2013 Suzuki C90T burns up the back roads

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This article was published 21/06/2013 (4813 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — There is little better than the first ride on a warm spring day. Winter’s cobwebs are slowly shaken off, muscle memory remembers where, why and how a motorcycle operates, and there’s the sweet relief of blessed warm air coursing over your skin. And, if like this year’s wretched winter, the cold air seemed to last forever, the deliverance from frigid climes is just that much sweeter. On perfect spring mornings such as this, one could be riding anything anywhere and it wouldn’t matter.

But it sure is a bonus I happen to like the new Suzuki C90T I’m riding. Indeed, I have been looking forward to swinging a leg over the bagger since I first saw pictures of the blacked-out beast sneak onto the Internet. A resurrection of the touring version of Suzuki’s middleweight touring cruiser that last saw these shores in 2009, the immediate reaction to the C90T is that it is a whole bunch more stylish than some recent Suzuki cruisers. Maybe Suzuki has finally got the right blend of saddlebag and rear fender, not to mention front fender and large, heavy-duty front fork. Or perhaps it’s that anything in full Johnny Cash man-in-black garb is just a little more stylish. Whatever the case, considering that cruisers are all about style, it’s a good thing the new Suzuki is easy on the eyes.

That one can also cruise in comfort, of course, is always a big bonus. This the C90T offers in spades. The seat, for one thing, is absolutely comfortable, its foam just firm enough to be supportive without being bum-busting. The seat is also, by cruiser standards, fairly flat and immensely broad, so you can twist and twerk to move around the pressure points. All in all, especially because it’s combined with a broadly protective fairing and a rational seating position (i.e. none of this grossly foot-forward foot-peg position that some cruiser riders find so “bad”), the C90 is an excellent way to while away the hours.

Those looking for negatives will find a gearbox a little notchier than perfect and the lack of a quickly detachable windscreen (though it does require but four bolts to remove). Since I’m out back-roading it, I don’t care about the former and don’t want to remove the latter. I’m a happy camper.

On said open road, the C90T fairly lopes along. Though it displaces 1,462 cc, by modern standards, the Suzuki is a middleweight and, compared with other V-twins in this segment, it is fairly powerful. There’s almost 80 horsepower to be had and, more importantly, 96 pound-feet of torque when you’re cranking along at low r.p.m.

Which the C90T does because Suzuki, in taking advantage of all that low-end torque, has geared the twin fairly tall. The engine fairly loafs in fifth gear. A tachometer is unnecessary, as you can count the internal combustions. Loping along Ontario’s still salt-covered back roads, the C90 feels completely relaxed as if its big V-twin could thump along forever. Such relaxed throbbing is the very heart of the cruiser experience, so I suspect prospective C90T owners will find the powertrain to their liking.

As with all cruisers, having but two pistons hardly means the Suzuki is a lightweight. Indeed, the C90T weighs in at a not-insubstantial 363 kilograms. And, yes, when you’re hauling it off its side stand, its heft is noticeable. But once above crawling speed, the sensation of heaviness disappears, the comparatively low centre of gravity making up for the avoirdupois. Combined with fairly well-calibrated suspension, it makes for an easy-handling motorcycle, its limitations solely based on ground clearance rather than comportment.

That said, the C90T makes do with but one front disc. My right wrist can produce the manly-man’s grip required for maximum braking, but I still prefer two disc brakes up front, especially on something weighing 363 kilos.

I’d also like a little more room in the ($13,999) C90T’s saddlebags. The left one holds 26 litres and the right 24.5L (it has to make room for the big twin’s sizable exhaust), adequate but not generous, especially if your travelling companion is a professional shoe-shopper. That said — and this is me being as vainglorious as any other cruiser intender — if Suzuki had to change its styling to increase their capacity, I’d learn to pack light. The leatherette-covered hard saddlebags are one of the most stylish items on a stylish bike.

And style, as I have been assiduously alluding, is what sells cruisers, touring-oriented or no.

— Postmedia News