C50 Suzuki Boulevard

Wanting to get a suzuki boulevard before to long. Would rather pick up a nice used one. A fellow I work with has a friend that has a red, 2005 model with 10k miles on it. He said it is in excellant shape.
The only thing that I am wondering about is that this owner has taken the baffles out of the pipes.....what would be the reason to do this? Make the bike louder for a harely sound???
I do not want a loud bike.....would knew pipes be in order for this bike if I was the buy it?
Also...what would be the price range for this bike.....$4000.0 range

Thanks

 

They were likely removed for perfomance / sound improvement.

I always check KBB for current market values but some don't think they are accurate enough.

 

Taking baffles out makes it louder. Usually, after you modify the exhaust or air filter, you will want to add a tuner and get it tuned so that the air, fuel, exhaust mixture is right... at least, this is what I did to my Harley to ensure I didn't eff up the engine.

I owned a 2005 M50 and while it was a nice bike, I always felt like there wasn't enough power (even at 50 cubic inches - or about 800 cc). I was 5'11 220 at the time.

It is a lot lighter than a Harley - so easy to pick up if you drop it...

I picked up a new one for about 6200 bucks... so for an '05 with 10k miles - I think that 4k is a little high... especially if you are considering adding a new exhaust to "fix" the baffles.

If you are new to riding, you should also know that this particular bike is likely SHAFT driven (in the final drive). Shaft drives are ok in that there is less maintenance like with a chain, but you will get some loss of power because of the shaft. Shaft driven bikes also tend to lift of the tail of the bike slightly (from the wrap of the shaft drive) when you accelerate.

And with the shaft drive, you will need to change the oil in that as well periodically.

Overall, the C50 or M50 is a good starter cruiser... Though, I sold mine after 3k miles simply because I wasn't as happy with it as I should have been.

 

My dad had the Suzuki Marauder 800, very similar to what you're looking at, and his complaint was the same as Agent's... not enough power, especially if you do any 2-up riding. He eventually went to an Intruder 1500 LC and it's much more stable at highway speed and with a passenger. The 800 would be a nice bike for a mid-size guy, I was very comfortable on it at 5'8" and 165 lb (my dad is 6'1" and just over 200).

 

Yea, I completely forgot about riding 2-up... Yea, that did suck a little. I felt like I wouldn't be able to hit it if I needed to - to get out of the way of something....

Something else I forgot, the M50 felt very... plastic... Lots of plastic parts and some areas of manufacturing that could have been improved. Like the grip ends still had the rough edges on them from when the grips were formed. Welds were not as high quality as I was used to on my Honda 600F4i or the Honda RC51 I rode.

All just some stuff to think about... All depends on what you are used to and how much you have/want to spend and like Pugga said - it is great for a midsize guy.

 

I rode....well some 15 or so years ago. My last bike was a 900 custom honda.
I really like the looks of the boulevard...want to get it to commute to work with the high price in gas and leisure ride with my buddies around my area...no long trip rides.
My buddy has a 2006 c50 and likes it very well....
Thanks for the info guys....

 

Its my opnion that the Suzuki C-M-S 50s are not good, I used to own a 2005 Suzuki M50 and had all sorts of problems with it when warranty didn't cover the costs of repair, it would backfire thru the air cleaner and shut down, after years of taking back and forth to the dealer and the dealer always charging me for repairs that never fixed it I found out the key switch wires were rubbing on the frame shorting out the ign and fuel injection that was causing my problem.
In my opnion the best bike in that range is the Honda Shadow 750, that bike is perfect, it may not be as powerful as the Suzuki or Kawasaki, but its perfect, another good alternative is the Yamaha 900 V Star, that bike has the engine power to keep up with anything, plus its very reliable.
Suzuki makes an excellent dirt and sport bikes, but they make the worst cruiser bikes you can buy!