The criticisms I've seen are 1) weight, 2) why no cruise control, 3) tubed tyres (I know pros & cons, personally I'd take tubeless - more likely to pick up a nail than bust a rim). I guess weight is only really a big issue if you are actually going to do single track/technical. I've the 650 XT and I got it around the expert sections of the ABR trail - yes I'm sure there is much harder stuff you could be doing but I'm not much beyond a noob so I think real world the weight is maybe not a huge issue. On the spreadsheet it will definitely register as a minus point compared to, say, the T7. Cruise control - have never had it, in theory I guess it would be nice but the ergonomics are so good I didn't find it an issue every on 'full day in saddle' situations. This could well be my next bike! Like someone else posted here, a revived DRZ400 with the issues fixed is an obv place to go next, the Honda 300L Rally has created its only 'small adventure bike' class, but a slicker DRZ400 could eat plenty of that lunch !!
@@chrisw4215 Yeah, it would need to be cheap to bother with. I think it will be too close to the cost of the Tuareg, which begs the question of why you'd buy the 800. For me it would need to be 30kg lighter and have a normal cable throttle. If it had those two specs, I'd consider buying it.
@@actstuntcam I wish they would finally focus on redesigning vstrom 650 and keep the price below £9k instead of wasting time on 800de. It's my opinion, of course, but it won't be a financial success. This bike offers too little for the money. I would prefer buying tiger 850, spending the difference on the luggage, engine guards etc and enjoying a cool bike with the tubeless tyres
@@chrisw4215 I 100% agree. It is too expensive, which pushes it to compete with far more desirable bikes. It is underpowered, overweight (Similar weight to my 2016 Africa Twin), and over-priced. It needs better specs or a much lower price tag. I think in certain circumstances the VStrom650 would be better, for a lot less money. It is too heavy to be a serious off-road bike and if you were doing gravel only the 650 is lighter, makes good power and is wayyyy cheaper - AND the 650 has the advantage of having a cable throttle, which means the riding experience will be far superior.
Personally I'm looking for a single cylinder 400-500cc adventure/dual sport bike. I sure hope Suzuki is revamping the drz400 with EFI, long maintenance intervals, half decent suspension, preferably a lower seat height (34-35"), 6 speed with low 1st gear for slow technical terrain and a 6th that is tall for longer hwy miles. Will need an abs model for some countries like Australia. And for God's sake have a large enough tank to get at least 400km of range. I'll sell my left kidney for that. Between that and an 800de model we would have dual sport and adventure covered.
Great bike and great explanation of the decisions made! The weight is within the ballpark of the KTM 790 Adventure with plenty of pillion comfort, so the engineers have definitely done their homework. Looking forward to riding one.
No longer The V strom it's now The P strom as in parallel twin. Suzuki are obviously fighting the bigger adventure market with this one and it looks FANTASTIC and I'm sure this bike will be a success. I'd like Suzuki to continue the bog standard V strom 650cc along with the 800. I love the V strom 650cc l nicknamed him The Cockroach 🪳 indestructible
ITS GREAT MACHINE FOR VALIANT PERSON LIKE ME AND OTHER BRAVE HEARTS WHO LOVE ADVENTURE RIDING AND SPORTS TOURING WELL DONE SUZUKI TEAMS ALL THE BEST SUCCEWSS
What about the Suzuki DR650 being in the UK. A simple bike that's been great for going around the world. It's a winner and the best basic single ever designed at a good price. What a great engine, it just needed the gearbox gremlin sorted in 3rd gear.
£10.499 is wayyyyy too much. It won't be a success, I'm afraid. I would consider this bike but only with tubeless tyres, and cruise control for the maximum price of £9500
if you want to sell loads of these you want to get some off road vids on youtube. i think this bike could be a good bike looking at the speck. i would love to try it out off road for you.
In India the Vstorm 650xt has a huge fan following. Every bike enthusiast knows that its a potent bike. However nobody dares to purchase them due to dearth of dealership and service and the surprisingly disinterest of dealers to sale them. More surprisingly Suzuki don't address such issues. I personally wanted to book one from Suzukitwowheeler India website but ignored by Suzuki
I am owner v-strom 650 xt. I would like to buy a new stronger bike. V-strom 800de looks pretty good, but I am looking for bike with cruise control. Should I wait for update 800de with cruise control may be next year ? Suzuki v-strom is most comfortable bike, especially seat, I like it, and I don’t wanna change mark of bike.
Price now announced in UK. £10,500. Too much, you can get a 1050 Strom new or nearly new for 9k which weighs about the same, has no inner tubes and over 100bhp. Tracer 9 same ballpark, lighter and way more powerful. These are utility and touring bikes, practically none will see anything like off road use. Should have been 10k max and cheap finance. Honda Transalp looks like it will be cheaper, a lot lighter and a useful power advantage. Unless the tests say that this bike is brilliant, I can't see why you would take a punt, maybe the dealers will get the price down to 10k, play around with part exchange values and APR to shift them.
Very true. Suzuki need to make a bare bones analogue simple Enfield type bike for working class, simple to work on with basic functional parts like tokito brake calipers, simple forks, bandit parts bin special with no expensive, complicated electronic stuff that's not robust, reliable, simple and cheap that can be fixed by the owner.
Where is the true road-going 800cc touring bike, with tubeless tyres, wind protection and space for luggage? Is it being designed? Also, watch the weight !!
Well done Suzuki. I have a DR650. It's sad the DR650SE wasn't imported by Suzuki GB into the UK. A big mistake and it's the best overland round the world bike by far even better than Honda's as it's cheap to run, easy to self service, very reliable and not overpriced on spares. Keep them basic, rugged, simple and well designed with stuff like tappets and locknuts. Don't over complicate it especially with digital electrics, Speedos . Keep it very basic like the old bandit Suzuki's and you will sell a lot because us older bikers hate over complicated and expensive bikes and Suzuki need to be the Toyota or Datsun most basic Hilux type taleban type vehicle that can be self repaired by the roadside for example up on the Himalayas or the Sahara desert or siberia
$22000 bike with just basic accessories. Suzuki is out if its mind . After putting some basic accessories its gonna cost us around 25-26k in Australia , In this price range Africa Twin is way better option, sorry suzuki i m not impressed.
No cruise control? Inner tubes? I love Suzuki, and I love Vstroms, but from now on cruise control and tubeless tires are a must if you want me to buy one.
Forget about the weight. Almost every rider will add crashbars, sidecases, topcase (and the mountings of course) and end up with heavier bike. And you can see in every motorcycle review that bikes are generally heavier that declared weight. If you need a light bike you should by DRZ400 instead.
