Dirt & Trail Aug2020

The New
Suzuki DL1050
V-Strom
Damn! If there is one Big Adventure offering that we can
label awesome fun for 2020 - this is it! The DL 1050 delivers on
expectations, plus a bit more.
300 odd kilometres in the saddle – lots of dirty stuff, lots of
dealer visits and a quick blitz on our favorite breakfast run route
told us most of what we need to know about this one.
Read on… Most pics by Stefan Van Der Riet
Suzuki went down the retro route
with its new V-Strom 1050 – taking
inspiration from the pioneering
DR-Big of the 1980s. And everyone
we have shown the bike to loves it!
The guys have all chatted about
the fantastic orange (No it’s not
red), and the Katana inspired
rectangular headlight inset
into the top surface of that beak,
clear homage to the DR-Big, but in
the V-Strom’s case it’s an all-LED
unit. And where DR-Big riders
had to make do with a small
wind deflector, the V-Strom gets
a large, adjustable screen. Here,
the XT benefits from a quickadjust
system that lets you alter
its position by hand via a clip just
above the headlight.
Everything about the new
‘Strom is big, bold – and – may we
use the word masculine? Big, wide
comfortable seat. Wide bars. Wide
pegs. And you slip into the bike
rather than on to it.
Engine Tech: A great
big, smooth, powerful
V-Twin Suzuki Engine.
The engine here is an updated
version of the motor that has
powered the V-Strom since its
inception. While Suzuki has
changed the name to V-Strom
1050, the actual capacity is
unchanged at the same 1037cc
used since the bike’s last major
rework in 2013. It’s been updated
86 DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 8 7