here - effortless grunt (capable of pulling away with the choke on and no throttle!). V-twin rumble beats inline-4 growl too (well, most of the time anyway).

TL1000S downsides:
- quick rear tyre wear (thanks to grunt + dodgy damping)
- regular clutch slippage
- heavy steering (although VTR is heavier)

[marty]

I've owned a '98 TL1000S and currently own a '96 GSX-R750. Since the two have a fair bit in common it might be useful to compare them:

)

what, apart from the badge and 2 wheels do these bikes have in common?

[shadow]

i had a tls great bike 4 money, great for wheel stands and i think it is an under rated ROAD bike heaps of fun go for it

[Wellyman]

Hey Stickman, welcome mate.

And nice choice on the hopefully new ride soon. I've had a couple of TL1000S and it's fair to say i've put them through there paces.
I kept mine stock, apart from a few sets of pipes and a K&N.

Here goes, why you should buy a TL:

They are huge value for money, you can get a real good un for around $8K, some are getting high in K's these days, but the motors are strong, they are super easy to ride slow take a little bit of muscle to ride em fast though, i got along fairly well on mine. The rotary damper only really becomes a major issue under track use i found, on the road it's okay i set it quite soft on the damping side to give it more bite at the back. The front ends are wicked, one of the best i've had, just real planted and good, good tyres go a long way on them though.
They sound the bizzo with good pipes on em, or you can easily mod the stock pipes to be rather loud quite easily, be careful if it has carbon pipes on them, they fall apart rather easily, infact quite a few alloy pipes take a hammering from the twin, so check em over first.
They are in no way slow, although they tend to run out of puff higher in the speed range 220kph+, awesome bike to learn wheelies on, real easy if thats your thing? Take em for test rides though, and get the head bearings, fork seals and clutches checked.
All in all, they are a wicked bike and even though i have upgraded to a GSXR1000K3 i still love the TL to bits, i still have it, although i'm being forced to sell it by the missus. Ya cant go wrong i reckon with a S or R, some people say they handle shit, i reckon its just a bit of extra character, they aren't dangerous and people who say they are generally ride VTR's.
If you need help looking at one you might be interested in and it's near Akld or evendown Ngatea way i'm usually up for a ride, i head down that way a fair bit my uncles in Orongo, just outta Kopu and i'm quite partiail to the coromandel, i'd be more than happy to help ya out if you so needed.
If you're after something maybe a bit tamer and around the same money of newer TL's, early SV1000's are bloody great bikes and well worth a look.

All the best mate.

Bruce

So you can remember what your bike looks like? I know that Two Smoker has been up to no good with yours and dosen't want to give it back to you. It will take a bit of force to drag it off him

[saul]

Ohlins = money, if money you dont have, you can look at modding the rotary damper, they are floating around and going pretty cheap, prolly pick one up for 30-50bucks, you can enlarge the veins that allow the oil to pass through or some shit like that, cant remember exactly, should be on TL planet somewhere. Those who've done reckon it's just as good as an ohlins.
But if fast riding aint your thing the stock bike will do the bizzo alright.

I happen to have one (rotary damper) .

All the work has been done to it, just needs the oil to be put in.

I have had two 97 TL1000s and they were both fantastic bikes.

They are great fun, sort of easy to ride and a little bitchy brilliant.

There is also heaps of mods that can be done for not a lot of cash.

I also have screeds of info on cd including the manual, how to set your tps and lots of cool stuff.

Drop me a line if you get one and I will put one in the post for you

[loosebruce]

Buy one, you'd be foolish not too.

[murhf3]

Theres a good 98-99 model on trade me at the moment.

[dss3]

if that's the TL from a particular side street opposite claudlands showgrounds, then it has the HELL exhaust on it. friends of mine lived near to the house, and the owner had a remote start on it - would let it warm up before riding in the mornings, and it made the neighbours windows rattle at 6.30am!!!

...guilty...

[marty]

didn't that house burn down?

[dss3]

didn't that house burn down?

Sure did, was pretty lucky to make it out actually... Got to the road as the flames blew out my bedroom window. Lost everything I owned except fot the one pair of boxers I was wearing!!

Has been rebuilt now though so back in there again.

[marty]

obviously the TL was high on the 'save at all costs' list...

[dss3]

obviously the TL was high on the 'save at all costs' list...

fortunately it was at the shop being serviced (see it has been well looked after... someone buy my bike!) but all the riding gear was toast. in saying that the stylemaartin boots and cordura gear did pretty well compared to a lot of other stuff that was just molten blobs on the floor

[festus]

possible its a bad one , but it is fast , just no where near as capable as the gsxr 600/750 you could have for the same money , but none of them are anywhere near as much fun as the nsr250 you could have for half that!

Also your other comments

Ya don't know what your talking about mate, if you jump on a TLS from a light 250 2 smoker, of course it's gonna be heavy, your talking about a big V-twin 996cc bike with ball tearing power that's tipping the scales at 191kg dry mate!.
Take it for some more rides, ya might like it!.

[marty]

Also your other comments

Ya don't know what your talking about mate, if you jump on a TLS from a light 250 2 smoker, of course it's gonna be heavy, your talking about a big V-twin 996cc bike with ball tearing power that's tipping the scales at 191kg dry mate!.
Take it for some more rides, ya might like it!.

i reckon he's just scared of it