THERE'S no doubt the M109R set mouths agape when it was first released in 2006. Nothing much has changed since, in specification, style or sheer road presence.

It still makes a major impression on riders, and sidewalk watchers, and with an engine boasting so much bottom end, not much will keep up from a set of lights either: this bike launches really easily and blisteringly fast.

Power train

The guts of the matter is really the M109R's engine. With a fuel injected and liquid-cooled 1783cc V-twin engine providing the grunt, the bike's weight not insubstantial ready to roll weight of 346 kilograms feels much less of an issue than it does reading it on paper.
Inside the engine there's the usual array of four valves per cylinder, dual overhead camshafts, and five speed gearbox – you could probably get away with three speeds there's so much torque – which transmits power to the shaft drive, and then the massive 240/40R18 rear tyre.

Other mechanicals

Housing the engine is a tubular steel cradle which has upside down 46mm forks at the pointy end, and a single shock which is mounted underneath the engine. The forks have no adjustment capabilities, while the shock is adjustable for pre-load only.
Pulling up the behemoth is some serious braking hardware. Twin 310mm discs are grabbed by four-piston radially-mounted Tokico calipers, while the rear caliper is a twin-piston Tokico unit. Believe us, this thing pulls up without a hitch.

Ancillaries

A small digital instrument pod lets you know what gear you are in and what revs you're doing, while the tank mounted instrument panel gives you speed, trip meter and other basics. You might have guessed the particular model in this test is the limited edition 'Z' which besides the orange stripe has a number of other styling touches, including the black alloy rims and shaft drive, embossed Boulevard logo on the seat. This comes at a $500 premium over the standard model.

Ride time

Make no mistake, this thing is heavy. At low speeds it would be a handful for inexperienced riders who maybe lack a little riding confidence. The engine feels like a V8, with effortless pulling power. This engine is simply one of the best V-twin cruiser engines we've ever sampled. As said before, Suzuki hasn't changed much and it didn't need to. It's almost as if the gearbox ratios are irrelevant. There's really no need to rev out gears, you can hold one and just use the throttle.
We're not a lover of the riding position. This doesn't mean it's any worse than other cruisers, but that style of machine does tend to give your lower back and backside a touch up if you are travelling long distances. But the stretch to the ’bars and footpegs feels pretty good.

While the bike's forte is boulevard cruising it can handle the twisties quite well too. It does require a different riding style to make the most of the bike's capabilities. The best way is to punt in to the corners reasonably hard and use the awesome brakes to pull you up, turn the bike and power out. If you want to use the time honoured method of fast corner speed you'll be rewarded with graunching from the undercarriage. While the big M109R does have decent ground clearance, well for a cruiser anyway, it doesn't like being leaned over to extreme angles.

Now, one look at the big back tyres will have you thinking 'that's cool', but it's not so cool when you are trying to ride the bike through roundabouts and the like. It pretty much wants to stay upright, and the rear tends to dominate the front when it comes to the handling stakes. A bit of counter steering and judicious leaning will get you through, but any first time M109R rider will get a bit of a surprise when the first roundabout rears its head. There's no doubt the bike would benefit from a smaller rear tyre but that would upset the style somewhat.

Verdict

When it comes to sheer in your face presence the M109R is right up there. It looks mean, it goes hard, and is huge fun to ride slow, or fast. It's no pussy and requires you not to be one either, otherwise the bike will be the boss, not the other way around like it should be.
It's well priced at $19,490 + ORC and for that outlay it represents one hell of a motorcycle.