After enthralling us at last year’s EICMA with some cracking new motorcycles like the GSX-R1000R and the V-Strom, Suzuki has rested the fire for this year. It has released just one new motorcycle flaunting the café-racer style treatment to take a dig at the heritage theme that has off-late taken the motorcycle industry by storm.

Called the SV650X, it may not be breathtakingly beautiful but makes its presence felt with the retro-themed bikini fairings and the round face. Blame the time Suzuki took to bring it into the market which is already filled with lustful retro machines for us to drool over.

First seen glimpses at the Osaka and Tokyo Motorcycle Shows in 2016 as the SV650 Rally Concept, Suzuki has converted it onto a production model for 2018 based on the current SV650 naked roadster.

What looks like a standard SV650 kitted with aftermarket parts, the SV650X isn’t groundbreaking per se. It gets a few styling tweaks in the form of a slotted headlamp cowl and side panels in the front that has a nice flowing design.

Then there is the clip-on bar that replaces the flat handlebars, the tuck and roll saddle gets ribbed stitching, and that’s about it for the ‘70s charm the bike wishes to flaunt. You can opt for the optional LED fog lamps for superior light distribution characteristics.

As with the 2018 naked SV650, even this retro “X” variant will get updated gain preload adjustable front forks that will benefit the forward riding position in the SV650X. Riding hard is not going to be an issue with this setup.

You get one black and silver paintjob with red pinstripe, which I believe Suzuki could have done a better job at to give the bike a myriad of colors instead. Nonetheless, for some, this will make the bike unmistakably distinctive otherwise.

The chassis and powertrain are borrowed from the SV650 unchanged. The 645cc V-twin makes 75hp, runs on Dunlop Roadsmart III tires and tips the scales at 437 lbs at the curb. The link-type monoshock handles the rear suspension with a seven-notch preload adjuster.

In the braking department, the bike gets dual 290 mm front discs with twin-pot Tokiko caliper and a single-pot caliper pinching the 240 mm rear disc with Nissin ABS.

Do we need one? I mean with stalwarts like the Yamaha XSR900 Abarth and Kawasaki Z900RS, it feels like Suzuki is bringing a knife to a gun fight.

Even though this SV650X is a production ready model, Suzuki is yet to take a decision on manufacturing this on their production lines. Suzuki will assess market reactions and handle on customer feedback before giving it a green signal. Europe will be sure to have it while America might just not make the list.

References

Yamaha XSR900 Abarth

Kawasaki Z900RS