2005 Suzuki Boulevard S50 from United States of America - Comments

I am looking at buying a 2006 S50 for my first bike. I am 5'9 and 175lbs. By the sounds of the previous comments, this bike should be ideal for me. I was wondering what this bike is like to handle??

I am 5'10" and 195, and like so many others here, I love my 2005 s50. At 43, it is my first bike. Picked it up in June 2005 and have just now passed 18,000 miles. Never a problem from the bike, the problem has usually been me. It is my first bike. So, I have made some mistakes, like dropping it in the parking lot, getting too close in lane splitting and clipping the clutch handle on another car's rear view mirror, losing a key, etc.

I commute my 13 miles one way on a So Cal freeway, splitting lanes and laughing the whole time at the bumper to bumper car and truck drivers. The S50 is so nimble in splitting on the narrow, construction filled, crowded freeway. I don't think I could split as well with a bigger, wider bike like the Harleys, which are so prevalent.

I too put on a windshield pretty quickly, and that has been my only modification. I love cruising at 75 mph on the weekends on the freeway, but by 40 to 50 miles at most, I need to rest from seat strain and vibration.

I love looking at it parked in the parking lot right outside my office window. Even more, I like washing and polishing and staring at it. It's my first bike. I love it!

When the dealer adjusted the valves last October, it was such a delicious feel for the next 300 miles. Gonna take it in for its next service and its first new tire next week. I look forward to these; it's now averaging about six months for 4,000 miles between services. I think that will continue to be its pattern.

I get 45 to 50 mph depending on how fast I ride. I had hoped for a little more, but it is oh such fun to accelerate hard from 45 to 75/80, that I find myself doing it whenever the opportunity presents.

I will be glad to agree to your terms.

I am 70 and just bought a 2005 S50. Over the past 50 years I have owned 10 bikes from Whizzers, Bonneville, and my latest buy, the S50.

When I first rode the S50, I was very uncomfortable with the location of the foot pegs. My knees didn't like it and it felt a little squirrely to me.

I heard that MAPAM made a forward control kit. I found the kit at Bikertoys on eBay. I received them in about 4 days, installed the new pedals, which was very easy and only took about two hours(and the MAPAM quality was superb. I must say that it made the S50 a totally different bike. It 100% easier to ride and it feels so much more stable in turns. If you are over 5' 5'10 I would say that installing the forward controls is the best mod you could ever make. It turns a good bike into a great handling bike.

Like others, I felt the seat was just too hard for my 210 pounds. I ordered the Suzuki Gel seat and at first I didn't see much difference in the feel until I went on a 100 mile ride. "Wow", it did make a difference in the comfort level. Mine stall sputters and spits when it's cold, but after a few miles it settles in and runs great.

The engine seems a little noisy, but I have never heard another S50 to judge. If you have a S50, a comment on the noise would be appreciated.

Best regards,

DR.

Enjoyed reading the comments about the bike.

I just bought my 2005 Suzuki Boulevard S50 VS800. I love it. I am 6 foot 5.

The seat is very uncomfortable and I will change it too very soon.

I heard someone saying that the bike is noisy. Yes it is and that is its normal noise.

It's my first bike and the power and acceleration is very good. It's a very good looking bike. Everywhere I go, heads turn around at traffic lights to have a look at the bike. The only thing I changed or added to the bike where the handlebars with flame grips, a chrome flame cover for the radiator and foot pegs, windshield and a crash bar.

I FULLY recommend this bike for beginners and reliability.

Be safe on the roads!!

Going to buy a 2007 S50 within the next couple week - will be my first bike. I am 5'10" about and ~155 lbs. Seems from what I read to be a good fit.

I decided to buy the S50 over the S40 for power purposes to keep up with my stepfather and brother in law, who both ride Honda 750s. I like that it is a lighter bike ~350lbs (?) and slimmer.

The tank size does not bother me, as I like the slimmer fit. Also, going to the 50 from the the S40 was a no brainer as the 07 S50 is on sale for 5500.

I plan to use it mostly for work commute and some highway trips (am thinking of the 7hr road trip to Bonnaroo in TN in July). Will be adding a windshield (of course), probably a new seat, and saddlebags.

Any comments on my approaching purchase?

I just bought the 2005 S50 and it is a really nice bike. The previous owner apparently rode it very little, but did add the windshield, bags, chrome pegs and other minor stuff. The best things to like are smooth ride from the shaft drive, light weight and lots of power for its size.

I bought a used 2005 S50 a few weeks ago and have a few comments:

1st off, I love the bike. I stand 5'3" with SHORT legs, this is the only bike I could fit on and reach the foot controls. I like the stock muffler sound, bike seems reliable.

Performance: Suzuki claims this is a 805CC but its geared like a 350-400CC. I hit 5th @ 35-40MPH. My SR500 (single) runs at a lower RPM (seemingly as there is no tach). At anything beyond 'put put' speeds the whine of the gear noise is 2nd only to the wind.

The brakes are weak. The rear one is fairly useless and the front one while better is not strong enough.

I'm at a loss as to how others are getting such decent mileage on this bike. Even if I 'grandma' around, I'm only able to get 40MPG!!

Fit and function: Suzuki did a decent job outfitting the bike with chrome, however some of their design decisions leave me scratching my head. The rear cylinder spark plug is difficult at best to remove without scratching the frame with the included wrench, it has TWO air filters, making after market ones very pricey, a single cable throttle making your right arm sore fighting the return spring.

Mine came with a bent left foot peg. After buying a new one and examining what it took to install it, I ended up hammering the old one back into shape as the amount of disassembly required to replace it was way to much work.

There are plenty of cheap fasteners used throughout the bike. While my bike had only 3300 miles on it, many screws/nuts/bolts are rusted in place. The side covers snap AND screw in place, the placement of (again) the left side screw has a lot to be desired. I plan on replacing many of them with STAINLESS hardware.

While I don't have a problem (yet) with the seat, I'm a bit miffed here. I bought a Suzuki GEL seat that was advertised as being 1" lower only to find that it was 1" TALLER than the one I was replacing!! Besides being hard as a rock, I did not bother to leave it on the bike.

I'll keep it, but I really wanted something that got better mileage and operated at a lower RPM.

I got a used 2005 Suzuki Boulevard S50 close to 2 years now. I purchased it fully stock and installed sissybar and a national cycle plexfairing windshield. The brakes were worn out in the front so I replaced them immediately. I did not have the brake squeals reported by some. After around 2000 miles though, they did start to squeal just a little bit during a hot summer. A good wash got rid of the squeal so it must be brake dust.

The bike is so much fun to ride and does have a lot of power. When I first got it, it was only doing around 39-40 mpg. I had the carbs rejetted and installed Vance and Hines Classic II Slip ons. This made the bike sound a lot better and a lot more fun to ride. It seems to have more horsepower and best of all it's doing over 50 mpg now!!!

This is also my first bike and it will be a while before I give up on this one. My next addition would be to replace the seat. On a 200 mile trip in the desert, it does become a bit comfortable. I also need to replace the rear tires soon and plan to purchase the Pirelli MT66 Route. Does anyone have experience with this tire?

Thanks and ride safe!!

Hello all! I bought an S50 brand new in early 2008 it is an 07'. I love this bike!! My previous bike was a Sportster I bought the S50 to have as a daily rider while I chopped the sporty, but in the end I like the S50 so much that I sold the Sporty!

Mine now has about 6000 miles on it and I live in MD where the weather varies; stock I was getting 56-58 mpg no matter how I rode, and even after some awesome cruiser magic, drag pipes and a jetting, I still get 50-55 mpg.

I was also concerned about the engine being a bit noisy, but I've heard others, and I'd say it's common with Suzuki in general.

I'm 6'1" and 185lbs, I regularly ride to the mountains in WV, and I'd say that I'm borderline. I definitely need some FWD controls, but they're SO darn expensive especially for the Jardines that look awesome, but they're like 650!!! I'm 26, and even being young, the seat position leaves me a bit sore after about an hour of straight highway riding, so I'll be looking into the gel seats too.