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Did you really think Suzuki was quitting the motorbike business? Well, it didn’t seem so outlandish earlier this year to be honest, dumping its MotoGP team; quitting world endurance; little in the way of future-proofed machinery; rehashing old engines seemingly ad infinitum. But Suzuki fans who kept the faith will be rewarded here, with not one, but two, brand-new middleweight bikes, using a completely fresh engine design.
First up is this – the V-Strom 800 DE. An all-new adventure bike to slot in-between the 650 and 1000 V-Stroms, it has the same powerplant as the new GSX-8S naked roadster (see pages 16-17). That means a parallel twin DOHV 776cc design, with a patented new dual-balancer shaft set up, 270° firing order, ride-by-wire throttle and a decent 81bhp peak power output. It’s a little down on the likes of a Triumph Tiger 800, but well up for taking on the likes of a Ténéré 700 or Versys 650, on the power front at least.
As it deserves, the new motor gets a new chassis, but there’s little in the way of surprises. It’s fairly standard V-Strom fare: steel tube frame; aluminium swingarm; family-style bodywork with big beak and a 20-litre fuel tank; and upright adventure-touring riding position. The Showa suspension set up looks good: 220mm travel and fully adjustable both ends, with 43mm USD forks and a piggyback rear shock, while the brakes have dirt-style twin-piston sliding callipers and 310mm dual discs up front. Wire-spoked alloy rims have a premium gold or black anodised finish, and carry semi-dirt tyres in 90/90 21-front and 150/70 17-rear sizes, with tube-type rubber.
The electronics package is solid, if a little steady. There’s no fancy IMU assistance for the rider aids, but you have switchable ABS and traction control, with Suzuki’s ‘G’, or Gravel off-road, mode, which softens the power delivery. You can also turn off the rear wheel ABS channel for dirt use. It’s all controlled via a neat 5-inch full colour TFT LCD dash, and there’s a standard up/down auto-blipping quickshifter, too.
No price as we went to press, but the new V-Strom 800 will be on sale in the spring.
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