Motorcycle specifications SuzukiSV 650 X 2023 Café Rally Racer

The Suzuki SV 650 X isn't exactly the roadster you'd expect to see on every street corner. But its low-key career hasn't stopped it from being around for half a dozen years. Which extends into 2023, with the hope of seeing a new parallel twin in the near future.
Small engine correction for the SV 650 X in 2021. The same as for the standard model, to keep them in the catalog. The Euro5 adaptation was carried out discreetly, but not without consequences: the engine loses 3 horsepower while gaining torque. Well, yes and no. Maximum torque remains at 6.4 mkg, but is reached 1300 rpm earlier. This makes the twin-cylinder a little more present at mid-range, while the bike as a whole remains as it was yesterday....

...After a timid Café Racer version (100 units) and an irrelevant Scrambler version, Suzuki continues the seduction of its SV 650. With its unassuming looks and simple updating of the 1999 version, this SV is slow to win over young licensees attracted by much bolder competition. And yet this Suzette is not lacking in qualities, with its timeless twin that has lulled a whole generation to sleep. Fun, accessible and well-balanced, all it needs is a less consensual personality to revive the machine after a more than lacklustre Gladius episode.

The SV 650 X is designed to appeal to a more rootsy, almost bobby, audience, at a time when manufacturers are banking heavily on the neo-retro trend.

so what does this X version bring to the SV?
Mechanically, it's simple: nothing at all. The V-twin's 73 hp and generous torque have more than proved their worth in the face of changing circumstances. The frills that appeared when it was reborn in 2016, such as Low RPM Assist (starting and driving assistance at low revs) and the Suzuki Easy Start System (no need to keep your hand on the starter), are still there.

suzuki has therefore focused on packaging and a touch of sportiness to give its roadster more flair.

and if you're curious about the face, it's not surprising. This SV 650 X takes up the essentials of the SV 650 Rally Concept presented at Osaka in 2016. Starting with its black and grey color scheme.
An 'old-school' two-tone fork head then nicely wraps around the top of the headlight, and small side scoops placed in the extension of this cladding give the impression that a half fairing has been grafted on. A café-racer spirit is guaranteed, all the more so as this X also adopts half handlebars to complete its transformation. As a result, the riding position, which is more forward-facing, has been modified for a more sporty feel. In the same spirit, the forks now feature a preload adjustment feature absent on the standard SV. The rear monoshock is identical, but comfort should be enhanced by the adoption of a more qualitative and, of course, more "retro" padded seat. As with the SV 650, the X receives 4-piston brake calipers for 2019.

already present on the Rally-Concept to pay homage to the road rally cars of the '70s, two long LED staves add a little more character to this SV 650 X. Unfortunately, these are not part of the standard equipment, and you'd have to go through the options catalog to benefit from these additional double-optics... Too bad.

in the end, this SV650X leaves a taste of unfinished business. The idea is pretty good, but we'd have liked to see the Hamamatsu firm go a little further, for example, by fitting a specific exhaust system (the double muffler of the café-racer version would have been perfect!), placing the mirrors at the end of the handlebars or adopting different rims from the standard SV... for example.

but this SV 650 X nevertheless has the merit of offering an alternative to the ever-expanding choice of classico-modern-machin-truc roadsters (I can no longer hear the word neo-retro...).
And finally, who better than the SV to carry the banner of the return to grace of machines with the look of yesteryear, a machine that was already making its mark more than 20 years ago?