It’s been a while since we’ve had a new adventure bike in the shop, but Suzuki has recently released the all-new V-Strom 800DE, which is the most intriguing bike in the ADV world right now. Suzuki hasn’t had a new off-road product in a very long time, so it’s cool to see that the R&D staff in Hamamatsu has been busy and that they still know what they’re doing. The V-Strom 800 is a modern motorcycle with very advanced technology. It isn’t a V-twin, though, and has no relationship to the V-Strom 1050 or the V-Strom 650. The motor is a parallel twin with a 270-degree crank; very similar to the one in the GSX-8S naked street bike. The frame is like no previous V-Strom. It is steel rather than aluminum.For us, the biggest news is that the Suzuki shows a little more commitment to off-road riding than anything previously in Suzuki’s adventure line. The Showa suspension has more travel and more adjustability, it has more ground clearance and the electronic features show that Suzuki is paying attention. Not to bag on the 650 and 1050, but they were basically street bikes without any special provisions for the dirt. The traction control, in particular, was completely ineffective once you got off the pavement. The 800, on the other hand, has a “Gravel” mode that is excellent for dirt roads. When you roll on the throttle, it smoothly limits wheel spin without any abrupt engine cut-out. When you choose the more intrusive levels of traction control, the motor seems to just slow down rather than cut out.The bike also has three levels of ABS including “Off.” Even when Off is selected, there is some front-wheel antilock that’s noticeable, but only in a good way. There are also three ride modes for power delivery. “A” is the sport mode and “C” is for rain. We spent almost all of our time on the bike in “A” so far. The throttle is still the best way of modulating power output.
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