Despite platforms that have never done more than evolve during their two decades of production, the V-Strom 650 and V-Strom 1000 have sold over 400,000 units and represent a resounding success for Suzuki. But even at this brand where products sometimes seem eternal, progress is necessary, and for 2023, it takes the shape of an all-new V-Strom 800DE – for Dual Explorer.
Sardinia, Italy. If a correlation exists between the number of engineers flown to a new model launch and how important for its manufacturer the new bike really is, then the 2023 V-Strom 800DE ($13,299) appears to be a very significant addition for Suzuki. In front of the American, Canadian, and French journalists attending the new Strom launch that particular day, nearly ten Suzuki employees were getting ready to highlight the new bike’s features. Among them : Tetsuya Banjo, chief engineer, with Suzuki since 1986; Shintaro Yagi, the engineer responsible for the 800DE’s new parallel twin, with Suzuki since 1997; Shunya Togo, in charge of testing not only the new engine, but also those of Suzuki’s MotoGP bikes; Kosuke Sugiyama, chassis engineer; Hiroto Katsura, designer; Daichi Suzuki, electrical systems engineer; and Yoichi Takasu, test pilot.
Full access to such a deeply knowledgeable group during a Japanese motorcycle press launch isn’t common and represents an extraordinary multi-day opportunity to gather information directly from the machine’s creators. Japanese engineers are notoriously reserved and don’t always speak English, which complicates things a bit, but I’m used to it and one way or another, I fully intended to take advantage of the situation and get loads of info out of them.
Barely half an hour after leaving our hotel on the first morning, I was already taking mental notes of several first impressions, so when our group stopped for a first photo session, I immediately pulled out my notebook. Seeing me step aside and already write down comments, Yoichi Takasu, test rider for the 800DE project, approached me and asked in English how I was doing. I’m usually evasive when manufacturer representatives ask questions about a new bike, but this was different. Having had enough interactions with Japanese brands to know that their staff is generally really interested in hearing what we think of their product, I responded openly. Several features of the 800DE seemed instantly obvious, such as the quality of the new engine, which is quite simply a jewel of Japanese finesse. This surprised me, as I frankly wasn’t expecting to be impressed by a parallel twin. There are more and more of these engines on the market because they’re compact and relatively inexpensive to produce, but the result is often on the bland side in terms of character and also tends to vibrate. I even confessed to Suzuki’s test rider my initial disappointment when I learned the new 800DE would abandon the beloved V architecture that had always been at the heart of the V-Strom experience in favor of a parallel twin.
I’m well aware that the benefit of the doubt should always be given to any bike until testing actually happens, but going from a V-twin to a parallel twin, generally speaking, is a step back in terms of desirability. And so I couldn’t wait to explain to my Japanese friend how surprised I was to discover the unusually high quality of the 800DE’s twin. It’s pleasantly smooth yet still pulses gently and displays a remarquable operating finesse that is immediately felt. I began to explain that, for example, the 6-speed transmission and its quick shifter was extraordinarily smooth, but as I had been talking for several minutes at that point, I thought I’d ask if he understood my English well, to which he smiled and continued to vaguely nod. Oh dear. He was politely listening to my ramblings, but understood almost nothing of what I was saying. I should have realized this earlier, but I was so excited to share my first impressions with one of the model’s creators that the absence of an interpreter, which is essential during these exchanges, escaped me.
I had many more exchanges with other engineers as the day went by, but, lesson learned, all were in the presence of someone from Suzuki who spoke English well. Several of these discussions, which often occurred spontaneously during a break or lunch, started with a single engineer but almost always ended with a small group, several of whom taking notes. These people all play a crucial role in new product development and the language barrier is a constant obstacle, but we almost always managed to understand each other well and end our discussion with a joke and a laugh. They appreciate compliments about their product but are also very interested in criticism, to which they do not always have an answer, incidentally. For example, I told them about the press launch of the first 1050 version of the V-Strom a few years earlier, when I didn’t understand why the new seat was clearly less comfortable than the previous one. One of the Suzuki representatives then offered as an argument that not everyone has the same physiology and that the appreciation of the comfort of a seat is subjective. To which I expressed my disagreement by explaining that there are indeed more or less comfortable seats and that I didn’t believe it was a wholly subjective matter. We didn’t agree. It was an important episode to recall today, because in the case of the V-Strom 800DE, I actually found the seat to be very comfortable. To this observation, one of the testers laughed and explained that to be certain that the comfort of the new V-Strom seat would be maximized, he spent numerous hours sitting on various versions in front of a screen while doing office work. Fantastic idea, I thought. I then asked the small group that had formed why a cruise control is absent. If the 800DE has such a comfortable seat, balanced adventure ergos and lofty suspension and so can clearly take on the role of a travel machine, then why not include this simple and inexpensive technology that is so appreciated on long rides? The laughter stopped and the note-taking resumed.
Like the wonderfully smooth and refined engine, several other aspects of the V-Strom 800DE quickly caught my attention. One of them is on-road handling, which is absolutely superb. Having ridden practically all ADVs on the market, I realize full well different manufacturers have different goals for different models and that these goals are reflected in the quality of on-road vs off-road handling. In the case of the 800DE, it’s crystal clear that maintaining the good road manners of previous V-Stroms was a priority during development. By contrast, other ADVs have such an off-road bias that on-road handling is compromised and shows vagueness and imprecision. But in this case, although ergonomics are typical of an adventure class motorcycle with a comfortable and balanced riding position that places hands naturally on a wide handlebar and only moderately bends legs, and although the long 220 mm suspension travel generates a bit of dive under braking, the V-Strom 800DE surprises with handling that offers a decidedly sporty flair.
The roads we rode on along the coast of the Italian island not only offered breathtaking views, but were also so twisty that straight sections became rare. On this type of terrain and with road-biased rubber (stock tires are Trailmax Mixtours that Dunlop modified at Suzuki’s request to offer a little more bite off-road), the V-Strom 800DE was simply brilliant and behaved in a way that often echoed a sports bike feel. For example, the steel frame’s stability and precision remain totally unaffected during hard trail braking, while the exactitude of the trajectory and steering neutrality when leaned over are both nothing less than excellent. In general, the V-Strom 800DE’s rolling chassis eats up fast-paced corners so naturally it becomes one of those bikes that has absolutely nothing to do with racing, but that a dedicated sports bike would struggle to keep up with on a winding and imperfect road. In this scenario, the fully adjustable fork and preload and rebound damping adjustable shock — both from SHOWA — represent key features of the V-Strom. Despite the soft factory setting resulting in ground clearance that runs out a little faster than desired at an aggressive pace on twisty pavement, this suspension does a remarkable job of both supporting quick riding and offering impressive comfort. Both the fork and shock literally erase small and medium road irregularities and manage to absorb larger stuff well enough that a jolt is almost never felt by either the rider or passenger.
A few additional on-road notes. First, as the suspension can be set to be firmer, a higher sport riding pace on pavement is possible without significant reduction in comfort. Secondly, surprisingly, the large 21-inch front wheel is never really felt on the road as the 800DE’s steering is as quick and precise as if it were a 19-inch wheel. According to Suzuki, the 17-inch rear wheel, the ideal on-road diameter, plays a role in the above-mentioned steering quality. Finally, the original tires give no indication of their dual purpose nature on pavement and simply behave like excellent road tires.
Impressive as they may be, the new 800DE’s road characteristics represent only half of the model’s appeal, as Suzuki announces real off-road capabilities, a first for a V-Strom, and so, establishing the limit of these capabilities is the big question regarding the latest Strom. At any point in time before the 800DE launch, it would have been typical for a V-Strom media intro to only include very limited off-road riding, as in a short detour on a dusty dirt road, for photos… But in this case, for two days, we continuously switched between pavement and dirt. Besides a lead rider not particularly fond of high speeds and who didn’t often let us abuse the 800 as much as we would have liked to, off-road conditions were decently entertaining and ranged from hard-packed dirt roads to rather difficult sections covered with fist-sized rocks. It should be mentioned that a considerable part of the V-Strom’s shortcomings off-road come from the standard road-biased tires. As Suzuki doesn’t officially recommend any type of more dirt-oriented rubber for the V-Strom 800DE, we weren’t offered any chance to ride the new bike with more aggressive tires. How would have it performed if so equipped? While I can’t answer since I didn’t get to experience the 800DE with such tires, information gathered with the original rubber still gives a good indication.
For example, one of the V-Strom 800DE’s most immediately apparent characteristics when switching from pavement to dirt is how soft suspension feels. At a slow or moderate pace, on a dry and hard-packed trail, this softness turns into a reassuring feature for an average off-road rider as it allows the latter not to pay too much attention to every last detail of the surface because everything is getting soaked up so seamlessly. However, as the pace increases and the caliber of the rider gets higher, the limits of the suspension become more and more apparent, especially since at 230 kg fully fueled, the V-Strom 800DE isn’t particularly light, although it can’t be described as porky either. By being careful and not directly hitting half-buried sharp rocks or deep holes, Suzuki’s new Strom can be ridden pretty quickly on relatively rough trails, especially if the suspension is firmed up. But the fact remains it just is no gazelle off-road. Rather, what it is is a perfectly decent off-road capable ADV, just not one that is competitive with rival models more dedicated to intense dirt riding. More aggressive tires would certainly allow the V-Strom 800DE to better bite into sand or mud, but they wouldn’t change the limits brought about by the suspension softness and the slightly higher weight.
As for electronic rider aids, there are relatively few, which actually simplifies life on the V-Strom 800DE. Amongst the rider’s choices are ABS settings: the system can be deactivated on the back wheel for off-road riding but always remains active at the front. It works well and doesn’t intervene prematurely, even in the dirt. It never bothered me, no matter the conditions. Suzuki’s usual A-B-C ride modes offer various power delivery curves without limiting the maximum horsepower. And finally, the traction control system, which can be deactivated for off-road riding (or wheelies on pavement…), offers a G-mode (for Gravel) that supposedly determines the optimal amount of traction for gravel roads. What I found was that it lets the rear wheel spin freely in first gear and only up to about 6,000 rpm in second gear. I concluded that the mode was of no use to me, which led to another interesting exchange with the manufacturer’s engineers. In the end, I spent the majority of the test with ABS deactivated on the rear wheel, with full power (A) and with traction control disengaged.
A number of conclusions can be drawn from this initial contact with the new V-Strom 800DE. The first is that it’s clearly not a machine designed to dethrone the woods warriors of this class. That’s simply not its role. While it is easily the most off-road capable V-Strom ever, what’s more important is that as far as middleweight ADVs go and as long as the goal isn’t to set records, the thing is indeed quite a capable off-roader. But the 800DE’s most surprising aspect remains the remarkably high quality of its road manners and its engine’s wonderfully refined nature. And to think one of my biggest apprehensions about the V-Strom 800DE was a suspected mechanical step back coming from the switch from a V-twin to a parallel twin… Not only did these apprehensions prove unfounded, but I must now admit it is downright one of the best engines of this architecture.
At just under 85 horsepower, it’s about 20 horses down on the most powerful twins in the class, but Suzuki’s choice wasn’t to aim for maximum power. What this 776 cc parallel twin and its innovative double balancer system offer instead is a charming combination of fun performance, great smoothness of operation, superb low and medium revs torque, and remarkable refinement. Not to mention the exquisitely slick transmission. The combination of the awesome engine, of the handling sporty nature and of the more than decent off-road capability results in the new V-Strom 800DE being quite more than just a legitimate new mid-size ADV. What Suzuki created here is first and foremost an excellent motorcycle that offers extraordinary versatility. If we went back about ten years, before the ongoing race for larger displacement and equipment made BMW’s R1200GS put on significant weight and lose its magical balance, I had the same kind of flattering words for the legendary Beemer. That is one big compliment for the V-Strom 800DE. Simply put, it’s one of the most enjoyable, versatile and balanced motorcycles on the entire market today.
