Which bike is best for touring: Suzuki V-Strom 1050 or GSX-S1000GX?

Do you need an adventure bike to have an adventure? Or could something sportier and purely road-focused be a better choice for your next motorcycle touring adventure?

I know, that sounds like blasphemy coming from us. But when you think about it, could all the off-road features built into your bike be weighing you down on your long-distance tour?

To find out, we put two of Suzuki’s most capable, but very different, mile-munching motorbikes to the test: the Suzuki V-Strom 1050 and the Suzuki GSX-S1000GX. Both offer plenty of long-distance power and comfort but they come at it from very different perspectives, providing surprisingly contrasting riding experiences in the process.

Watch the video comparison

For example, the V-Strom 1050 is a hugely capable adventure bike with a characterful V-twin engine, long(ish) travel suspension, an upright riding position, 19-inch front wheel, and a decent amount of ground clearance. And, while it’s one of the most road biased machines you’ll find in Suzuki’s V-Strom range, it’s still handy on the trails in the right hands too.

In comparison, the Suzuki GSX-S1000GX is a purely road focused motorcycle with a wonderfully smooth inline four engine, 17-inch wheels front and rear, and slightly more aggressive, yet still upright, riding position.

It’s basically a leggy, upright sports tourer, hence the adventure tourer moniker (although Suzuki likes to call it a sports crossover). Whatever you call it, this is a motorcycle designed for whisking you along fast-flowing A-roads before carving its way along twisting mountains passes on silky smooth tarmac.

So, the choice is simple, right? Choose the V-Strom 1050 if you have any ambitions of venturing off road, or go for the GSX-S1000GX if you’ll be sticking solely to the tarmac. Well, that’s not entirely accurate, because the big V-Strom has a number of attributes that arguably make it a better choice of road touring machine than the GSX-S1000GX, at least in some circumstances. But there are also other areas where the adventure tourer shines.

Motorcycle touring

To make sense as to whether an adventure bike or an adventure tourer would make for a better choice of bike for your next summer tour, watch James and Bill sum up their time on the V-Strom 1050 and the GSX-S1000GX while riding one of the UK’s most spectacular road trips.

As I mentioned earlier, we tested the bikes during a two-day adventure along the Rebellion Road in Wales. It saw them ride more than 300 miles, packing in as many mountain passes, moorland roads, and spectacular coastal highways as they could find. It was the perfect route to compare the two motorcycles. Enjoy the video.