With the unveiling of the latest generation Suzuki V-Strom 1050 ushering in a fresh - if not outlandish - new design direction for the adventure/tourer range, there seems to be scope to expanding the line into a smaller displacement region.
The V-Strom has been a solid mainstay of the Suzuki range for several years, gamely persevering in Europe while other models were trimmed as they fall foul of ever tightening emissions regulations.
With top-end models steadily slipping away and new versions still in development - something that seems to happen at a glacial pace at Suzuki generally - a solution could be to utilise some well-judged badge engineering further down the range.
Earlier this year we showed the DR300 developed by Haojue - Suzuki’s Chinese partner - which looks destined to become the Suzuki GSX-S300 in western markets and now the same could apply for a baby V-Strom based on these renderings.
Powered by a 160cc engine, the Haojue is interesting because it adopts many of the styling traits of the V-Strom 1050 - the beaked nose especially -, which in turn draws heavily from the Katana.
With only 15bhp it’d need a boost to help it keep up on European roads, so this is where a 300cc version would perhaps be more viable, or even bringing over the 250cc V-Strom currently on sale in Asia and Australia.
Either way, after Royal Enfield demonstrated there is a market for good value, rough and tough mini-ADVs, a good value adventure bike sounds like an ideal solution for a company like Suzuki especially since the 650cc version - which will likely gain a brand new engine to replace the popular but dated V configuration unit - still seems to be a little way away...
