SUZUKI V-STROM 800 DE
“Come and have a day riding with us,” they said. “In fact, we’ll come to yours. It’ll be a lovely day out, we’ll buy you lunch,” they promised. “It’ll be fun,” they assured. I thought of this as I huddled under the trees, out of the worst of the torrential rain but still stood, slowly sinking, in a muddy puddle, as pictures were taken of the three trailies I’d been seconded in to ride. But, still, one can’t complain – and as an old mate of mine used to say regarding doing this job for a living: “It’s always better than digging a ditch.” Albeit I’d realised I was actually standing in such a ditch, and it’d be raining just as hard if I was digging it, as riding in the rain, so nothing to complain about really. Plus, I knew where the good café was for my promised lunch. And they’d have homemade soup.
So there was certainly nothing to complain about really, which was especially true regarding ‘our’ motorcycles either. I’d been allocated – indeed, it’d even been delivered to my home, on the edge of Thetford forest, hence the others were keen to head over this way – the Suzuki V-Strom, which I was more than happy about, having both a little history with the model and the firm’s off-roaders, too. My first-ever road-going motorcycle was a 1973 Suzuki TS125, registration CGV
102L, which I bought what’s fast approaching 30 years ago, from its owner from new, who lived across the road from my Dad. The orange TS was mint and cost £300. Though I sold my Suzuki years ago, I’ve always had a soft spot for Suzi off-roaders, which also lead to the purchase of one that had been used in the 1965 ISDT. I sold it on, whereupon it was restored and has subsequently starred at many classic shows.
Whether this had a bearing, I’m not sure, but the original V-Strom appealed to me from the off and I had one of the first-generation models, as launched in 2004, which was a fantastically capable all-round machine. It toured, it cruised, it handled as well as I needed and was quick enough for me, too. Later, I was to do quite a lot of miles on a second generation (launched 2012) which was simply a more refined version of what had gone before, although I must admit, I was a bit sad to learn that this newest generation had done away with the V-twin engine, in favour of a parallel twin, just like everyone else – by which I mean all the other manufacturers in this market. One can’t but inadvertently
think of the famous Life of Brian scene; the masses all chanting, in unison: “We’re all individuals.”
What makes it a bit weirder still, is that the V-Strom still has the ‘V’ bit in its name, which, so far as I’d assumed, meant it was still a V-twin. Nope, not the case, and while we’re on the subject of its name, ‘strom’ is German for ‘stream’ while I’d always for some reason assumed it was ‘storm’ and almost liked to think somebody just got the ‘r’ and ‘o’ the wrong way round on the first announcement and thought, ‘well, we may as well go with it now.’ But, no again, it’s named after unthreatening running water, rather than aggressive weather patterns, which, for this model, is probably quite apt. Or at least it was.
It’s grown, too. The old V-Stroms were so nice because they were of a manageable size. Like fording a small stream. Sure, the old Suzuki was a bit tubby and perhaps underpowered, but they were comfy and possessed of the very best of manners. Soft, one might say, particularly in the early days – there were no sharp edges in either the styling nor performance.
This new incarnation, though, is all hard edges and sticky-out bits. It does look the part, absolutely, while the attention to detail and quality of finish are evident, too. It’s got a bit more storm than stream. Meanwhile, the riding experience has been sharpened considerably, too, meaning that this incarnation of the V-Strom feels considerable steps on from its predecessors and is, in fact, a fine riding device. Actually, it’s really good fun, being possessed of agile handling, low-feeling weight and a fine, comfortable saddle. Once I’ve clambered on – and it really was a fairly undignified mounting procedure, owing to a combination of being swaddled in wet weather gear, the big boxes and the notinconsiderable seat height, at 33.7in/855mm – I was immediately settled, no longer feeling like it was a bigger boy’s toy than I was equipped for. On the move, it’s just good all round – smooth take up (indeed, it’s an impressively smooth engine), comfortable control positioning and a pleasing burst of liveliness once it’s given a few revs. Dropping down a cog and accelerating hard and a far livelier beast than any mid-sized V-Strom than I’ve ridden before is unleashed. One suspects it’d run out of ‘puff ’ high up, but it feels good in the all-important midrange.
The saddle is impressively comfy, and the screen offers a good bit of protection. Indeed, there’s nothing to stop one heading off on an adventure on this latest incarnation from a maker of pedigree off-roaders.