Suzuki M50 Boulevard

[HumbleNewRider]

Bought a larger bike today (2007 Suzuki M50 - 800cc w/ fuel injection and only 3,600 miles).

Will probably sell the GZ in a month or so (and will probably remove the stock sissy bar and sell it separately, as it probably won't add any value).

I really like this forum. I don't visit often, but everyone's been knowledgeable and helpful. Especially when I was posting photos of the GZ engine guard installation I attempted.

Does anyone know of a good forum for Suzuki M50 owners? I did a search, but the forums I found had lots of ads being posted by members and very, very little real content.

thanks.....

[JWR]

Water Warrior can help you with a forum.

I belong to several motorcycle boards and all but 2 are ad boards. I know what you mean, they do get tiresome.

[mrlmd1]

Go to http://www.motorcycleforums.net/forums, they have a good Suzuki section with lots of M50 owners and are basically very friendly and helpful, (but not as good as this site).
And good luck with the bike, you'll probably love it. Just go slow getting used to it, it's a big step up in weight and power from the GZ.

[Water Warrior 2]

Congratulations Humble. The M is a nice ride. More than adequate for touring yet a decent city bike with nice manners.
The M comes with "1" factory wart that you will have to eventually attend to with the first rear tire replacement. It concerns the lack of lube in the drive shaft assembly. Not a biggy if you know about it. Read all about it at Motorcycleforums.net in the M-50 section. And yes, you will recognize some familiar names there. Mrlmd1 for instance.

[HumbleNewRider]

Thanks! I'll check out the motorcycleforums site. I gave up looking for one after about a half dozen were just "ad boards" (I hadn't heard that term.) I don't have a problem with ads...it helps pay the bills, but these were just overwhelming ... but more importantly, there wasn't any real forum / discussions going on. I've really been impressed with all that this group does here.

Mrlmd1: Yes, the M50 is a big jump from even my Honda 600. And, while riding the M50 today I reminded myself of something I read, which is that a large percentage of accidents occur with riders that have less than 6 month experience on the bike they are riding (regardless of years of experience). So, while I need to always take it easy, I especially need to the next 6 months.

AND - that is one of the things I really appreciate about this forum: Good solid safety conscious riders. I remember reading a posting in which some rider asked for advice on which accessories to buy with some extra money they had. One you recommended they buy the "Proficient Motorcycling" book. I took that advice. Excellent book!!! I've gotten a lot of great info from it. It should be required reading.

Water Warrior -- thanks for the heads up about the drive shaft! I'll look into that. (I didn't realize until now that you have the same bike.) I've ordered a service manual and owner's manual. Normally, I would like to get to work on checking everything out and changing fluids, (as I never know what the prior owner might have changed or not changed.) But I'm sort of in the dark until they arrive. (There aren't any free downloadable ones like there are for the GZ.)

I wanted exactly what you said it about this bike --- something big enough for touring, small enough for city (which is probably where 99% of my rides will take place). I also wanted fuel injection in case I decide to head west over the Rockies. As for little things.... I really like the clock! I'm so covered up (with Olympia Hi-Viz jacket, gauntlet gloves), there's no way I can get to my watch or cell phone during a traffic light stop. :-)

thanks again....

[Water Warrior 2]

Humble, you will find a fair bit of advertising on the forum mentioned but there is a lot of good info and advice to be shared. Disregard some of the go fast guys on M-50s and leave it stock. It is a great bike as is so just add the stuff to make your riding more comfy and convenient.
This is Lynda's bike. It has a few bells and whistles for safety and comfort. Will it go across the country? You bet! Lynda's last ride was 5,000 km(3,100 Miles) riding by herself with me staying home staying out of trouble.

[mrlmd1]

Yeah, I forgot about the lack of drive shaft lube in some of the bikes leading to premature failure - WW's right. Do a search on that forum and you'll find out all about it and how to correct it.

[Water Warrior 2]

Yeah, I forgot about the lack of drive shaft lube in some of the bikes leading to premature failure - WW's right. Do a search on that forum and you'll find out all about it and how to correct it.
mrlmd1, do you know if your S-50 has the same lack of lube situation?

[HumbleNewRider]

Thanks guys! I did visit the M50 forum... and the advertisements are fine, since there is good content. And, I didn't see forum members posting ads within the message discussions (which was frequent and blatant on several other forums). I read thru a lot of the M50 postings last night.

But, I could only fine one posting about the drive shaft lube problem. It had good photos. But, I didn't see anything about how to correct it. Maybe there isn't anything that can be done so the drive shaft stays lubricated. Maybe you just have to periodically re-grease it (sort of like repacking wheel bearing on older vehicles). Which probably isn't any more of big deal than changing spark plugs, brakes, etc. I wasn't clear what interval was appropriate.

WaterWarrior --Lynda's bike is essentially the same one (color) that I have. I do want to upgrade my seat, as well as add a crash bar and quick release windshield. I like the larger crash bar like Lynda's bike has. I've tipped over my 600 shadow a couple times in the garage / drive way. Those sure saved a lot of broken signal lights, etc. --- and made it a lot easier to lift back up. Most of my riding will be relatively short local trips. And, here in Texas feeling the wind in summer is good! That's why I want a quick release windshield. Sometime this week I'm going to move the head light modulator from the GZ250 to the M50.

I read about a DJ Drive conversion. Which got me wondering if maybe I would want to do that. But, it sounded like one more distraction / time consuming project. Thanks for the tip to just leave the M50 stock (except for comfort/safety upgrades). I appreciate that kind of experienced advice. I'll forget about the DJ drive and just focus on the comfort upgrades.

My service manual is scheduled to arrive on Thursday, so, I'll be able to start learning more about it.

Do either of you have saddlebags for your Suzukis? (It looks like Lynda's bike only has a large tank bag.) I'll probably add a sissy bar - and was thinking about getting one of the "suitcase" type bags that sits on the pillon seat and straps to the sissy bar. Not sure I need the saddlebags, since I won't be doing a lot of long distance rides. But, I saw an EasyBracket adapter that looked like a good option if saddlebags were only going to be use occasionally.

[Water Warrior 2]

Thanks guys! I did visit the M50 forum... and the advertisements are fine, since there is good content. And, I didn't see forum members posting ads within the message discussions (which was frequent and blatant on several other forums). I read thru a lot of the M50 postings last night.

But, I could only fine one posting about the drive shaft lube problem. It had good photos. But, I didn't see anything about how to correct it. Maybe there isn't anything that can be done so the drive shaft stays lubricated. Maybe you just have to periodically re-grease it (sort of like repacking wheel bearing on older vehicles). Which probably isn't any more of big deal than changing spark plugs, brakes, etc. I wasn't clear what interval was appropriate.

WaterWarrior --Lynda's bike is essentially the same one (color) that I have. I do want to upgrade my seat, as well as add a crash bar and quick release windshield. I like the larger crash bar like Lynda's bike has. I've tipped over my 600 shadow a couple times in the garage / drive way. Those sure saved a lot of broken signal lights, etc. --- and made it a lot easier to lift back up. Most of my riding will be relatively short local trips. And, here in Texas feeling the wind in summer is good! That's why I want a quick release windshield. Sometime this week I'm going to move the head light modulator from the GZ250 to the M50.

I read about a DJ Drive conversion. Which got me wondering if maybe I would want to do that. But, it sounded like one more distraction / time consuming project. Thanks for the tip to just leave the M50 stock (except for comfort/safety upgrades). I appreciate that kind of experienced advice. I'll forget about the DJ drive and just focus on the comfort upgrades.

My service manual is scheduled to arrive on Thursday, so, I'll be able to start learning more about it.

Do either of you have saddlebags for your Suzukis? (It looks like Lynda's bike only has a large tank bag.) I'll probably add a sissy bar - and was thinking about getting one of the "suitcase" type bags that sits on the pillon seat and straps to the sissy bar. Not sure I need the saddlebags, since I won't be doing a lot of long distance rides. But, I saw an EasyBracket adapter that looked like a good option if saddlebags were only going to be use occasionally.

Humble, did you look in the How To's for the drive shaft lube procedure? You will need one seal I think and some grease that is at least 60 % moly. Frequency of the lube job is up to you. Get a general ballpark number of miles from the forum members and then decide for yourself.
Crash bars on Lynda's bike are from MC Enterprises. And yes they work well. I managed to drop the bike 2 times in one oil change with no damage.
Bags are up to the individual too. Lynda opted for expandable textile bags from Nelson-Rigg. You may want leather but I like the knooks and pockets that N-R designs into their bags and top case. Lifetime warranty too. Check out Cortech for more textile bags. Bags are nice for a rain suit, change of clothing and all sorts of stuff you will find yourself wanting to take for a ride. Easy brackets are not needed with the bags on her bike. They strap down safely and do not interfer with the wheel and such.
No long trips?? Wait til you find out how well the bike travels down the road and just hums along with a slight crackle from the pipes when you apply more throttle. It is a nice civilized sound without being noisy. I really like it that way.

The DJ drive is a drive unit from a bigger displacement Suzuki and offers lower RPM. Personally I would never bother. A lot of the guys do the conversion to lower the RPM and lope along like a H-D at low revs. They don't get it that Suzuki made that 800 V-twin to spin up quite a bit without any wear or damage long term. I like the power and torque in the "M" as it is with stock gearing. I've ridden the bike in city and highway situations and it fits beautifully powerwise for me. The bike will putt along at 50 mph or you can slowly twist the throttle and top a steep grade at 2 times that speed. It will move if you ask it.

I think I have a pic of the bike fully packed.

[mrlmd1]

The S50 has never been reported to have that problem.
And as far as the frequency of having to relube that on the M, as far as I have read, it's just maybe once - to be sure it was done right. That seemed to be a factory installation defect rather than a design flaw - some of the M's weren't properly lubed from the outset and that's why the drive shaft failed, some at 30,000 miles, some at less.
WW - did you ever sell Linda's M50?

[mole2]

The S50 has never been reported to have that problem.
And as far as the frequency of having to relube that on the M, as far as I have read, it's just maybe once - to be sure it was done right. That seemed to be a factory installation defect rather than a design flaw - some of the M's weren't properly lubed from the outset and that's why the drive shaft failed, some at 30,000 miles, some at less.
WW - did you ever sell Linda's M50?

The V-Stars had a run from the factory that weren't lubricated properly also. Like you said some would last longer than others. Remove the rear wheel and lube the splines. Really a simple fix.


:)

[Water Warrior 2]

WW - did you ever sell Linda's M50?
Not yet. But I imagine there will be more folks looking when Spring really settles in. I get a few scammers and twits with lowball offers but I just ignore them.