H!i welcome to another writer video. And today courtesy of our friends at damn rules in Indian Queens down in coral, we have got the opportunity to take out a brand spanking new 2017 Suzuki v-strom 1000 now. The boat that I’ve got isn’t the XP so it comes in two versions at the moment. A standard based on Suzuki V strom 1000 which is what I’ve got here. And also a thousand Eckstein are the XP. The difference on the equity is basically you’ve got spokes wheels. And it’s more of a cross Tura hence the XP name whereas this one is more billed as the sort of do anything. They’re touring more roadie type version. So having ridden it just for literally about two minutes.
It’s just like riding the 650 but you’ve got more power. I really like the seating position and I love the colours. And we’ll go into some of the gadgets. And the colours and the styling a bit later on but it doesn’t feel very heavy now. I’ve looked through all of the manufacturers details. And the mass weight at the moment is to be confirmed. So, I have to do a bit of digging on the internet for the up on the card but this version has got a about a hundred brake horsepower. And abrupt about 100 Newton meters of torque. And it’s got a 20 litre tank so no problems with touring although because it is a brand new model even in their own literature. It’s still to be concerned about mpg and that sort of thing however 20 litre tank of a thousand engine ride. It’s not revving like mad and you’re going a long long way. You’re going to get good range out of the tank .
A little things I like about the Suzuki, it looks very basic to a rider’s point of view. And I think I’ve said that on the 650 BC on video as well which you can check Wiseman to that card. At the top there but the instrument cluster is really basic however rather than it being flashy with witty bang like the KTM and lots of other manufacturers and starting to put colorful stuff onto their bike. This one is really basic and I say that in a good way because being basic is on. It’s almost like retro but now I know it doesn’t make an awful lot of sense of place indeed but the dials are really easy to read. You got a massive rev counter there you know what being. You’re in you’ve got a digital speed and indicator there. You’ve got your temperature and your fuel gauge the time. How many miles of bikes done the traction control. And it’s just there and what I really like about a lot of these bikes now is rather than having to dip your head to look at all of the dials, you can just dip your eyes. So you haven’t got to take your eye off the road for very long which ultimately is making things a lot safer. And because the dials and the instruments are so easy to read. It’s not going to be an issue trying to find what you’re looking for is right there in front of you.
I’m really liking on Suzuki v-strom the rear view mirrors. I’m not liking the shape that much, I don’t think sitting in keeping as much as the shape of the bike has been restyled but I tell you what they are really good. I can see everything behind me. I’ve got no illusion as to what’s happening behind me. And it’s right there. They’re really easy to adjust they stay in place really well so they’re functional. I’d probably have a slightly different shape if I was designing it but hey each to their own the throttle really quite responsive. But there is a bit of a slack bit there which is a little bit disconcerting but when you’re actually using it everything’s fine. There’s not an issue there all of the switch gear that Suzuki has put on this bike are in keeping with much of Suzuki switch gear on the other v-strom. The 650 and the other models they have and it’s really really easy to know what you’re pressing. You get some good feedback when you press the buttons. And I’m not fishing around to look for the indicator stalk because it’s not too long. It’s just right there really well labeled.
You know what you’re going to press now. I do like about this bike is the basicness of the instruments and the dashboard in front because they’ve been able to put things like a power out there right there. Right! where you need it rather than having to fish around trying to find something other manufacturers. Sometimes on BMWs the kind of hidden away and they’re there in kind of an awkward place that if you wanted an adapter. That’s a right angle adapter or something like that. It’s quite difficult to to get an adapter to fit properly without hitting some of the some of the bodywork whereas on this one exceptional exceptional place to put it. So it’s right there there’s loads of space on your handlebars in case you wanted to fit extra extra things. Like mobile phones and sat-nav brackets and this screen now. Presumably you can get a bigger screen if you have in busting problems. But the few miles that I’ve done I haven’t had any busting problems but it is adjustable you can adjust it. And I’ll show you that it’s really funky heritage of not seeing that sort of adjustment on any of the bikes.
I’ve ridden so far which is great. I don’t feel too scrunched up on this bike. I feel just comfortable really the pegs are at the right height. The brake pedal and the gear selector are all in the right place. And I’m not fishing around however I have noticed that the the right. And the left foot pegs are really quite big eggs. And that’s great they’ve got a rubber insert on there. So, I’m not getting any vibration whatsoever through my seat which is just the best because some bikes are so vibe. It’s unbelievable however I have noticed that when I’ve gone to put the foot stand down that. I am banging into that left-hand peg with my calf quite a bit. And it’s taking quite a bit of time and an effort really. I guess to fish around and try and find that side span to kick it down. And to kick it back up again to move off however that you know. This is all all semantics is all verse real-world problems. And it’s something that people would just get used to. And it’s just that they’re slightly bigger pegs. They’re in a slightly different price to place than I’m used to by bike.
I wouldn’t imagine. It weighs very much but it certainly doesn’t feel like. It weighs very much. It’s very thin. I’m really loving the styling but it’s really good at slow riding, slow maneuvering rough, slow speed maneuvering even really good at it. I don’t feel that the steering is too light. And sometimes on my GS adventure. I do get the feeling that when you’re in when you’re slow speed maneuvering that the front forks. The steering on the front is just a little bit too light leaving. You know kind of moving all over the place. And having to really concentrate but the whole of this bike from front to back feels extremely well weighted. Meaning that I haven’t got to really worry about that inaccuracies of slow slow riding. So we’re going to go onto one of my favourite roads for testing.
These bikes out with a few twisties. I’m going to see how it’s the form. It’s got a nice protein kind of dumbed down throaty roar. This bike by looks ,it is only done 20 miles. So I’m not going to drag it or anything like that got a look after these machines but this national speed limit road. This is so won’t be a problem so going around corners actually feel quite confident on this bike much like the 650. I am at speed getting quite a lot of wind. So let’s move that forward. Still getting quite a lot of wind but it is clean wind. It’s not buffeting air onto my helmet which is great. The brakes are really good and there’s not too much dip. The suspension seems to be set up at just the right level. That’s not too hard and not too soft so breaking no one behind me. Braking is very good. There’s a little bit of difference you would expect but not a huge amount like an the KTM 690. That we took out thanks to that v-twin engine much like any twins. There isn’t much over run so going into a corner. And just dropping off the throttle exceptionally great engine braking which is adding to the confidence.
I’m feeling on this bike to be honest and chucking it into the corners. It just feels like I’ve ridden this for a long long time. Even though I’ve just been riding it for 10 months. Really quite a nice seat now. I find on my adventure see that it’s a little bit too wide. And after a long ride being inside of us. One of my size on my left hand side tends to ate quite a bit where is this this see. I feel very much in the bike still attached to the bike. It’s firm but comfortable and I think you know what it feels a little bit of confidence. So I perhaps be able to do quite a few miles on this bike before having to get off because I need stretch and up and down. The box is a dream. It hasn’t got a quick shift or anything like that on it but going up and down.
The Box really responsive when you put it. I don’t feel like I’m fishing for gears on like on some bikes and up until now. I’ve had no false gear selections which is really good. So, I can just concentrate on riding and getting a little bit of vibration to the handlebars. Oh fourth gear seems to be a sweet spot rather than said although third is quite a nice responsive year. No I don’t know having said that I think the third is probably the responsive gear allow me to check it in. I’ve got good engine braking when I come off got good amount of acceleration there waiting for me and being able to just chuck it into these corners it just doesn’t feel like. I’m putting any effort in at all. The bike seems to be doing it all for me, yeah, very nice. And it’s not wallowing in the corners. It’s just planted quite nice ride in quite thin bike actually without any boxes because I have my boxers on all the time of my adventure. It’s quite nice being able to use the whole road what a great bike. I’m really liking this bike as I’m sure that you will agree.
It’s a fantastically futuristic but now looking bike so they revised this bike from the 2014 model. And I’m really liking what they’ve done with the beak. It’s not jagged. It’s all really lovely smooth lines and liking the yellow with the silver and the black. I think that just makes everything on this bike just pop. And I’m not a yellow bike fan to be honest. It almost looks like a bit of a wasp and you’re gonna. It’s going to be a head-turner. I’m sure though the lights on this bike on the front. They’re all bulb lights and bulbs in the indicators which is a bit weird this day and age. You would think that they would be putting LED lights in most bike lights now. But they’re just bulbs suppose easy did it easy to change. And cheap to manufacture and cheap to change. So there are always plus and I think that Suzuki have taken a leaf out ATM’s book. Here especially in terms of what I like about it. They’ve got this molded plastic that’s protecting the upside down forks which is brilliant not an awful lot of manufacturers do that. KTM do it very very well but what I really like about this buy over. The most manufacturers that I’ve ridden most bikes that I’ve ridden is that this mudguard goes all the way down.
So it’s really protecting all of the pipe work the engines and obviously the radiator. It’s protecting that oil cooler whatever you want to call it. It’s semantics but it’s a radiator. It is a big huge radiator but I wouldn’t be rushing out to get a proper grill to save that radiator because of this brilliant mud guard. And I really think that it’s great. That they’ve put it on. There please other manufacturers start doing the same because it costs a lot of money to buy these bikes. And why are we having to spend money on extra bits and pieces when we don’t really need to. They’ve continued the styling all the way down. The side which is just fab. And they haven’t hidden the engine with loads of loads of fairings. And things really like that. They’ve even got a belly pan down. The bottom to protect the exhaust pipe protect the bottom of the engine. On this one same as the 650 have got a dipstick to see what the oils doing. And see the levels but you know there’s no great biggie. There now these pegs they don’t look that big but they are quite big. And with this amount of rubber on there absolutely no vibration whatsoever. The brake pedal in exactly the right place. And I wasn’t fishing around for it really easy to find now. I don’t know whether you’ll be able to see inside. There but we’ve got a red spring which is interesting for me because the rest of the bike is yellow, black and silver.
I would have thought that they would have put either a white or a silver or a yellow coil in there. Just to make it match the rest of the bike but you know red perhaps. It’s showing a little bit of difference. I don’t know good pegs for the pillion rider. There which is great and then you come on the can now. This is a thousand cc bike. And it makes a really nice noise. And unlike the fact that can match the rest of the bikes. We’ve got all of this black here and then we’ve got this. This silver here and just looking down in there you’ll be able to see that they’ve got a valve on. There sticking straight up won’t produce much of a problem putting air in there. But I really wish that it would be standard for bikes to have the angled valve on there just to make it easier for all of us to fill up. There the lights on the back are LED lights for the brake light indicators. The bulbs and they’ve even added this extra addition on the bottom of the number plate just to stop any debris. And stuff flicking up behind you. I’m not sure how good that would be but it’s certainly a good thing to have it on there. And we’ve got a chain on the bike which isn’t an issue beefier chain than the 650.
As you would expect which is great a good bit of protection for the chain as well. Stop all the oil and that does come back quite fast. So I’m wondering if you had a Scot oiler that it would actually stop a lot of that oil flicking all over the place which is a good little addition. So come into the middle of the bike you know that both me and Marc are really technical on this stuff. There’s a knob to make it soft and hard. And you can change the suspension there but it’s just set up right for what I like. So I’m not going to play around with that bit. Really easy to change now. The feet now the seat on this bike as you can see is a one-piece seat which isn’t an issue. It’s very comfortable, it’s very wide at the back so pillion. I would imagine would be very comfortable on there but as you can see. As you go forward and hopefully the light will be okay. As you can see it’s actually tapers into the bike so like I was saying earlier on on my adventure. I get a bit of inner thigh pain because it’s kind of square and drops away. But this one I felt that I could ride on it for quite some time. I like the fact that they’ve brought the seat quite high up on the tank.
So yet again a manufacturer that not everybody thinks about have a bike has put the additions on to stop. Your having to buy the tank guards and stuff straight out of the box. You can just get on it write it and not worry about your zips. And things like that damaging the tank which I think is really good. So on the back of the bike we’ve got a really good rack. Now that you can obviously get luggage to put on these bikes. And I would imagine you’d be able to get Givi. And a whole host of different rack brackets. And things to put on there but really big hand handles. There for the pillion to hold on to and they feel connected to the bike. Some bikes they wobble a little bit but they’re rigid so coming up to the instruments and the wing mirrors like I say. Those wing mirrors are a little bit of an old type of shape for me. They don’t make any difference to the aesthetics when you look at the whole bike as a whole but I think that they you could have almost cut them off here. To add the styling and put them in keeping with the bike. But they one thing they really do well is give you such a good view from the heart behind. They’re exceptional and I’d probably say one of the best wing mirrors on a bike that I’ve ridden for a long time purely because you can just see so much.
The switch gear is really nice really nicely labeled. You get some good feedback when you press in the buttons. And that indicator stalk is just the right length. You’re not fishing around trying to find it obviously. You got the horn there and it is one of the quick starts. This bike so all it needs is you just literally. Click it and the bike will start you’ve got your emergency stop button. And obviously you’ve got your hazard lights there which are on a kind of a stalk much like the indicators. We have never seen that before but hey it works so looking at the dials. You get a nice visual representation as going through is checks huge rev-counter. You’ve got all of the instrument information and the bike information to hand and like I said when we were riding just dip in your eyes. You can see everything in there rather than having to dip your whole head which I think is a really really nice feature.
One thing I do like about this bike although the screen could be a little bit taller for me getting any buffeting. It was all clean wind it’s not a particularly big screen but it’s on a ratchet system. So literally you pull it out and let go and it brings it right back in again. And then you just pull it out until it clicks. And you’re on the next groove and then the next groove. And then right back again so if I do that again hopefully you’ll be able to see in there with this little teeth. There and they’re the ones that get caught onto the mechanisms so riding along as you saw. I was able to just push the screen forward and get it into the right position for me without even have to having to worry. Even on bikes that purport to have easy things like the BMW.
You’ve got a twisting R but make sure it’s in the right place and. You can’t really do that with where you’re riding along very safely but this bike the ability to just adjust the screen really easily. I think it’s just an exceptional little system for something so simple that could have such a big impact for the rider. And their comfort. I don’t think you can understate the fact that is such a simple device that could have have such a good benefit to us. As a rider so what do I think of the v-strom 1000. I think it’s a great bike I really do. It’s not as expensive as things like BMWs and KTM. Not sure on the sort of price in your country. So have a look but what a great-looking bike. I’m sure you agree. I love this styling. I really do and I know that you’re probably put in the comment. So you keep going on about the styling but not every day that you see a buy a bike. That’s yellow black but just looks right and I think this is going to be a real head-turner.
The seats comfortable the seat position is really comfortable and I think little things like being able to change. The angle of the screen really easily. It’s such a great benefit to the rider because you can change it whenever you want to. There’s no getting off the chain things and getting spanners. And stuff out or even turning hard knobs and you know having to stop. So if you’ve enjoyed this video give us a massive thumbs up. Really does help a ton. Don’t forget to hit that subscribe button. And also that little bell when you subscribe, you know exactly when our videos are coming out. And they come out then your feed then and massive shout out to Carl and Steve and Dam rules and all of the team. There they’re great friends of Ryder cam TV. Thanks for watching our video and we will see you in the next one.
