Suzuki Suzuki V-Strom

Flying over the second largest island in the Mediterranean gives a view of rocky coastlines, lush greenery, small villages, and surprisingly stout topography with mountains stretching more than 6,000 ft. into the sky. Idyllic yet rugged, the isle of Sardinia boasts addictively serpentine asphalt and endlessly challenging off-road terrain. This is where we would get our first test of the 2023 Suzuki V-Strom 800DE. An exciting new model for Suzuki, particularly due to its all-new powerplant, the 800DE carries on its shoulders both a legacy and an expectation of what a middleweight adventure bike should be in the modern era.

The Suzuki V-Strom line is a storied one that most riders are quite familiar with, but today in Milan, Suzuki opened the next chapter: the 2023 Suzuki V-Strom 800DE. While the entire bike is worthy of attention, the showstopper for the new Storms is the 766cc parallel-Twin engine. The V-Twin that gives the Strom part of its name has been assigned to the history books. So, let’s take a look at what makes this V-Strom a next generation Strom.

Suzuki announced updates for the V-Strom 1050, as well as a new off-road oriented version for 2023. The new 2023 Suzuki V-Strom 1050DE replaces the 1050XT model, and adds new features to make it a more capable off-road machine such as a 21-inch front wheel, longer-stroke suspension, and a larger aluminum bash plate.

Spy photographers have snapped images of two new Suzuki prototypes powered by a new Parallel-Twin engine. The two motorcycles, an adventure bike and a naked model, appear to be the eventual successors to the V-Strom 650 and SV650, and the culmination of a long development path for Suzuki’s new middleweight twin-cylinder engine.

We’ll admit this is an unusual ADV test. There are any number of competitors we could have lined up against the new-and-improved 2020 Honda Africa Twin. Honda’s dirt-focused ADV bike has received a host of changes to make it even better both on-road and off, but it has always felt most at home when the paved path turns to the loose stuff.

The First Ride’s been up for a couple weeks now, but there’s nothing like seeing your favorite action heroes in action and in the flesh is there? Or me, John Burns, riding around the Spanish countryside with a bunch of other motojournalists like we own the place. Anyway, if you’ve ever been water-boarded, you already know you can stand anything for four minutes, right? 

How can any red-blooded American not love Suzuki, the blue-collar working motorcycle so many of us thrashed as youths, left parked in alleys with no loss of sleep, covered in fur for a brief period there in the (I think) ’90s… In spite of all the abuse we dished out, Suzuki’s loyalty was never in question.

The only thing better than a new Suzuki V-Strom 1050 is a V-Strom family with three members based on the same 1037cc V-Twin engine. This updated mill retains the strong bottom end of its forebear while meeting the new, stricter Euro 5 emissions standards. Suzuki also claims that fuel economy will also be good, which means you can squeeze out more miles in the saddle per tankful. Let us introduce you to the Stroms.

Our V-Strom 1000XT didn’t win the big 2018 Big-Bore Adventure Touring Shoot-Out, but then it didn’t lose either: Fourth place (out of six) isn’t bad for a bike that undercut the next least expensive bike in the test (Honda Africa Twin DCT) by $1600, and the most expensive one (BMW R1250 GS) by $9,000.

We here at Motorcycle.com like the Suzuki V-Strom 1000XT. In fact, we named it the value choice of our recent Big-Bore Adventure Touring Shootout ( Part 1, Part 2). So, imagine our surprise when we saw that some of the same accessories installed on our 1000XT for the tour were now standard fare on the 2019 Suzuki V-Strom 1000XT Adventure.

The Suzuki V-Strom 650XT has proven popular with fans of middle-weight adventure touring motorcycles. Couple that with a plethora of accessories available directly from Suzuki and the aftermarket, and you’ve got a flexible mount for either commuting or racking up the miles. Still, some people don’t want to bother with outfitting their bike with accessories, preferring that the essentials be installed directly at the factory. The release of the 2019 Suzuki V-Strom 650XT Touring should make these people very happy.

By now, hopefully you’ve already read our street installation of this two-part test. If not, STOP! Please do check it out because it outlines and dissects each and every bike in great detail, and it very well might answer a slew of questions you might have that aren’t addressed here, in the off-road portion of the shootout.

On a humid and hazy southern California morning our cast of misfits began to stir to life from all stretches of the LA basin. Showers were had (by some), coffee was made and consumed, gear was donned. We seven fortunate souls set out on what would be our first true challenge of the next 72 hours, the first gauntlet that our machines would be subjected to, weekday traffic in Los Angeles with a destination of none other than Starbucks. The unofficial meeting place of adventure riders the world over, yet, for so many, the journey’s end before it ever even begins.

Suzuki’s presentation at AIMExpo was devoid of new-product announcements, preferring to tout its recent offerings to younger and entry-level markets like the GSX250R and GW250s.

Not having saddlebags on your ADV bike is good for at least one thing: a good excuse not to camp out – and since these three all clock in at around $13,000, the occasional cheap hotel or Airbnb cabin won’t break the bank. Ducati, in fact, offers a Touring Pack for its new Multistrada 950 that includes (really good) sidebags, Suzuki offers same-key hard bags too on the V-Strom 1000 – but we left them behind because we’re going bare-bones with this little less-is-more test.

Yours truly was a big fan of the bigger ’Strom upon its redesign for 2014, and so was our man T. Roderick when he rode the new bike, but maybe to a lesser extent. It was hard to argue with Suzuki’s punched-out-to 1037cc tuned-for-torque L-Twin allied with the V-Strom 1000’s low-mass approach, and it still is.

Last week, we learned all about the considerable changes Suzuki made to the somewhat venerable V-Strom 650, now in its 17th year of production. Today, we answer the age-old question: What’s it like? The short answer is it’s a lot like it was but better. The long answer is:

The way our Suzuki rep ’splained it, is that it’s a 2018 model if it’s being produced in 2017. Go figure… anyway, the V-Strom 1000 was new in 2015. For 2018, it’s received a few significant upgrades to make it even more likeable, not to mention safer, including the addition of the new 1000XT version in the lead image.

Suzuki summoned the usual suspects to Lake Arrowhead, California, to show off the latest updates to its excellent ADV bikes. That’s the new V-Strom 650XT in the lead photo, distinguishable from the base model 650 by its wire-spoke tubeless wheels, yellow paint, hand guards and lower engine cowl/modesty panel. An aesthetic overhaul now makes it barely distinguishable from the big V-Strom 1000; know the 650 by its silver engine cases and lack of SUZUKI on the sides of its plush seat.

2017 is shaping up to be the year of the small-displacement ADV bike. Honda ( CRF250L Rally), Kawasaki ( Versys-X 300), and here Suzuki’s V-Strom 250/ABS. Let us not forget the first-to-market CSC RX-3 introduced two years ago.

Suzuki drew inspiration from its classic DR-Z Dakar racer and its production version the DR-Big, in updating its V-Strom 650 and 1000 models. Each available in regular and wire-spoke XT versions, the 2017 V-Strom 650s are available in dealerships now while the V-Strom 1000 models will arrive in showrooms early next year as an early 2018 model.

If a new GSX-R1000 isn’t exactly what you had in mind, maybe something in a heavily revised Suzuki V-Strom? Both the 650 and 1000 Stroms received a lot of attention, including this V-Strom 650 XT above, complete with wire spoke wheels. They’re 19- and 17-inches of course, to accept more serious rubber for the serious off-road adventure rider. The non-XT version comes with cast wheels.

Last year’s Ultimate Sports-Adventure-Touring Shootout – a six-day, nine-bike extravagasm – pitted some of the lesser dirtable models (Versys 1000 LT, Multistrada S, S1000XR) against some of the industry’s more formidable off-roaders (1290 Super Adventure, 1190 Adventure, R1200GS) as well as a few inbetweeners (Caponord, V-Strom, Tiger Explorer). With this year’s introduction of Honda’s Africa Twin, Ducati’s Multistrada 1200 Enduro, and Triumph’s Tiger Explorer XCx, three more off-roady models have emerged.

It’s a good time to be a motorcyclist. OEMs keep ratcheting up the amount of standard or optional technologies available on modern motorcycles. In just the last handful of years we’ve come to expect ABS, traction control, ride modes and slipper clutches as standard equipment. Cruise control is almost ubiquitous, and electronically adjustable suspension is gaining ground quickly. Five of the nine bikes in our Epic Sport-Adventure Shootout are equipped with semi-active suspension, one has electronically adjustable suspension, while only three are bereft of the technology.

Sure everybody wants the Open-class bike, the most power, the most expensive, the one with all the electronic stuff, just like everybody wants the trophy mate with the big cylinders. Then after you’ve lived with them for a few years, the maintenance, the narcissism, the psychic wear and tear of constantly stoking the beast’s ego and keeping up with the Joneses can get to be a drag.

UPDATE: Suzuki Motor of America has confirmed the V-Strom 650XT is coming to the U.S.A. American MSRP: $10,399.

The big V-Strom returns for 2014 in a much anticipated reincarnation of its original form. Obvious outward appearances aside, the new Strom boasts increased displacement and midrange power from its redesigned V-Twin, better handling and improved stability from its new chassis, and an electronics package including non-switchable ABS and a three-position Traction Control system; TC a first for any Suzuki motorcycle.