Suzuki Intruder 150 Review
Bike Tested: Suzuki Intruder 150; Road Test No. 874; Test Location: Lavasa
Price OTR Mumbai: Rs. 1,13,368/-
The Intruder fuses virtues of 2 impeccable products from the Japanese brand into 1
It’s not everyday that the Indian automobile market is presented with a radical product. For an audience obsessed with finding greatest worth in even the smallest of objects, practical and imposing products offer the best of both worlds. However, such revolutionary products in the world of motorcycles are few and far between. Such specimens of profound gamechangers are the Yamaha R15 and, the more recent, Bajaj Avenger 150. Nobody would have thought that scaled-down versions of premium motorcycles would end up in such a far-reaching success recipe. Suzuki’s latest entrant is built on similar lines to target the domestic player’s numero uno position in the affordable cruiser space. Armed with Japanese reliability and power-cruiser stance in its arsenal, the Suzuki Intruder 150 offers the best of both worlds, or does it? To find out if the newcomer has what it takes to intrude into the cruiser territory, we head out for a spin in one.
Motor Quest: Back in 1985, Suzuki started off with the Intruder series of cruiser motorcycles with the launch of the Intruder 700 and 1400. Post a highly successful 20-year production innings, the lineup was superseded by the Boulevard range. The Intruder M1800R, also known as the Boulevard M109R, is Suzuki’s flagship product in the power cruiser space which started life in 2006. When Suzuki’s plans for a budget cruiser for India were unveiled, our audience was expecting something on the lines of the GZ series, which is Suzuki’s range of low-displacement cruisers on sale since 1998. On the other hand, Suzuki played it smart and combined the positives of its Gixxer and Intruder M1800R. The end result is an all-new 2017 Intruder 150 which is also the lowest displacement motorcycle to flaunt the Intruder nomenclature.
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17-inch cast alloys shared with the Gixxer are wrapped in MRF rubber
Styling – One look at the Intruder 150 is enough to send the brain cells into deep thought! Thinking of cruisers, a trip down memory lane reminds us of the chrome-drenched motorcycles with raked out front ends and aberrant handlebars adopting the weirdest of shapes. In that aspect, the Bajaj Avenger Street lineup was a revelation. Inspired by the Harley-Davidson Street 750, it was a sales blockbuster for the brand and a stellar example for other brands to benchmark. In a similar fashion, Suzuki’s latest entrant is ‘heavily’ inspired from the prodigious Intruder M1800R.
[flickr size=”center” float=”medium”]http://www.flickr.com/photos/motorbeam/38139674056/[/flickr]
Looking at the design, you’d be hard pressed to tell that this one is a 150cc machine!
In typical Japanese manner, a lot of cycle parts are borrowed from other Suzuki products which makes the design a conglomeration of two motorcycle categories. However, the Intruder 150 looks quite good in flesh and the bulbous styling has worked in its favour. Majority of the body panels, from the headlight cowl to the fuel tank, on this scaled-down Intruder are extra large but well-packaged. Up front, there is an all-time-on projector headlight while the tail lamp is a sleek LED piece. Save for the rear view mirrors, you won’t find chrome overdose anywhere on this motorcycle. Excessive part sharing seems to have taken things for a toss on an otherwise thoroughgoing approach as the Gixxer’s wheels affect the wide power-cruiser stance negatively.
