in today's video we're talking about five reasons why you might want to buy the suzuki boulevard m50
and five reasons why you might want to take a pass on it. now full disclosure i'm adrian from
youmotorcycle i make motorcycle content videos aimed at helping you guys out. this is not my
personal bike i don't have a personal bias in this. i have owned three boulevard m50s over the
last 15 years which also means i have sold three boulevard m50s over the last 15 years so i think
i'm in a good position to give you guys the best non-biased review that i can. so the first reason
to buy one is simply aesthetic. if you like this kind of look if you like more of a sort of muscle
cruiser look this is a great bike for you. there are basically two different generations of this
bike. there's 2005 to around 2010-ish and then 2010-ish until present. first generation chromed
headlight as opposed to a more sort of cowled headlight that sort of matches the m90 and the
m109r. that second gen is gonna have a handlebar that's a little bit further back a little bit more
comfortable a little bit less aggressive than this first generation is, and then on the first gen
you're going to have this nice bob swept back kind of fender and second gen they make it look more
like the m109 and the m90. if you're into this kind of muscle cruiser look that's definitely your
first reason why i might want to buy this bike. now the flip side to that the first reason not
to buy this bike is also aesthetic. obviously if you're looking for something that's more sort of
traditional 1980s style kind of cruiser this isn't the bike for you this is the look for you. check
out the suzuki c50 instead it's got the same motor it has a lot of shared components with this bike
that might be more your style. the second reason to buy is this bike is super easy to handle. it's
something i immediately felt like i knew how to ride one as soon as i got on it. the center
of gravity is really down low it's really easy to handle nice wide handlebar makes it easy to throw
around. it's not the lightest bike it's not that heavy which kind of worked to my detriment because
i was trying to play hardball with the seller the first time i got on it and he saw me get
on this bike and just for my very first corner i was just scraping pegs. you don't have to ride it
like a maniac but the point is that you could if you wanted to it's it's that maneuverable.
second reason not to buy an m50 it's not a real muscle cruiser. yeah sure it's easy to handle
and it's beginner friendly but the cost of that is it's not a real traditional muscle cruiser like my
harley davidson v-rod. yeah it's really apples to oranges because that's 800cc this is 1100cc
for sure so let's think about a traditional muscle cruiser. i'm talking about like going back to 1987
honda magna v45 that thing made as much torque even though it was 750cc's instead of 800 as the
m50 does but it makes twice the horsepower, so if a 750 cc muscle cruiser can make twice
the horsepower this it's got the look but it doesn't really have the the oomph of a real quote
real muscle cruiser .it is what it is. and the flip side to that is the third reason to buy
it which is the boulevard m50 you get a really simple motorcycle there's not a lot that can
break. so what i mean by that is there's no abs, there's no traction control, there's no ride by
wire ride modes, there's not a lot of sensors, there's not a lot of stuff that can go wrong.
usually if anything does go wrong on these bikes it's not the bike's fault it's user error so it's
very very simple. of course the downside to that simplicity is sometimes it's too simple. it's a
five speed transmission honestly suzuki would have done well to just give this a six speed. when i'm
doing 140 kilometers i know there's still power left but i don't want to go there because then the
bike starts revving a little bit too high and it starts to get just a little bit annoying. you're
already in fifth gear you're looking for sixth. it's that kind of bike you wish there was a six
gear but there isn't. now in suzuki's defense i have that same situation with my v-rod but that's
a whole other video so let's stay on topic. reason number four to buy one now it's it's the side
effect of having a simple motorcycle and that's reliability. the m50 is known to be bulletproof
there's not a lot you can do to mess up this bike unless you're really terrible as an owner.
side note i make videos all about how to service this bike subscribe to my channel
if you want to see them i have a video showing you guys how to do an oil change,
i have a video showing you guys how to bleed the brake fluid, i have a video showing you guys how
to change the shaft drive fluid, subscribe to my channel if you want to see those.
back to the video. the motorcycle's only marginally changed over the last 17 years.
this is a motor and a chassis that they are very familiar and very comfortable with and it has a
solid reputation for reliability. speaking of reputations it's not a harley. if what you're
looking for is a harley-davidson and that's what you've dreamed about having since you were a kid
this isn't it. this is a mistake that i have personally made. i thought it was time that i
graduated up to a harley, this was like 10 or so years ago i was a student
or i was just getting out of school. i was young and impressionable so i thought i had to
move up to a harley. i sold my m50 and i bought a sportster after so many years riding japanese
motorcycles. i was young and impressionable and they do so much marketing and stuff and i got
caught up in all of that and the harley brand and all the all the bs right, and let me just
tell you guys within the year within one year of buying that sportster i turned around i sold it
and i bought another m50. that being said if this badge means everything to you,
this isn't it. the fifth reason why to buy a boulevard m50, it is such an easy
bike to maintain. so just from where i'm standing right there is the oil filter, i can see but you
probably can't the oil drain plug is up there, and from here to do your shaft drive you're literally
gonna just take the lid off drain it from here put it back in pour in the fresh stuff turn it
over. there's like half the maintenance you're ever gonna have to do on this bike right there.
air filter is not hard to get access to, spark plugs can be a little bit tricky but once you
get used to it's not a big deal, super super easy to maintain motorcycle. and yes that's right it is
shaft drive which means you're not gonna have to worry about lubricating a chain,
cleaning a chain, adjusting a chain, none of that stuff. all of that simplicity and all of that
making a motorcycle for the everyman it comes with a cost which is, there isn't as much you can do
to modify this bike like there is for a sportster or like there is for other
mid-sized cruisers. the m50 does not have a lot of bolt-on knick-knacks and stuff available for it
in comparison to other bikes. like for my harley i can get aftermarket covers that look really
cool and not stock at all and aftermarket led headlights that are fit the shape of the original
motorcycle not just replacing a bulb. there's all kinds of stuff that's made directly plug and play.
i don't even have to wire this in i can just get the harness connector that works with the
harley-davidson plug and it just plugs right in there's no soldering there's no crimping nothing.
there's like 10 different options for this one piece right here there's chromes there's black
there's mesh. i'm italian so i went with this one because it looks like a mozzarella grater to me.
and honestly i don't need that but i just want to let you guys know that this is the reality right?
point is you can't do as much with this bike as you can with this. speaking of
mods my next video after this one is going to be the top three mods
top five mods that you should do if you do buy a suzuki boulevard m50.
hit subscribe to check that out. if you just want a simple, reliable, easy, practical,
cool looking motorcycle, this is a great bike, and it's like i never stopped riding it every single
day. this thing is so much fun so easy to handle it's never giving me a problem had. I had three of
them so i'm talking from my own experience here. i ended up in the end switching over to the v-rod
because i wanted that real muscle cruiser. it does make literally twice the horsepower and
one and a half times the torque but honestly if you haven't been riding for 15 years and
you don't if you don't need all that vroom right, you don't need this. this is a great practical fun
motorcycle. I hope this video was helpful to you if it was please do me a solid hit the like button
i would really appreciate your support. thank you guys as always ride safe but have fun peace