The new DE, Dual Explorer, version of the latest Suzuki V-Strom 1050 has a higher spec, is more versatile and costly than the standard model, but I’m still not sure if it’s worth paying the £700 premium – even if I did enjoy riding it at its recent press launch in Greece.
I sampled the DE variant first, going on to compare it with the standard model later in the day. However, I faced a challenge even before I could get on it. With a nosebleed inducing seat height of 880mm, the taller DE was difficult for me to jump on to, thanks to being a shortie. More significantly, with just a 32” inside leg, not being able to find a secure footing for both feet meant I’d always needed to be wary whenever I came to a halt. I’ve never liked kerbs quite as much!
After finally getting underway, thankfully life felt very familiar. I did 4000-miles on a V-Strom 1050XT long-termer back in 2020, and there’s no doubt the new-for-2023 DE model is very closely related to that bike. Its longer travel suspension, with its different internals, gives it a softer and plusher feel, designed primarily to cope better with off-road life. But as lots of the rest of the bike’s design is unchanged, I felt at home on it almost immediately.
With very low temperatures and uncertain grip levels at the start of the ride, the Suzuki turned out to be a real ally. Bar the handicap of the tall seat, its user-friendly nature very much put me at ease. Despite being a big and heavy bike, tipping the scales at a weighty 252 kilos fully fuelled, its balance is impressive. During photo shoots and an embarrassing navigational cock-up where a succession of awkwardly, tight, super-slow, feet-up manoeuvres had to be performed with total faith and accuracy, the 1050 rightly earned lots of praise. It’s the same story at higher speeds, and even when the road surface couldn’t really be trusted, the Suzuki always wrapped a metaphorical arm around me courtesy of its stability, feel and general composure. This confidence-boosting virtue is important for me in any bike, and certainly helped me enjoy the Greek ride which in theory could well have been quite worrying.
With just 4°C being displayed on one of the 1050’s more obvious changes, its new 5” full-colour TFT multi-function dash, I still felt happy to continue pushing on. Ok, it was hard to know exactly how much I could get away with but, in the end, I never had a single moment of concern. With a very secure feel thanks to a wheelbase extending swingarm, which is 50mm longer than before, more relaxed chassis geometry, an extra 10kilos and a 21” front wheel (fitted with a tubed tyre for some reason), the DE version needs a firmer push when you want to change direction compared to the more agile standard bike (a difference I noticed instantly when riding that bike immediately afterwards), however this Suzuki really does generate plenty of trust in hostile conditions.
The largely unchanged V-twin engine also puts you at ease. A modest claimed maximum 106bhp is only part of the reason why it’s so untaxing, putting it more in line with middleweight adventure bikes like the Honda Africa Twin and Triumph’s Tiger 900 range than the GS and Multistradas of this world. More helpful is the motor’s very usable and linear power delivery, making it feel very manageable. To put that into a more measurable context, despite pushing on quite enthusiastically, I never triggered the traction control system once.
I needed more of that assurance when the ride was interrupted by short diversion along a gentle off-road route. With settings quickly adjusted to suit the new environment, selecting the new ‘G’ setting from the four available traction options (allowing more wheelspin and disengaging the rear wheel ABS), and the power delivery softened - I felt good to go. Actually that’s not quite true, because despite the brief dalliance on the dirt, followed by a longer experience away from the road later (both of which went without even a hint of worry) I still have some questions about using adventure bikes off-road in standard trim. It’s all well and good giving us a chance to appreciate the DE’s additional usability and versatility on a low-grip route (and the new 21” front wheel, engine bars, alloy sump guard, 40mm wider bars, steel footrests and extra ground clearance all assist dirt riding) however, said ‘green lane’ wasn’t at all challenging, and probably could’ve been tackled on many a normal road bike. The fact is, unless you have quite a bit of experience and have some more appropriate off-road suited tyres fitted, using the DE off-road simply isn’t wise in the UK. Only if you were to get a guide to guarantee the terrain you planned to cover was straightforward and predictable, would taking this 1050 off-road be sensible. It’s just too big and heavy to handle the tougher stuff. Picking it up after an inevitable fall would be bicep-busting, and a regularly battered V-Strom would soon be worth far less than a shiny straight one!
Back on the road, where it feels totally at home, the DE performed really well once more. Just as my rides on my long-termer regularly proved, the rest of the ride on the new 1050 also underlined how much of a useful all-rounder it is. In fact, it’s actually a hard bike to knock for any specific reason. All I would mark it down for is its lack of wow-factor. I think this is simply because it’s been around for so long now without being radically altered, especially from an aesthetic point of view. If the V-Strom was to come out tomorrow for the first time in this guise, I reckon there’d be room for excitement. But familiarity has lowered its desirability, and I’m also unsure whether it’s fresh or well-equipped enough to demand its near £14,000 on the road price. It’s worthy of the tag of ‘a very good and capable bike’, but a ‘great’ one with a dollop of wow factor it isn’t. Mind you, I’m seriously considering asking for another one as a long termer. For a day-to-day motorcycle it would really suit me – though I’d definitely have to have a lower seat fitted before it could!
2023 Suzuki V-Strom 1050DE specification
Price: £13,699
Engine: 1037cc, 90° V-twin
Power: 106bhp/79kW @ 8500rpm
Torque: 100Nm/73.76lb.ft @ 6000rpm
Transmission: Six-speed, chain final drive
Frame: Twin-spar aluminium frame
Suspension: Fully adjustable 43mm KYB inverted telescopic fork. KYB link-type, mono-shock
Brakes: Tokico radially-mounted, monobloc, four-piston front brake callipers and 310mm floating discs. Single-piston, pin-slide rear calliper and a 260mm disc.
Wheels: 21” front, 17” rear, spoked alloy rims
Tyres: Front 90/90-21 tubed. Rear 150/70-17 tubeless.
Wheelbase: 1,595mm
Ground clearance: 190mm
Seat height: 880mm
Kerb weight: 252kg
Fuel capacity: 20 litres
Contact: bikes.suzuki.co.uk
Words: Chris Moss
Photos: Suzuki
