About a year after Suzuki unveiled its V-Strom 800DE adventure bike, the company has now revealed the road-biased V-Strom 800. Most notably, this bike runs on cast alloy wheels now and the front rim is a 19-inch unit. 

1. 776cc parallel-twin engine making same 84hp, 78Nm
2. 7kg lighter than V-Strom 800DE
3. Doesn’t get Gravel Riding Mode, rear ABS cant be turned off

Suzuki V-Strom 800: differences to 800DE

The most eye-catching difference is the presence of alloy wheels here with a 19-inch unit at the front and a 17-inch unit out at the back, which also bring with them the convenience of tubeless tyres. Braking hardware has also seen a change with a pair of four-piston radially mounted Nissin calipers replacing the axial units on the 800DE. 

The V-Strom 800DE is suspended by a fork adjustable for preload and a monoshock adjustable for rebound and preload, with a remote preload adjuster. These units are provided by Showa and have lesser travel than the 800DE. As a result, the V-Strom 800 has a more accessible seat height of 825mm as opposed to 855mm and ground clearance has reduced to 185mm from 220mm, compared to the 800DE.

The electronics suite is largely the same here, the only differences being the omission of the Gravel riding mode and rear ABS can’t be switched off anymore. The combination of all these changes should help make the V-Strom 800 more road-friendly than the off-road biased 800DE. 

In most international markets, this bike is called the Suzuki V-Strom 800 but the company’s UK website lists it as the 800RE. In the UK, the V-Strom 800 is priced at 9,699 GBP, and its closest rival, the Triumph Tiger 850 Sport costs a shade over 10,000 GBP. 

It also remains to be seen whether the V-Strom 800 makes its way to India, although it does make sense for the presence of a road-biased ADV given thats the predominant use case for most users. The off-road focused V-Strom 800DE has been spied testing here, which indicates an India launch isn’t too far off.