The newly designed seat lives up to the reputation of the V-Strom comfort. While securing a wide flat area to support the rider when riding, the front of the seat is slim enabling the rider to easily reach the ground when stopping. Also the pillion seat has a wide and comfortable space, making sure the pillion rider can also enjoy the ride. When viewed from the side the plentiful padding is visually assuring, inviting the rider on a long adventure.

Ten spoked cast aluminium wheels are an eye-catching feature for the new V-Strom 650. Not only do they give a sporty image in kin to its V-Strom 1000 ABS brother in the Suzuki Adventure model family, tracking back to the DR-BIG and DR-Z, but improves the road holding ability and reduces weight. Wheel sizes are 19-inch on the front and 17-inch on the rear, realising the perfect balance of stable and nimble handling.

Flexible and comfortable conventional telescopic forks have a forgiving character, allowing stress free long distance rides to an exciting run on twisty roads. The rear suspension is equipped with rebound adjustment and a remote preload adjuster which can be operated by hand allowing the rider to quickly setup the suspension to match the riding style or in a case of two-up riding or with a full load of luggage without any tools needed.

The redesigned slimmer and smarter tank still holds a capacity of 20L, allowing a long riding range combined with excellent fuel consumption. By eliminating the plastic covers on both sides of the tank from the previous model, the tank has become slimmer and is now able to accommodate magnetically attachable tank bags. The frame covers have been slimmed down as well, allowing the rider to reach straight down to the ground.

Inheriting the Beak from the original DR-BIG, the V-Strom soars high, out of the city, over the mountains, and over all borders. The heritage from DR-BIG, is now ready to support your adventures, either BIG or daily. DR-BIG being the first Adventure model to have a “Beak”, the V-Strom brand has inherited that distinctive look. With the new design featuring a more direct line from the tip of the beak to the top of the tank.

The windscreen has been extended 9mm upwards to reduce the windblast and buffering to the body, while the shape has been changed to control the wind flow rather than to simply create a wind-free zone. By making the boundary between the protective area and the not-protective area a blur, the rider will be able to move more freely due to less turbulence and feel a natural wind flow. The screen can also be adjusted to one of three pre-set positions using four screws.

The easy to see and easy to operate/understand instrument cluster provides rich information to the rider. The new instrument cluster incorporates a large analogue tachometer and digital readouts for the gear position and speedometer. The digital section below displays the odometer, twin-trip meter, clock, fuel level, coolant temperature, ambient temperature⁴, battery voltage, range on remaining fuel, average and instantaneous fuel consumptions, and traction-control modes.