Suzuki V-Strom 800RE (2024) – Technical Review

Price: £9,499 | Power: 83.1bhp | Weight: 223kg | Overall BikeSocial Rating: TBA

Adventure bikes are without doubt Range Rovers of motorcycling – despite offering a world of potential most of them spend the vast majority of their time firmly on Tarmac where all their off-road prowess becomes a limitation rather than boon it promises to be.

Be honest, do you really need knobbly tyres, wire wheels and long-travel suspension? If the answer is ‘no’ but you still like the commanding riding position, comfort and practicality of an adventure bike, the new V-Strom 800RE might be just what you’re after. ‘RE’ might be a new tag, standing for ‘Road Explorer’ (as opposed to ‘Dual Explorer’ for the existing V-Strom 800DE), but in essence this is the ‘base’ version of V-Strom 800: stripped back to be cheaper and lighter than the DE, and perhaps all the better for it.

Review – In Detail

Price & PCP
For and against
Engine & Performance
Handling & Suspension (inc. weight & brakes)
Comfort & Economy
Equipment
Rivals
Verdict
Specification

What could you do with a spare £1000? The list is probably pretty long, and by opting for the V-Strom 800RE instead of the V-Strom 800DE you can make a start on it because that’s how much cheaper the new model is. Sliding in at £9,499 it’s well under the psychologically-important £10k mark and even further under the £10,499 of the V-Strom 800DE.

It’s also, vitally, £200 less than the Honda XL750 Transalp that’s arguably its main rival, and more than £700 less than the new BMW F800GS.

Reaching dealers in late October, the V-Strom 800RE is coming in three colour options, but  the choices are a bit on the dull side. However much ‘Metallic Matt Steel Green’ is “intended to reflect an organic sense of natural beauty as experienced on a misty morning in a deep forest” – Suzuki’s words, not ours – it’s still bland. The alternatives of ‘Pearl Vigor Blue’ or ‘Glass Sparkle Black’ aren’t much more exciting, particularly when paired, as they are, with black wheels. Surely offering the DR Big-style yellow and blue of the V-Strom 800DE wouldn’t have added much to the bottom line?

Suzuki’s new, 776cc parallel twin engine is already proving to be a triumph in the existing V-Strom 800DE and GSX-8S models. Its peak power of 83.1bhp might not make it the market leader in its capacity class, even for parallel twins, but it’s won plenty of fans already with its smooth, fuss-free performance, largely thanks to a long-stroke design that prioritises low and mid-range thrust over headline-generating peak power figures. The bore and stroke are 84mm and 70mm respectively, contributing to a peak torque of 78Nm (57.5lb-ft) that arrives at only 6,800rpm, while power peaks at 8,500rpm.

The 270-degree crank is pretty much the norm these days, giving a V-twin-esque throb, but Suzuki has added its own patented twin balancer shaft system, and the compact, under-seat airbox has two different length air intakes to tune the flow. It exhausts into a two-into-one system wit a two-stage catalytic converter and drives the six-speed box via an assist-and-slipper clutch and a bidirectional quickshifter to allow clutchless changes both up and down, including an auto-blipper to rev-match the downshifts.

Ride-by-wire means there’s the usual array of modes and settings, with all the initialisms to go with them. The Suzuki Intelligent Rider System (SIRS) incorporates the Suzuki Drive Mode Selector (SDMS) to offer three throttle maps. Mode A gives the sharpest response, Mode C the softest, and you can probably guess where Mode B sits.

Then there’s Suzuki Traction Control System (STCS) with three settings, each allowing a different level of wheelspin before intervening, plus the ability to turn it off altogether.

More tech appears in the form of Suzuki’s Easy Start System, allowing a single quick press of the starter button, and the firm’s Low RPM Assist to help prevent stalls when you’re pulling away.

The essence of the V-Strom 800RE’s chassis is identical to the DE version, a steel tube design with a bolt-on subframe, but when it comes to the suspension the RE version establishes its own, quite different credentials.

The forks are Showa SFF-BP upside-downers, but without the full adjustability of the DE. Where the higher-spec, off-road model lets you tweak the preload, compression and rebound damping, the RE’s front end can only be adjusted for preload. With 150mm of travel, it’s a much more street-oriented setup than the DE, which has 220mm of movement, and the RE’s ground clearance is reduced from 220m to 185mm.

At the back there’s a monoshock with remote preload adjustment and adjustable rebound – still a step down from the fully-adjustable one of the DE – and again suspension travel drops from 220mm to 150mm.

The wheels are the next big difference, with a 19-inch front and 17-inch rear – both cast aluminium – instead of the 21-inch and 17-inch wires of the DE. The RE’s alloys mean it can, and does, use tubeless tyres, with Dunlop D614s as standard, tailormade for the 800RE and measuring 110/80-19 and 150/70-17. They might not have the deep tread and off-road ability of the DE’s tyres, but with more rubber on the tarmac they promise more grip on hard surfaces.

That means the RE can use stronger brakes, gaining four-pot radial Nissin calipers grabbing two 310mm discs where the DE has smaller, axially-mounted stoppers. A single pot caliper and 260mm disc appear at the back, and there’s two-mode ABS, with different settings for hard and loose surfaces.

Smaller wheels and shorter suspension mean the V-Strom 800RE is a useful 7kg lighter than the 800DE, coming in at 223kg wet, and you can expect quicker steering too – the suspension and wheel changes mean the RE’s rake is 26 degrees compared to 28 degrees for the RE.

The reduced ground clearance, smaller front wheel, shorter suspension and lower, 825mm seat alone would make the V-Strom 800RE feel substantially different to the DE on their own, but they’re far from the only changes made to make the road-biased model more suited to its task.

The bars are 15mm narrower, 13mm lower and positioned 23mm further forward than the DE’s, while the footpegs (aluminium rather than the DE’s steel ones) are 7mm higher and 14mm further back, contributing to an overall riding position that’s suited to sitting rather than standing. The RE’s screen is taller and wider than the DE’s too, since owners are likely to spend more time at highway speeds.

Fuel consumption is an impressive 64.12mpg under WMTC conditions, the same figure that’s claimed for the DE version, giving a theoretical range of more than 280 miles. However, our test of the V-Strom 800DE returned 46mpg, which means the tank would be dry in 200 miles and you’re realistically going to stop to fill up every 180 miles or so.

The RE’s on-board tech is unchanged from the DE, with a 5-inch colour TFT with day and night display modes, a USB port and control for all the essential settings and systems. It’s the same story for other electronics, including the stacked LED headlights and the bar control units, but the lower cost of the V-Strom 800RE shows in some kit that’s removed, including the under-engine cowl and the hand guards, which are both standard on the DE.

There’s also a different front mudguard, required for the smaller front wheel, but other than that the RE and DE models are largely the same.

That means the existing range of options for the V-Strom 800DE can also be used on the RE, including both cosmetic and protective under-engine cowls, handguards, heated grips, alternate seats either 20mm lower or 30mm taller than standard, and a wide array of different luggage options. There are also auxiliary lights, a centre stand, a 38mm taller screen and – unique to the RE variant – the option of wheel decals to add a much-needed flash of colour.

The V-Strom 800DE might look cooler, but the RE is arguably going to be a bike that’s more use to more people for more of the time. However, it’s heading into a tough segment of the market that’s got even more competitive in 2024 with the recent launch of the BMW F800GS (confusingly powered by a near-900cc engine) to replace the old F750GS. Meanwhile, Triumph’s Tiger Sport 660 offers a different take on the same theme with a three-cylinder engine and a bargain, sub-£9k price.

Honda Transalp | Price: £9,699

Power/Torque: 90.5bhp/55.2lb-ft | Weight: 208kg (kerb)

BMW F 800 GS | Price: £10,205

Power/Torque: 87bhp/67.1lb-ft | Weight: 227kg (kerb)

Triumph Tiger Sport 660 | Price: £8,945

Power/Torque: 80bhp/47.2lb-ft | Weight: 206kg

We’ll let you know when we’ve ridden it later this month!

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