The MAM Journals -Suzuki 800 RE - A Universal Japanese Adventure (UJA) bike of today? 

What a beautiful bike. Its my favorite version of the new Vstrom 800.

I just got it as my daily commuter. Its very comfortable and gives me the styling points i like. A windscreen, largish gas tank, and no lower fairing. It's a fun engine very responsive with a fairly smooth throttle

Thanks for the good review. Recently I bought one of these. Can't wait to start riding!

I really appreciated your putting the bike into a larger context and history of pricing. We all see the top of the range and think about how expensive everything has gotten. But good deals are still available and you were right on the money when pointing that out.

Nice, detailed and calm review. Thats very rare these days, well done. Thanx! Greetings from Austria!

Thanks for another detailed, enjoyed and well thought review.

Thanks for another excellent review! Having ridden the 3 vstroms available,i think this one represents the best combination of versatility-performance-comfort-economy! A great bike for everyday!

Another great review. Thx!

Excellent review Michael, thanks for that.

Current own a 06 Vstrom 650 love it , looking forward to own the 800RE. (great video).

Well done! Thank you

Great review, it's taken too many years to realise I love the VStrom 650 having derided that engine for years. I tried one and fell in love. Finally the skill in my head has matched the bike underneath. This is another tempter. I'm no Marquez, just normal.

Great info, on my shopping list for sure, test ride needed.

Display modes. I especially liked the blurred out mode which you very aptly demonstrated 👍😁

Great! Thank you !

Great presentation. Subscribed!

I really like this bike, the goldilocks of vstroms. haven't had a test ride yet, great video Michael.

Very interesting. Thank you

Excellent video.

Thank you, Michael, for another well thought out and researched motorcycle review. I believe this Suzuki is very good value for money, and I would personally consider owning one were it not for the issue of my currently owning one or two bikes too many. Suzuki’s always, for me at least, were not that well finished but offered a great engineering package. Having inspected the RE 800 up close, I have to say it does look well made and robustly finished. I think you were spot on with your ‘universal Japanese adventure’ bike’s comment. Currently this Suzuki fits in to the slot beautifully and at a very fair price.

Nicely reviewed

Thanks - I enjoyed the content and the presentation. I like simple 'no nonsense' bikes and ride a Honda CB500X, which is a great all rounder but lacks a little power on motorway jaunts. This Suzuki 800 RE might be the bike that encourages me to do some sums! We are spoilt for choice these days and there really is a bike available to suit every practical need and taste. Cheers.

Not rode this new Strom, but i have test rode the GSX-8S and its a great engine. But i'm not taken with the looks of this new Strom and wouldn't trade my Strom 650 for it. My 650 is super comfortable, with a well proven reliable and characterful v twin engine. It is also super comfortable, does everything i need a bike to do and gets between 64 and 70 mpg depending on how i ride it.

They all look so similar to me, not the type of bike i would buy but i did really enjoy the video, as usual.

Just bought mine V Strom 800 Touring model or RS here in California. Great bike.

I think this review has really sold me. I was looking at 4/5 other alternatives for my first "big bike" to go touring on and this just have everything I could want (minus cruise control but oh well). Thank you for such a carefully considered review and the brilliant way you put it across. Subscribed!

Thanks for another great review, Michael. I road the RE 3 weeks ago and I agree with your findings, though I would say the screen produces a very noisy airflow above 60mph. You and I are about the same height and leg length, but maybe clothing and helmet play their part. I am close to buying one…

I like your presentation & riding in the Cotswolds, I see soo many ADV style bikes that never go off road....this would be a great every day, do it all bike. Im tempted to buy one.

Agree with your assessment of Dunlop OE tyres. My Honda NC750x DCT was delivered with them and I couldn't wait to replace them with some excellent Metzeller equipment. Transformed the grip.

Thanks mate well done honest review, not a press piece. 🎉 Wait, no cruise? 😢

Great review. My 2015 Vstrom 650 is definitely a UJM/A. A capable, practical all rounder. But no more so than something like the Beemer F700GS. Sometimes I think I should have gone for a KTM 1090 or a more lovable modern retro like the Z900RS. But my Vstrom just works in a no frills way.

I noticed you skirted neatly around German and European bikes in the 'value for money' section. Many years ago at work we did a test of how many hours you had to work to buy something, with the older guys saying what they used to earn and what they earned now, and what things used to cost and what they cost now... It seems most things were actually a lot more expensive years ago and not such good quality.

I like the naked bike better, but this looks good, too. I'm sure the engine must be really good. Excellent dash. Nick

It looks a bit like a Suzuki bandit, from back in the day. The older i get, the fewer people i have to impress, so an adventure type bike may not be the most beautiful, but it certainly gets the work done. On the valve of the bike, i see moto morini x cape available new for about £5800 i think, if memory serves me, and its one of the better looking adventurous type bikes.

Hello Michael, I recently stumbled across you channel searching for videos on the new Suzuki V-Strom 800 RE. I hat the opportunity to try out the DE version last year and I really liked it. But when the RE version came out, I decided to order that version as I don't ride off-road. And the journalists at the test launch in France said that the RE has a comfy suspension as well. As you have the direct comparison with the DE version, my question to you is: is the RE suspension-wise similarly comfortable as the DE? I'm thinking here especially of you "bumpy road test" :) And I'd like to tell you, that I really like you channel (I've been watching a lot of you recent and past videos since I discovered this one). You look like a very sympathetic guy to me. BTW: my bike is due to arrive till mid February. Keeping fingers crossed :) Greetings from Hungary! :)

Really like the look of this. As your ride showed, UK roads are fun but not race tracks. This has plenty of go, enough to get you banned. I'd be happy to give this a try in place of my DL1000 Vstrom.

Greetings from the USA! State of Vermont specifically. Marvelous video sir 👍My last bike was an '01 SV650, and I haven't been on a bike since I sold it almost 12 years ago. I quite liked the rideability and character of the 650, but with the difference in MSRP being only $700 USD here ($9,199 vs $9,899), would you say the 800RE is a better buy than the 650RE? I've only sat on the 650, and while it initially felt a little wide at the hips, it felt like something I could get used to; I'm 5'9 and weight about 170lbs.

Subscribed. Amazing garage . I have the Tiger 900. How does this bike compare ?

Micheal, you said you were not happy with the I AM Dunlop tyres, what tyres would you choose to replace them with?

Mr. Mam, I had the V-Strom 650 and felt like it was top heavy. For example, it took a fair effort to keep it upright at an intersection. How do you feel about the 800 in that regard?

Love my new Vstrom 800RE. Only gripe is that if I wish to add a bash plate, I also have to purchase an Accessory Bar Tube to mount the plate to. This adds an additional $350 US to the already expensive plate. Oh well, such is the nature of add on's I suppose.

Kind suggestion: use USA Imperial measurements for your mostly American audience.

I am going to have to ride one of those Michael...!

Looks nice in the black dude have you been to Blake’s kitchen in Clanfield? A excellent coffee stop with food to match there cinnamon buns, they are to die for 👍🏼

Awesome video, my next bike!

Suzuki v-strom 800re the best of 800cc!!!

Is there some reason there is a small piece of yellow tape bottom right on the TFT screen?

Is a center stand an option do you know? Thanks for the excellent review.

Wondering if it is a big step up from the 650 V-Strom Michael? Speaking as someone who bought a 650 a few weeks before this bike was announced!

A year and a half ago I paid $10,500 for a brand new Moto Guzzi v85tt that was the previous year's model. Very happy with it 12,000 miles later and have been spoiled by the cruise control.

You own the 650, I would have appreciated far more time spent comparing the two as for me they are very similar in their on-off road bias compromise. Thanks for the review regardless 👍

I prefer a V engine. My 2014 1000 is a keeper. Previously I owned the DL650. I liked it as well. I dont really see the point of a 800cc in the middle. If my 1000 had a little more suspension travel it would do the job off road. Although I will say, with nobbies its still capable in the mud. One must simply slow down.

@23:09 wait a minute, so on both the 650 and the 1050, TC 1 is the least intervention and TC 2 respectively 3 is the most. Are you saying that on the 800 it's the opposite ?

Is the Suzuki V-Strom 800RE engine buzzy at 80 mph or 79 Km?

A very enjoyable review once again with some very useful insights into the bike. Well done. 🫡

Ideally I'd buy a BMW 900GS(yellow/red subframe one),but it's too tall and expensive, so i was looking at this and evolving it over time. That seat needs to go, a Hessler/Trail de Couvert flat one...McCruise are working on the C/C(it'll fit all 4 models probably?). Accessories are starting to appear, decent sumpguards,crash bars, lighter racks,etc! I reckon i can get that under 200kg dry,quite easily, with what's already available, Hessler is running a fully sorted DE at 226kg with 14kg of fuel on board! Should dent Tracer7 sales!

😊👍🙏

Must get a test ride on one, to see what's it like compared to the Transalp Your thoughts Michael?

Interesting as usual. This looks a very capable, usable bike. One criticism I can make is that the engine has too much gubbins on show, pipes, wires etc. It does not look as polished as a Triumph in my opinion. Do you know where these are made?

i m between this bike and the new transalp.and i cant decide.i will test ride them both of course.also, i think black its the best for this bike.thaks for the great review sir

Why would this bike be around 50 lbs heavier than the naked version? Is it because of the bigger fuel tank?

Did you have an opportunity to ride in the dark and if so your impressions of headlights?

Hello I am French and juste more than seventy I really like this review I just want to know the name of the city you were at the 17 minutes It so beautiful Have a good time a good health too Thierry

I have to agree with you on the looks. Call me "old school", but I don't like the beaks and the suit case sized exhausts on many bikes these days. Great point on how pricing has remained relative while tech has advanced. Cheers.

so,it cost about 30% of a year avarage salarys in uk... sad for us in greece.couse i would say it cost at least 80% of the years avarage salaries in greece,if you think the avarage salary in greece is about 1000 euros and this cost 11k.at least we have sunshine 300 days.but driving with 10,20 and maybe 30 year old bikes.

I find this bike quite compelling, but feel not having cruise control on an adventure touring bike a big miss. I want to understand why Suzuki wouldn't include it as I believe that most potential buyers would value it.

The down pipes? Stainless??

I was taken by your observation that these “off road” bikes are better risen than looked at. The test run was feisty and gave an astonishing sense of versatility. I am completely inexperienced with gizmos but they seemed worthy. Fret not sir! The machine was immaculate 😂👍👏👌

There Michael goes busting misconceptions! lol

Dunlop makes a tier lower tire generally, they are typically a notch below Michelin, Bridgestone and Pirelli as an example. Almost universally when reviewers comment on a tire being bad, it's a Dunlop

Has helmet hooks?

Just bought this model, but in blue. Waiting to be delivered. Step down from VFR1200X

Cracked weld on the swing arm or am I seeing things opps.

Cold and wet? Don't do cold and wet.

Not even a word about engine vibration and heat emission? These are the bigest cons of 800DE (RE has same engine).

i could buy this bike,it has almost everything i need,BUT,i cant stand the looks.i cant pay so much money and cant stand staring it in my garage.so,no from me.

A classic suzuki 850 V TWIN with Analog clocks NO plastics and proper mudguards would have drove a steak through the heart of Royal Enfield. These Plastic Lego bikes today are extremely UGLY and lack character 😑

To me.. this bike makes NO sense at all.. suzuki has hopped on the Fad Wagon with parrallel twins & their "P Strom".. the V Twin 1000/1050 & 650 are a much better engine.. with a tiny bit of effort they could have easily got the Vs down to a 200kg mark.. same can be said for Yamaha not reviving the tdm900.. THAT bike could be trimmed to an amasing 170kg.. that.. would be a big seller then.. 🙏🇳🇿🇳🇿nz

I think is a very good bike , but omg it is so ugly!

Just another modern boring parallel twin, characterless and predictable. I'd take a V twin any day, like the 1050.

Just too ugly, couldn't have that in my garage