#V-strom650

Greetings from greater Douglas, Isle of Man, where I have settled into the cozy confines of The Arrandale Hotel, for my tenth annual trip to the Isle of Man TT.

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.

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.

With this month’s Buyer’s Guides focusing on Touring ( Touring America: Buyers Guide, And Advice, Motorcycle Touring: Do-It-Yourself Touring) concocting a touring-focused Top 10 seemed more than appropriate. Large-displacement tourers are abundant and receive lots of press, especially in our bigger-is-better country. Choosing 10 mid-displacement bikes to shoehorn into the category turns out to be more difficult than one might think. The 10 bikes here represent more of what’s available in the category rather than a rating countdown from 10 to one. So, in alphabetical order we give you 10 sub-1000cc bikes that span a wide range of sporting, as well as, touring capabilities.

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.

The 2015 model year is seemingly about the resurgence of the liter class superbike. However, another area gaining momentum for the new year is the adventure (and psuedo-adventure) market, with KTM, Ducati, Kawasaki, Yamaha and BMW but a few of the OEMs throwing their hats in the ring. One of the OG players in the game is Suzuki, with its V-Strom 650, and in this week’s Church feature we’ll take a look at this very bike, from the eyes of then-MO-Chief-turned-MO-Editorial-Director Sean Alexander. What’s amazing is that the V-Strom is still around today. It’s been updated in many ways, but that fantastic V-Twin engine from the SV650 lives on! Read on to see Sean’s thoughts about what is now a hugely popular go anywhere, do anything motorcycle. Also, be sure to check out the photo gallery for a plethora of pictures of Sean, uh, shall we say, thoroughly enjoying his time on the V-Strom.

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