My buddy Kevin has an 800 Intruder, its an 87, starter grinds a bit and the battery dies every once in awhile. But its an 87 and he is always riding it, dang thing has tons of torq., he's always burning rubber...LOL.
He has had it under an overhang here in florida since it was purchased, was his dads, dad gave it to him 20+ years ago.
Tank is a bit small, he always had to fill up before me, but I have always had 4+ gallon tanks on long rides and he was always going balls to the wall.
It handled ok in the curves of the dragon 3 years ago, and I have never seen him have a problem with it.
Just an outsiders view of someones Intruder

I rode my sons. Its a good bike but nothing special. Wouldnt be my first choice. Big Suzuki Cruisers are not for me. It seems very little thought goes into the design. I hope he learns to ride the Savage before he steps up. A Honda Spirit is a well thought out bike and everyone is aware of Honda's reputation. Might be my first choice.

Ohh, yea, I forgot to include the guys size,, I mean, I KNOW how big the dude, is,, I mean,, he is a Big man,, Id bet his shadow weighs close to 10 pounds,, Im 5'6" & if I was 3 feet from him Id be lookin dang near straight up to talk to him, & he aint no petite thing, either,, Dang if I know what he weighs, but if he ever wanted something thatd go from zero to 250 in under 5 seconds, all hed need is a set of scales Id bet,,

His mom is my neighbor, so, he'll read this & come visit me,, If yall never hear from me again & you hear someone stepped on my feet & pulled my head off,, He Did IT!

Sorry Terry,, if youre a svelte 220,, well, hey,, whats 30 pounds, huh?
Gimme a break,, No, wait,, scratch that,, Dont give me a break,,

If he is interested in getting a Suzuki 800,have him check out http://www.intruderalert.com/cafe/index.cfm?page=home
The Intruder/S50 and the Volusia/C50 have the same size engine but are totally different beasts when it comes to performance.

As far as the battery on the Intruder, one needs to use star washers on the battery terminals to keep the connections tight. I did that along with putting an AGM battery in mine. I have a 1988 Intruder 750.

The C50 is under-powered for its size and the S50 is about the same as the S40 when it comes to ride comfort, both bikes benefit from forward controls.

JOG
I moved to a used 2007 C50 this spring from the S40 and have about 4,500 miles on it so far. If he can handle the S40, he can handle the C50. Acceleration is about the same. It handles very well and seems very light on it's feet. It does loose some punch above 70 and would not be a great choice if he plans on doing long Interstate runs.

No real major issues. Typical Suzuki build quality. The lube on the drive shaft splines needs to be checked. It seems Suzuki sent some out dry from the factory. Great support on volusiariders.com.
Lots of bike for the bucks if you watch for the deals.

Keep us posted

White 2005, dent on L/side of tank where my knee halted its acceleration toward pavement when I ( OOOPS!) parked downhill & in neutral.. I wish I had been further from it when I saw it move, then it woulda messed up stuff I could easily & cheaply replace.. Has a Supertrapp, well tuned, runs good, gave me 49 MPG,,

WEll,, looka whut I found!  Dave has it,, Add some blue to the header & slap a fork brace,,

Ooops forgot it..