2012 Suzuki V-Strom 650 Abs

CW FIRST RIDE

2012 Suzuki V-Strom 650 ABS

Everyday adventurer or multi-terrain tourer? We travel to Croatia to find out.

BLAKE CONNER

ADVENTURE RIDING IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT. IT can be as extreme as traversing rivers and mud bogs in South America or as mellow as sticking to asphalt hairpins while touring the Alps. With such a broad range of terrain in the world and so many definitions of what makes a good adventure bike, the only perfect motorcycle is the one that suits your needs best.

For many, Teavmg th~ tarmac is just a romantic and distant dream, more wishful thinking and en joyment of "potential" than actual exploration of the creases and crevices of this Earth. So, if you want the look, feel, comfort and convenience of an adventure bike but are as likely to explore North African deserts as you are the moon, the reworked Suzuki V-Strom 650 ABS was made for you. How so? Suzuki's market research showed that 97 percent of previous V-Stroms never left the

tarmac. So, for the 2012 V-Strom 650 ABS, engineers focused their efforts on improving the bike’s street performance rather than directly attacking the segment occupied by the more off-roadcapable BMW F800GS and Triumph Tiger 800XC (see comparison test, p. 26).

Backdrop for the international press launch of the new Strom was Split, Croatia, a city steeped in history that extends to its beginnings as a Greek colony during the 6th century B.C. It’s more famous, however, for Roman Emperor Diocletian’s seaside palace, completed in 305 A.D. In other words, it’s a fantastic place to explore, with ancient ruins littering the landscape and stories to be told in every village. The mountainous area bordering the Adriatic Sea also provided a wide variety of interesting roads—from wide-open autostrada to tight, alpine-like passes.

As we made our way north out of town on our all-day test ride, the scenery was more autostrada than acropolis, but this gave me time to think about the ergonomic revisions. At a claimed height of 32.9 inches, the thickly padded saddle is more than a half-inch taller than before (Suzuki also offers accessory seats 0.8-in. lower or higher than standard). But because the front of the seat has been reshaped to be narrower, I had no trouble getting both boots firmly planted on the ground at stops, even with my 32-in. inseam.

The upright riding position provides a relaxed bend at the knees, while the interface with the 5.3-gallon fuel tank is improved by its having a slimmer feel and lower top; the latter may partly be a function of the raised seat.

Helmet buffeting has been a common complaint among V-Strom owners, and the redesigned windscreen has three settings (requiring removal and replacement of four Allen-head bolts). I tried the standard middle location as well as the 0.9-in.-higher/0.3-in.-more-rearward posi-

tions. Both provided good forward vision and produced very little buffeting, even at a sustained 100-mph-plus on the highway. The third setting drops the screen 0.7 in. and pushes it forward an equal amount.

The updated engine is based on that of the now-discontinued Gladius. Bore and stroke of 81.0 x 62.6mm are the same, but the pistons, rings and intake-cam profiles are new. Four-valve cylinder heads get twin iridium sparkplugs and single (rather than dual) valve springs. Cylinder walls benefit from Suzuki Composite Electrochemical Material (SCEM) plating. Aided by a new 32-bit ECU, twin Suzuki Dual Throttle Valve (SDTV) 39mm throttle bodies handle fueling. Suzuki claims 10 percent better fuel economy. For reference, our 2006 DL650 testbike averaged 53 mpg.

Once we got off the highway, we were rewarded with some very fine curves.

We first snaked along a coastal twolane that must be Croatia’s equivalent to California’s Pacific Coast Highway, and then we headed inland toward Krka National Park northeast of Split. Miles of twisties highlighted by 180-degree hairpins really exposed the V-Strom’s strengths.

The 650 V-Strom has always been goodhandling, particularly when the going gets less than ideal. In fact, back in the day, German mag Motorrad even picked the DL650 as “der Alpenfuhrer” in a giant comparison test in which all kinds of bikes went head-to-head in the European Alps. A good pedigree, in other words.

So, while I at first thought these endless twisties were a blessing, I realized that about half of them were either splattered with diesel or the asphalt itself was mixed with limestone. And potholes were everywhere. Meaning grip was rarely ideal. But these are exactly the conditions that the V-Strom eats up.

The wide handlebar, long-travel suspension and upright seating position gave me confidence to pitch the bike into corners knowing that I still had a fighting chance, even if the 19-inch front and/or 17-inch rear Bridgestone Trail Wings lost traction. Turn-in is low-effort, yet stability is quite good. Claimed curb weight is 472 pounds, 13 less than the bike it replaces.

Suspension adjustments are limited to spring preload on the conventional fork, and preload and rebound damping on the shock. Shortly after hitting the curves on a fully accessorized V-Strom (with side and top cases), I pulled over and maxed out shock spring preload using the big, easy-to-reach knob and was satisfied with the bike’s performance considering the extra load. Even better,

I cranked up the bone-stock bike I rode later in the afternoon, and that improved cornering clearance for strafing apexes at a sporting pace.

The most “adventurous” portion of the ride was quite short. I sampled a dirt road that led out to a scenic overlook above Vransko Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Croatia, which also happens to sit less than 1000 yards inland from the Adriatic Sea. Frankly, any more dirty work on the stock V-Strom would have risked damaging the header pipe for the front cylinder as well as the liquid-cooled oil cooler and filter, which are completely unprotected from rocks (Suzuki says an accessory “real” skidplate is in the works). The fact that the new Bosch ABS system cannot be switched off also makes off-roading tedious.

Those varied riding conditions highlighted the flexibility of the updated engine. Power is decent and controllable off the bottom but really peps up in the midrange. Revving the engine closer to its 10,000-rpm redline provides greater acceleration but isn’t really necessary; strong torque (Suzuki claims 44.3 footpounds at 6400 rpm) through the middle of the power curve provided good exit drives in second and even third gears without the need to drop down to first for slow comers (the six-speed transmission offers ultra-slick shifts). Fuel-injection mapping was quite good, making throttle control at low speeds easy to exercise.

Although price wasn’t set as we went to press, it is expected to fall in the $8500 range, making it a relatively cost-effective option in the adventurebike segment. This 2012 makeover has done the ’Strom some good, and, despite Suzuki’s research, we’ve seen and ridden previous V-Stroms on some pretty rugged stuff. With such a solid platform, we’re sure V-Strom lovers will prove the street-biased statistics wrong. □