Have you been dreaming or riding to a place like this the sambhar lake in
Rajasthan for a proper adventure tour class motorcycle well in that case your
dreams might just be coming true getting very real and all thanks to the arrival
of this Suzuki the V-Strom 650 but before we carry on don't forget to subscribe
and click the little bell to stay notified
now before we go any further let's keep in mind that the v-strom 650 that's on sale in India is the v-strom
650 XT which is the more rough road ready v-strom from suzuki so let's carry on
so should you be interested in this because for about 70,000 rupees less you
would get Kawasaki Versys 650 which on paper is pretty much on par with the
v-strom and if you were looking for more power and sophistication 150 CC of a
sitz Triumph Tiger 800 and in the XCX guys gets the you know spo ke wheels as
well but that costs a whopping 6 lakh rupees more
so if you're stretching for the v-strom over the vs. for the extra cash you get
proper spoke rims and they look beautiful in this gold finish and those
are wrapped with proper tubeless tires and these Brit stones are on off-road
oriented so good for on road fun and off road fun and an aside you also get this
plastic bash guard for the engine which can handle like bumps and bangs and
that's what all you also get this knuckle guard there's also a 12 volt
charging socket as standard but the real big talking point apart from the wheels
is the fact that the v-strom gets three-stage traction control
there's off this level one which is for everything except for when it starts
raining which is when you move to level two and basically that means the extra
cash is money well spent
but the v-strom does miss out bit in a see of two wheelers scooters that have
LED headlamps or at least LED DRLs this near 9 lakh rupee motorcycle doesn't
have either and to top it off its design is a bit awkward and when you combine
those two things together the halogen headlamps and the design it starts
looking a bit updated actually they have used LEDs on the tail lamp but what
really works for the v-strom is this yellow color and it is also available in
a cool white while the chassis looks old and industrial it is an aluminium twins
spire unit and talking of hardware and then when you look at the features
especially the suspension this gets regular telescopic forks up front which
are non adjustable unlike the verses which gets shower upside down forks on
the upside this has a remote preload adjuster for the rear motor shock and
rebound damping adjustment as well yeah you might be thinking that I missed out
on some things and this v-strom is looking pretty well-equipped but let me
tell you it's wearing four accessories starting with that main stand then
there's this partial chain guard and there's of course a crash protector over
there and last but definitely not least is this top box over here which has 55
litres of storage let me show you yeah just turn the key flip it open press
that button you can get to full face helmets in here easy and that's not all
it also comes with its own mounting plate which has a quick-release
mechanism which means you can do this and all these accessories come for 77k
as a package if you bought them individually will be about 89 sweeter
now proper arabes can be intimidating for shorter riders like me I'm five feet
six and so is the v-strom 650 a significantly better motorcycle for a
rider like me now when you compare it to the v-strom 1000 the seat height is
lower by 15 millimeters might not sound like much but it is a lot and
interestingly Suzuki's v accessory comes in here they're offering a low seat
option which drops the seat height from 835 mm to 815 mm 20 mm lower and I
would recommend that to all shorter riders out there because the cub weight
is 216 kilos which is 12 kilos lighter than the v-strom thousand but
still it's 216 kilos that's something you can feel when you're especially
picking the bike off the stand or maneuvering it at lower speeds
at the same time you get that experience that you want of being on a big bike and
that's also good news for taller riders if you're up to 6 feet
I think the v-strom 650 will accommodate you quite well
so the question I'm sure you're asking is is it a proper adventure bike
well a little bit of a hint of that is in the foot packs it doesn't get
saturated edges and it doesn't have removable shoes either
right and then when you dig a little bit deeper in the spec sheet you'll find the
front folks travel is 150 mm which by proper ATV standards is pretty low
a proper Bosch plate is in the works from Suzuki and it will be a must-have if you
plan to rough it out
and then there's the wait you do feel that at low speeds and in shifty
conditions you do have to manage it but trust me it's not something that should
put you off the v-strom it's something that once you spend time would get used
to you'll get over it and you'll be able to play around with
the v-strom a fair bit it feels like a solid capable motorcycle and it really
does feel that even the loose stuff and those tires the tubular tires make you
feel safe and confident even when you wander off the road the v-strom is a
sweet handler and it does manage to put you at ease fairly quickly it is no
doubt helped by its ultra long wheelbase which is even longer than the v-strom
1000 so yes the v-strom it might not be an out-and-out off-roader but it is very
capable for rough rolling oh and that reminds me we haven't spoken about the
engine which brings us to our next point
and that's is the V-strong good for touring well this V twin 650 cc
engine is a gem it just feels so relaxed so smooth and so capable no matter what
you want to do you want to overtake it's got the talk it's actually got enough
right from two and a half thousand rpm to pull cleanly you can pull in sixth
gear from fifty smooth well under forty even in fifth gear so this is really a
very capable engine and well cruising on the highway 120 kph is five and a
half thousand rpm which you can do all day long if you want to know what the V
Strom 650 XT sounds like stay with us till the end of the video v-strom has a
20 liter fuel tank and with the indicated fuel efficiency hovering
around the mid 20 KPL mark it means the v-strom is a really long legged machine
but the fuel efficiency number will drop if you start to rush things and talking
about rushing along and well if you decide to gun it for the horizon or the
next corner and take the rest past 8,000 rpm that's when you start feeling just a
bit of a buzz from the seat and from the pegs but on the whole the engine is very
capable and refined the redline ten and a half thousand rpm and if you decide to
it can really pull all the way that clean and quick even then the long
wheelbase and the supple suspension will keep you confident and comfy and then
there's the seating comfort the riders triangle which is your seating position
is spacious its upright so whether you're short or tall you should be
comfortable here and that's also thanks to this standard seat which offers good
cushioning and the seat fabric I mean the seat cover it looks good wilde thing
to talk about but it's also grippy and that's one all you have this windscreen
which provides adequate protection the problem here is that to adjust it it's
got three steps for adjustment but to adjust it you need tools
also keep in mind a six and a half thousand kilometers service interval
might slow you down on a bharat darshan and it's awesome that suzuki is offering
luggage as an accessory right out of the showroom but it would have been better
if they've offered panniers instead of the top box because the top box dis
effect handling when you're out on the highway
now this question might be small but the impact of it not so much is it going to
be good to live it the short answer is yes if you've heard
everything you had to say here's the roundup again the engine super tractable
so great for low-speed use slick gearbox or no issue there again you've got
create seating comfort it's got great turning radius and the suspension can
tackle our non-existent city roads quite well and that of course also comes with
the added safety net of traction control and abs and standard the light clutch
Suzuki's anti-stall technology and the super reliable engine will make this a
trusty companion for years to come
so the V-Strom is calling itself a sport adventure Torah so is it sporty
well like most modern-day ATVs find a good sweeping road and you'll find that
the v-strom can be hustle and can be had fun with but is it as sporty and has eager
as let's say a tiger or Multistrada well no it is more restrained and that's no
surprise but on the whole it is confident and really composed when you
do hustle a which makes it friendly for maybe even newer riders and when you
look at the brakes you've got solid bites it from the dual disc up front but the
ABS does gotten a bit abruptly and the tyres given that they have the on/off
load focus the grip on offer is certainly committed and this being a
Suzuki quality is impressive details are well worked out and you have a sense of
reassurance thanks to the wide service network
so is the Suzuki v-strom 650 XT right for you but like we said at the
beginning if you've been dreaming of getting an adventure Toro Class
motorcycle that gives you the proper big bike feel and couldn't really stretch
your budget all the way to well over 10 lakh rupees then the V-Strom 650 XT
certainly sits in the sweet spot it isn't a motorcycle that's going to
out-and-out excite you but nonetheless it is a very capable and very
well-rounded motorcycle irrespective of what you throw at it whether it's
storing with its off-road or whether it's even commuting in the city and then
engine with its wee twin configuration it really gives it so much character
that pulse is something that almost makes it like a companion on your
journeys and then when it comes to the price you could say that it is more
expensive than the competition but keep in mind that Suzuki has managed to price
this on par with other markets which is incredible considering the duties that
you have to pay and the fact that it is being assembled in India so that is job
well done so a great reason to go for the suzuki v-strom 650 xt would be that
you want to travel really far and wander a bit wild without breaking the bank