VOL. 51 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 19, 2014 P51
BY JASON ABBOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ENRICO PAVIA AND BRIAN J. NELSON
W
hen you think of adventure riding, you
think of going big – big, as in big rides,
big bikes and, unfortunately, big price
tags. Figure you'll pay upwards of $16,000
for any 1000cc-plus adventure tourer, like
the BMW (R1200GS), KTM (1190 Adventure)
and Yamaha Super Tenere, and then you'll
likely think, "I'll just keep playing the lottery."
But Suzuki made the dream of true adven-
ture riding on a 1000cc bike a bit more of
a reality for more people when, in the early
2000s, the company introduced the $9000
V-Strom DL1000, a very affordable, sen-
sible, reliable and good-performing V-twin
adventurer designed to take you to far-away
places – and to not-so-far-away places - and
back, via paved and dirt roads, comfort-
ably and, most importantly, with a smile on
your face. Just like the high-dollar adventure
bikes do.
As it turned out, Suzuki hit a homerun with
the V-Strom. It was so popular that it later
spawned the even more affordable V-Strom
650. If the 1000 was a homerun for Suzuki,
the 650 was certainly a grand slam.
In more recent times, however, V-Strom
1000 sales have, for a number of reasons,
New Adventures
WE TAKE A SPIN ON THE ALL-NEW SUZUKI DL1000 V-STROM ABS
Despite Suzuki putting
more emphasis on
road riding than off-
road riding with the
new V-Strom 1000 ABS,
you can still get it dirty
without feeling guilty.
