Updated for 2018, the Suzuki V-Strom 1000 has sharper styling, better wind protection and new cornering ABS. (Photos by Enrico Pavia)
After some lean years following the Great Recession, Suzuki has pinned the throttle. In our comprehensive guide to new/updated street motorcycles for 2017-2018, which includes 123 models from 16 manufacturers, Suzuki has launched nearly 10 percent of the total?12 new/updated models in all.
Read Our Guide to New/Updated Motorcycles for 2017-2018
Suzuki’s 1991 DR-Z Dakar Rally racebike provided the styling inspiration for the new V-Strom 650 and 1000. (Photo courtesy Suzuki)
Four of those models are members of Suzuki?s popular V-Strom ?sport adventure tourer? family, including standard and XT versions of the V-Strom 650 and V-Strom 1000. The entire lineup has been restyled, with a minor facelift for the 1000 and a more dramatic rework of the 650 to more closely resemble its big brother. Both have updated engines, new electronics and a unified line of accessories, and the XT versions offer tubeless spoked wheels and other adventure-ready components. The 2018 Suzuki V-Strom 1000 is the first Japanese ADV bike to be offered with cornering ABS, a valuable safety enhancement that works in harmony with the traction control system.
About a month before Suzuki hosted its U.S. press launch for the new V-Stroms, Managing Editor Jenny Smith spent a week test riding the new V-Strom 650 over in Europe during Adriatic Moto Tour?s Adriatic Riviera Tour,...