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COPYRIGHT 2004 Ehlert Publishing Group
Have you ever followed a sign saying "Waterfall 2 Miles Ahead" up a two-lane mountain road on a street bike, only to have the pavement peter out a mile from the falls? Or come across a dirt road that's begging to be explored, except that you're on a touring rig that has no business traveling a rustic byway?
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Single-purpose bikes are great as far as they go, but Suzuki is betting that a versatile mount like its new DL650 V-Strom is better at giving motorcyclists complete freedom to explore. A marriage of the popular SV650 engine with the DL1000 V-Strom's chassis, the new 650 extends Suzuki's Sport Enduro Tourer concept to a middleweight machine. At 417 pounds and $6,599, the new 'Strom is 45 pounds heavier and $300 more than the SV650S, but 39 pounds lighter and a whopping $2,400 less than the DL1000. The market's wide open for a ride like this--so open in fact, that there's no direct competition.
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For its new all-purpose mission, the SV650 mill was modified to beef up the lower half of the powerband. The 90-degree V-twin still carries eight valves in a DOHC design, but new cam profiles increase valve overlap to emphasize low-and midrange power, while a 4 percent increase in rotating mass smoothes out bottom-end power delivery. The liquid-cooled powerplant's 81.0mm bore, 62.6mm stroke and 11.5:1 compression ratio are retained, as are the small oil cooler and 31mm intake and 25.5mm exhaust valves in a shim-under-bucket configuration.
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The DL employs electronic fuel injection to meter the mix, using dual throttle valves to optimize fuel flow for low rev response. An automatic fast-idle system monitors coolant...
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