NEW BIG BROTHER
‘After a day of steep rocky trails and twisty roads I still felt sharp’
There wasn’t anything wrong with the outgoing Suzuki V-Strom 1000 but for 2017 Suzuki have made a few tweaks and introduced the more adventurefocused XT version, which gets wire wheels, a bashplate, handguards and tapered handlebars for better positioning when stood on the pegs. The XT remains much the same as the standard outgoing V-Strom. There’s a slight lumpiness at 3000rpm, but anything above that is smooth, effortless drive. The bike’s 101bhp might not sound like much in 2017, but it’s more than enough to have fun with on the road and off it. The two-stage traction control is the same as on the V-Strom 650 XT and does a decent job of keeping everything inline without being too intrusive. The 1000 XT also comes with cornering ABS – the first Japanese adventure bike to come with the system. During our 160-mile ride through the twisty roads of Tarragona the ABS never activated while cornering, but knowing it’s there gave me a little extra confidence to trail the front brake deeper into the corner. The radial Tokico brakes up front are more than enough to haul the big ‘Strom to a stop, and although the fork dives initially under hard braking, they soon soak up the braking forces. The bigger V-Strom feels much more solid than the 650, which means a little extra pressure is needed on the bars to hustle along twisty mountain roads, but it’s by no means slow steering. The suspension is harder, which gives the big ’Strom greater stability while cornering and floods the rider with confidence. Off-road it’s not too hard, and provides plenty of confidence, even for relative novices. One of the biggest gripes about the previous V-Strom 1000 was the buffeting created by the screen. Suzuki have worked hard on reducing this on the new XT and standard V-Strom, completely redesigning the screen. The new one works much better, with buffeting now at a minimum, even when wearing a peaked helmet. The screen can be set at three heights and the angle can be adjusted on the move by pushing the screen away from you. Riding the bigger ’Strom all day on steep, rocky trails and incredibly challenging twisty roads I still felt sharp at the end of the day. There was no tiredness, although I did suffer from a bit of arse ache from the slightly hard seat.