Suzuki 650 cc V-Strom: This newe Suzuki loves corners. It just wants to go, go, go and go. John Wheeler enjoyed it so much he had to be forcibly removed from it
It's a brand-new machine. Nobody has ridden it before. It's the only one to arrive in Ireland so far. We promise to be careful of the Suzuki 650 V-Strom because the first anyone else will see of it will be at the Motorcycle & Scooter Show in the RDS this weekend.
So, adjust the mirrors, check the fuel and off we go. You sit tall, with good view all around and behind, the mirrors are first rate. Slowing down for lights, engine braking is superb. Accelerating away, you know instantly that the pulsing vee-twin is dying to get out of town and show off.
For all that, the balance is perfect. It's a happy, well-balanced bike in stop-start city traffic.
Out on the open road, the long-travel, adjustable, well-damped suspension comes into its own. It reduces spine-shattering jolts into noticeable bumps.
Slow traffic ahead, safe to overtake, so down a gear and go. "Go" doesn't describe the smooth surge that pits us up to the limit in the blink of an eye. Overtaking is smooth, precise and safe.
Throttle back and the bike sheds speed almost as quickly as if you hit the brakes - on the rare occasions you need them, they are light, smooth and vice-free. Whoever decided the gear ratios got it just right.
Wereach one of our favourite test sections, a series of tight right- and left-hand bends. Leaning into the first bend this machine shows that it just loves roads like this.
It's a very long time since we rode a machine so utterly at home cornering. We're going as fast through these bends on new tyres as we've done on the best-ever, cutting-edge, high-tech sports rockets.
Back onto the straight, the vee-twin engine burbles happily at the legal maximum. It's really comfortable, seat height just right, all controls in the right place, instruments just where they should be and easy to read without reading glasses (much appreciated!).
The fairly small, manually adjustable screen gives good wind protection and the front fairing blending into the tank keeps most of the slipstream off your legs.
This is a machine you could ride all day on all sorts of Irish roads. It yearns to take you to every corner of the Continent, throwing in some Alpine passes for fun. You would approach every bend with relish, knowing that this bike will behave impeccably, knowing there's a massive reserve there to waft you effortlessly past slower traffic. If we'd not been asked not to put too many miles up before its launch at the RDS Show, we could have carried on for miles and miles.
Handing it back at the end of a thoroughly exhilarating, totally enjoyable ride was difficult.
We tested the bigger, 1000 cc V-Strom in February last year and, by the end of 2003 and 30 odd road tests, it was our "Bike of the Year". How does the 650 cc variant compare? We reckon that it's actually better.
Problems? Just one. Like the bigger V-Strom, the oil cooler is set low down, ahead of the engine, well below the protection of the front mudguard. It's at the mercy of contractors' mud, farm effluent and the like. The fragile mesh guard doesn't look man enough for typical Irish road conditions. A prudent owner would fit a mudguard extension.
That said, it's a seriously good machine - and it's sanely priced.