Suzuki V Strom SX Review: Here’s what Suzuki’s quarter liter adventure tourer has got to offer

When Suzuki announced in April 2022 that it is coming up with an all-new product, little did people know that it will pull off a surprise by marking its presence in the quarter-litre adventure tourer category. Enters the Suzuki V-Strom SX, an all-new sporty looking adventure tourer based on its very capable Gixxer 250 platform. Here’s a detailed story on what all things do this new Suzuki motorcycle has to offer: 

Price and Colour Options

Suzuki has priced the V-Strom SX at Rs 2.12 lakh (Ex-showroom, India), which makes it the most affordable quarter-litre adventure tourer motorcycle in the country today. Available in a single variant, the Suzuki V-Strom SX is offered in three interesting colour options of Champion Yellow, Pearl Blaze Orange and Glass Sparkle Black.

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Engine and Transmission

The Suzuki V-Strom SX shares its four-stroke, oil-cooled, single-cylinder, 249cc with the other two 250cc offerings from Suzuki available in India, the Gixxer 250 and the Gixxer SF 250. The engine has been retained from the Gixxer duo in the same state of tune, which means that in the V-Strom SX too, this 249cc engine pumps out 26.5 PS of maximum power and 22.2 Nm of maximum torque. The engine here is coupled to a 6-speed manual gearbox, which matches the smoothness of the engine with its slick gearshifts.

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Chassis

Unlike the other sportier single-cylinder 250cc adventure tourers, the Suzuki V-Strom SX has a rather basic chassis setup. Sharing its tubular steel frame with the Gixxer SF 250, the Suzuki V-Strom SX gets hydraulic telescopic forks at the front and a mono-shock with a rectangular swing-arm at the back. While Suzuki hasn’t much revealed about the suspension travel of the V-Strom SX, it is expected to have more travel than the other two 250cc motorcycles from Suzuki.

What’s confirmed is the different set of tyres – unlike the Gixxer 250 and Gixxer SF2 250, the Suzuki V-Strom SX gets an asymmetric combination of a 19-inch front and 17-inch rear alloy wheels. The Suzuki V-Strom SX gets a 100/90-19 tyre at the front and a 140/70-17 tyre at the rear, both of which are tubeless units. For braking, the Suzuki V-Strom SX shares the 300mm front disc and 230mm rear disc with the Gixxer siblings.

Dimension

With a length of 2,180 mm, width of 880 mm, height of 1,355 mm and wheelbase of 1,440 mm, the Suzuki V-Strom SX is one of the biggest and tallest motorcycles among the sub-500cc adventure tourers. While the 205 mm ground clearance is good enough to glide over broken roads with ease, the 12-litre fuel tank offers a limited full tank range, which can be a concern for longer highway trips. For an adventure motorcycle of its size, the 835 mm seat height of the Suzuki V-Strom SX is adequate.

Design and Features

While the Suzuki V-Strom SX shares its name with the bigger adventure tourers like the V-Strom 650 and V-Strom 1000, the entire design language of the SX is completely different from the other two. It also looks different from the V-Strom 250 sold in other global markets, and in our opinion, the V-Strom SX certainly looks better and more modern than the global version.

The vertically-aligned octagonal full-LED headlamp of the Suzuki V-Strom SX is a direct lift-off from the Gixxer 250, which is accompanied by a transparent windscreen above it and clear lens turn indicators on its upper corners. The headlamp is also accompanied by a purposeful looking beak just below it, which is inspired by Suzuki’s off-road motorcycles like DR-BIG. The Suzuki V-Strom SX comes equipped with knuckle guards on the handlebar as standard.

The purposeful look of the Suzuki V-Strom SX is also visible in the way it looks from the side. The motorcycle’s large fuel tank gets sharply-styled tank extensions, which flow downwards while covering the radiator shrouds. The engine, 10-spoke alloy wheels and stubby exhaust pipe are all finished in a theme of black, while the exhaust pipe comes with the same 1-into-2 arrangement, like in the Gixxer duo, but is styled differently. Like a proper adventure tourer, the Suzuki V-Strom SX also comes with an engine cowl, thus giving it a tough and rugged look.

While moving towards the rear, the Suzuki V-Strom SX also comes with sleek and edgy looking side body panels, above which it comes with a large and roomy-looking split seat arrangement. Even the pillion seat looks accommodating enough for full-sized adults, which is a big win for long rides. The Suzuki V-Strom SX also showcases its practicality with the large luggage rack behind the pillion seat, which also serves as the pillion grab rail.

A look at the rear profile of the Suzuki V-Strom SX is enough to indicate that the triangular LED tail lamp, rear fender and clear lens turn indicators look similar to those in the previous-generation Gixxer. The fully-digital instrument console in the Suzuki V-Strom SX too is shared with the Gixxer 250, which comes with a speedometer, tachometer, odometer, trip meter, fuel gauge, average fuel consumption, instantaneous fuel consumption and range. It also packs in Suzuki Ride Connect, a Bluetooth-operated package that includes missed call alert, caller ID, speed exceeding alert, phone battery level display, turn-by-turn navigation, ETA updates, call, SMS and WhatsApp alerts and last parked location.

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Verdict

The Suzuki V-Strom SX is not a hardcore off-roader like the Royal Enfield Himalayan and Hero Xpulse 200 4V. Instead, it is more of a highway tourer with mild off-roading capabilities like the KTM 250 Adventure and Benelli TRK 251, which can tackle bad sections of road and mild off-road trails with ease, thanks to its sturdy suspension, taller front wheel, high ground clearance and high-set handlebar. Like a typical Suzuki product, the V-Strom SX exudes top-notch build quality, fit and finish levels and a refined and torquey engine that feels engineered to last.

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