Suzuki Urban X-Over

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No official info has been released for this bike, but what you’re looking at are photos snapped by Motosblog of a lightly modified V-Strom with an eye toward dirt performance and crashability. Knobby tires, grippy dirt-bike pegs, upgraded brake lines, fog lights, hard bags and a cut down, lightweight looking tail with LED lights help the bike perform a little better. An aluminum radiator guard, beefy pipe guard, skid-plate and tubular steel handguards increase your chances of being able to ride away from a spill. It’s a neat concept that would do well with a front fender and fork guards that actually protect the vulnerable exposed sliders.

  • JVictor75

    And plus it doesn’t look like I would need to wear stilts to ride it. Neat.

    Got any idea what the over/under cost would be on something like that? Not that I need another bike, of course. But I’m curious.

    • Glenngineer

      No stilts, no ground clearance, useless in the dirt and the shit.

      • Wereweazle

        People buy these because they don’t understand the Standard genre. My dad’s got a Wee Strom and now uses every excuse to seek out gravel, dirt, and even mud. I’m forced to follow along on a sportbike. I can generally make it through anything he decides to tackle, but my crotch and wrists hate me for days.

        In short, to tackle gravel/mud/dirt/whatever ground clearance won’t be an issue. The knobby tires and upright position will already help a ton, not to mention the slightly more forgiving suspension. It’s nice to see an honest representation of what this bike is actually going to be used for: commuting, urban, and the occasional stint into the lesser known (not unknown).

        • http://lightsoutknivesout.tumblr.com/ Scott Pargett

          Dual sports are the ultimate urban bike.

          I have a Street Triple, advertised as a bit of an urban hooligan slayer. Not on america’s roads. It’s very apparent it’s basically a track bike without fairings.

          I can never keep up with my friend on a KTM950 through San Francisco as he glides over every pothole and obstruction, even curbs.

          • Wereweazle

            Agreed. On shitty backroads I have to carefully plan a route through the cracks and potholes and gravel where my dad just sails casually forward. On a good road I leave him behind like nothing, but when I’m risking infertility and upsetting a stiff suspension I don’t stand a chance.

          • http://www.davidfolch.com david folch

            the rider, not the bike

          • Endless Mike

            Supermotos are the ultimate urban bike, actually.

          • HammSammich

            “Not on america’s roads.”

            I don’t know about San Francisco, but where I live in Eastern WA, the pavement is like postwar Sarajevo (no offense to any Bosnians on here). The highways are fine for my Bonnie, but in town (pop. 300k) the roads are spine-compressingly bad.

  • th3w3s

    Strange how they stripped away the strom’s bodywork, but then reduce the front wheel size to 17″ (if I’m not mistaken the strom has a 19″ front). At least it looks like a 17″, I might be mistaken/ Still, spokes are a nice touch – I did an offroad tour with a mate on a strom, and his rims were not happy :D

    • Scott-jay

      Honest design: imagine the percentage of ‘adventure bikes’ that ever venture onto even gravel/dirt roads? Small numbers, I believe. But, large numbers of sales.
      So, Suzuki’s made a moto-SUV to serve reality (with a milestone powerplant).
      And, contrived looks.

      • aristurtle

        Some people just want a little more suspension travel. Baltimore’s roads are only “paved” in the loosest possible sense of the word, and dual-sport type bikes are quite popular here.

  • ike6116

    I like this bike, therefore there is no chance it would ever be released in the states.

    • Core

      lol. Isn’t that the jaded truth.

  • http://vtbmwmov.org Eben

    A couple of years ago I was looking for a lightly crashed Wee to build something just like this as a cheap scrambler. I doubt Suzuki would build it, much less sell it here, but it’s nice to see anyway.

  • T Diver

    How big is the engine?

    • Wereweazle

      Looks about the size of the Wee Strom, so I’m guessing it’s the same 650 twin?

  • Keyrock

    Nice HFL logos in those pictures.

    • Tommy

      +1…esp the mph display.

  • FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

    Bolt on touring accessories that fit YOUR motorcycle…

    • http://twitter.com/metabomber Jesse

      Buddy of mine has their entire catalogue on her KLR650. Makes me reconsider a supermoto version for everyday use over my battered old Honda F3.

  • nick2ny

    If that’s a normal fork, wouldn’t it be a better idea to protect the stanchions?

    • Sean Smith

      “It’s a neat concept that would do well with a front fender and fork guards that actually protect the vulnerable exposed sliders.”

      Yeah, it’s definitely a show bike.

  • Ken D

    Wow. Apart from the vulgar graphics, that actually looks pretty cool. I thought Suzuki’s designers all had cataracts.

    • http://greatjoballweek.blogspot.com/ Case

      lulz.

      I liked it. It looks like a lot of fun to me.

  • nymoto

    Me likey

  • dux

    I like home made SV-based adventure bikes better.

  • markbvt

    Cool concept, but what’s with that fat 17″ front wheel? Useless. It would be much better with a 21″ front.

    For more along these lines, search the Beasts section of ADVrider for “thin-strom” threads.

  • Michael

    So do we call it the SubUrban for short?

    • http://twitter.com/metabomber Jesse

      This bike has lots of passenger room that will never be used, fireroad level of “off pavement” capability, and plenty of grocery room. The parallels are there to be drawn.

      • Sean Smith

        Are you saying that this is basically a 2-wheeled Subaru Baja?

  • Endless Mike

    This is essentially the exact bike I want.

    • Dani Peral

      So do I.

  • HolyHandGrenade!

    Great for fans of the Buell XB12XT looking for somehting new but familiar.

  • http://www.tripleclamp.net Sasha Pave

    It’s pretty and I like the direction, but it’s just that, a lightly modified strom missing a front fender.

    Seems it’s just putting some lipstick on the old girl and calling it a “Concept” is kinda cheap and thin for Suzuki.

    That said, if this were offered next to a strom at the dealer, I bet it would sell (if you could ride it with that front wheel, what is that a 140 tire?).

  • Core

    This bike has a certain sexyness about it.

  • GT

    Suzuki could sell the shit out of these things here in the US and Canada!

  • http://www.smartcycleshopper.com/author/doug-dalsing/ DougD

    Definitely has that Mad Max look to it, which is appealing. Who knows, people in the U.S. might go for it despite this country not (yet) exhibiting a post-apocalyptic landscape.

  • http://mansgottado.tumblr.com/ gregorbean

    This reminds me a bit of the few SV650 dual sport conversions I’ve seen online. I’ve always thought the 650 twin powerplant would make an excellent adventure bike if one was so inclined to build it.