Two New Middleweight Adventure Bikes: Honda'S Crossrunner, Suzuki'S New V-Strom 650

[visions]

Two new middleweight adventure bikes: Honda's Crossrunner, Suzuki's new V-Strom 650

By Loz Blain

04:05 June 28, 2011

"Adventure" bikes are about as practical and unglamorous as motorcycling gets. They're fairly ugly to look at, they're often ridden hard and put away wet, they're taken to dirty places and they have dirty things done to them. Which to my mind has always made them a preserve of the hardcore rider - these are not ridden by Harley polishers or leather-clad latte sippers, they're ridden by folks that like to get out and throw motorcycles around out where it's tough.

Read more: www.gizmag.com/suzuki-v-strom-650-abs-2012-honda-crossrunner/19049/

Edited June 29, 2011 by Maestro
Added header, reduced quoted text and added link to comply with "fair use"

[dave_boo]

Everything I've read about the Crossrunner suggests that it is a warmed over VFR800 (i.e. everything is same-same except the fairings).

[SumetCycle]

I'd love to have a few Crossrunners on the showroom floor. One in the garage as well!

[BigBikeBKK]

Everything I've read about the Crossrunner suggests that it is a warmed over VFR800 (i.e. everything is same-same except the fairings).

It's bikes like this that make me worry that Honda has lost the plot...

Saw the crossrunner at the Bangkok Motor Show and it looks like a VFR that was beaten with an ugly stick...

Why Honda stopped making the venerable Transalp is a mystery to me- that bike has cult-like following and popularity and could easily have been updated to remain competitive today.

I'm guessing the fat (240kg wet) fugly Crossrunner comes from the same folks at Honda who came up with the underwhelming new CB"r" 250...

But whereas the new CB"r" 250 will sell like hotcakes thanks to it's low price, fuel economy and shiny plastics, in the UK (first review I read) the new Honda Crossrunner goes for £9075 which is more expensive than the BMW F800GS (£7950) and Triumph Tiger XC ABS (£8349) or Kawasaki Versys ABS (£6899)! Who the heck would buy this thing?!

Edited June 28, 2011 by BigBikeBKK

[dave_boo]

To be honest when has Honda ever gone out on a limb? Granted there was the 6 cylinder 250cc engine they had....50 years ago!

I'm deadly serious...Honda is well known of reliable, stable bikes. Name one of their bikes in the last two decades that was a definitive leader or started a class...it's very hard.

**edit**

I've been saying for the last ~3 years or so that Honda needed to redo the Transalp and re-release it....

Edited June 28, 2011 by dave_boo

[SumetCycle]

Perhaps a smaller version of the Crossrunner would do well in Thailand.

[thaicbr]

cbr250r

Edited June 28, 2011 by thaicbr

[dave_boo]

cbr250r

You mean the one that was exactly same-same performance wise as the GSX-R250, ZXR250, and FZR250?

Can't tell who released first, Yamaha or Honda, both have a 1986 release. The other two were released later...

[Richard-BKK]

To be honest when has Honda ever gone out on a limb? Granted there was the 6 cylinder 250cc engine they had....50 years ago!

I'm deadly serious...Honda is well known of reliable, stable bikes. Name one of their bikes in the last two decades that was a definitive leader or started a class...it's very hard.

**edit**

I've been saying for the last ~3 years or so that Honda needed to redo the Transalp and re-release it....

I think that Honda was the first who introduced fuel-injection in it's motocross bikes CRF250 and CRF450

[dave_boo]

To be honest when has Honda ever gone out on a limb? Granted there was the 6 cylinder 250cc engine they had....50 years ago!

I'm deadly serious...Honda is well known of reliable, stable bikes. Name one of their bikes in the last two decades that was a definitive leader or started a class...it's very hard.

**edit**

I've been saying for the last ~3 years or so that Honda needed to redo the Transalp and re-release it....

I think that Honda was the first who introduced fuel-injection in it's motocross bikes CRF250 and CRF450

Suzuki had fuel injection for a year before Honda put it on their 450 (2008 vs 2009). Husqvarna had fuel injection for a year, or two?, before Honda put it on their 250 (2008 vs. 2009/2010 ).

**edit**

It appears the American dirtbike manufacturer ATK offered fuel injection bikes at least by 2005...

Edited June 28, 2011 by dave_boo

[BigBikeBKK]

To be honest when has Honda ever gone out on a limb? Granted there was the 6 cylinder 250cc engine they had....50 years ago!

I'm deadly serious...Honda is well known of reliable, stable bikes. Name one of their bikes in the last two decades that was a definitive leader or started a class...it's very hard.

**edit**

I've been saying for the last ~3 years or so that Honda needed to redo the Transalp and re-release it....

Nonsense, Honda was king of the hill in the 600cc sport bike class starting way back with the old Hurricane and proceeding with BIKE OF THE YEAR year after year after year with the CBR 600 series. Same for the VFR 750 and then 800 that won top honors for best sport touring bike year after year.

Honda didn't have to "go out on a limb". In the old days they simply designed and built some of the best motorcycles. Period. Remember the old Honda XR's (King of Baja), the CBR 1100 Blackbird? Honda used to know how to build class leading bikes. These days they're just cranking out copy and paste part bin bikes that are as exciting as processed cheese...

It seems to me that in recent years Honda seems to have completely lost the will to compete. Why keep building bikes like this that no one will buy?

The only bike they haven't screwed up yet is the CBR600RR...

Edited June 28, 2011 by BigBikeBKK

[Phatcharanan]

the CBR 1100 Blackbird? Honda used to know how to build class leading bikes.

I still have my Blackbird stored oooooooppp North.

Fabulous bike and still hits 290 kph when I use it.

[JimsKnight]

the CBR 1100 Blackbird? Honda used to know how to build class leading bikes.

I still have my Blackbird stored oooooooppp North.

Fabulous bike and still hits 290 kph when I use it.

It's not the silver one I see Thais on now and again is it?

[wolf5370]

I remember the first CBR600 - I used to pull up on my rebored 1977 Zuki AP 50 and drool over one in my local bike shop - red sex on wheels (well was back in 1986/7). Though always prefered to ride Kwaks and Zukis (hated the Honda 500 I did my bike training/test/advanced training on - gearbox from h3ll ! - put me off for life). I actually quite like the look of the X-Runner - in black - (hated the look of the Translap - in any colour) - but then again I rode a custom 800 partbin-frankenstein of a bike for years (Kwak engine rebored GPz750/ cutomised ZZ Frame/Harley QK Seat/ custom everything else), so have a soft spot for that "different" (but not melted) look!

[JonnyF]

So now Honda are putting inline 4's into their off road/adventure bikes and single cylinder engines into their 250cc "sports" bikes.

I haven't bought a Honda motorcycle since 2000 and that one turned like a boat. At this rate I won't be buying one for another 10 years. What a shame, I used to love their bikes in the 80's and 90's.

[Leckyman]

So now Honda are putting inline 4's into their off road/adventure bikes and single cylinder engines into their 250cc "sports" bikes.

I haven't bought a Honda motorcycle since 2000 and that one turned like a boat. At this rate I won't be buying one for another 10 years. What a shame, I used to love their bikes in the 80's and 90's.

It's a V4...

[JonnyF]

So now Honda are putting inline 4's into their off road/adventure bikes and single cylinder engines into their 250cc "sports" bikes.

I haven't bought a Honda motorcycle since 2000 and that one turned like a boat. At this rate I won't be buying one for another 10 years. What a shame, I used to love their bikes in the 80's and 90's.

It's a V4...

Yep, my mistake - I meant to say 4 cylinder engine. Still seems a strange choice for a bike that's designed to go off road though - be interesting to read some reviews to see how it holds up against the likes of Kawi, BMW etc. in the rough stuff.

[MRToMRT]

The Honda's looks are definitely NOT doing it for me.

[Leckyman]

Me neither.

I have a VFR 800 & i love it, but don't know about that motor in an off road bike.

[nikster]

I like the Crossrunner's looks - however, if it's 240kg *and* more expensive than a BMWF800 or a Triumph Tiger 800 then it's just not that interesting. I do think that the sports touring segment is growing and that making it more on road than off road also makes sense - see the Versys, too. Nothing wrong with a VFR engine is there?

I just saw the Tiger 800 here at the dealer in CM - wow what a beauty. Triumph has really nailed the design in their entire 2011 lineup. Now if it wasn't 720k baht...

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I didn't think the old V-Strom looked all that bad; this one... errrr.... fugly!!

[nikster]

Me neither.

I have a VFR 800 & i love it, but don't know about that motor in an off road bike.

It's not an off road bike. IMO this is the equivalent to a BMW X5. Off road capable, but mainly designed for on road use. Same as the Versys, really, or the Ducati Multistrada - these aren't really adventure bikes, they're sports tourers.

Makes a lot of sense. You are likely to encounter bad roads and these bikes can handle that with ease, and make it fun. But you are unlikely to venture off road with such a big beast... if you're gonna go offroad in style then you'll do it on a much lighter bike, and you don't need that much horsepower either.

[JonnyF]

Me neither.

I have a VFR 800 & i love it, but don't know about that motor in an off road bike.

It's not an off road bike. IMO this is the equivalent to a BMW X5. Off road capable, but mainly designed for on road use. Same as the Versys, really, or the Ducati Multistrada - these aren't really adventure bikes, they're sports tourers.

Makes a lot of sense. You are likely to encounter bad roads and these bikes can handle that with ease, and make it fun. But you are unlikely to venture off road with such a big beast... if you're gonna go offroad in style then you'll do it on a much lighter bike, and you don't need that much horsepower either.

I agree, but if most of your stuff is on the road then why not buy a road bike? It just seems with these bikes you're making a sacrafice 80% of the time so that you can have an advantage 20% of the time.

I'd just rather have a nice comfy sports tourer like the old VFR800 or a Triumph ST in Thailand. If you're touring Laos or Cambodia or something then I can see the point but a bad road in Thailand isn't really that bad. Just a few potholes or maybe the occasional unpaved road with some deep puddles. If it gets really rough then these bikes are way too heavy to be any use off road anyway.

[RED21]

Perhaps a smaller version of the Crossrunner would do well in Thailand.

Not exactly a mini-version but will this one do?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDhNIZog_TM&feature=related

[BigBikeBKK]

Me neither.

I have a VFR 800 & i love it, but don't know about that motor in an off road bike.

It's not an off road bike. IMO this is the equivalent to a BMW X5. Off road capable, but mainly designed for on road use. Same as the Versys, really, or the Ducati Multistrada - these aren't really adventure bikes, they're sports tourers.

Makes a lot of sense. You are likely to encounter bad roads and these bikes can handle that with ease, and make it fun. But you are unlikely to venture off road with such a big beast... if you're gonna go offroad in style then you'll do it on a much lighter bike, and you don't need that much horsepower either.

I agree, but if most of your stuff is on the road then why not buy a road bike? It just seems with these bikes you're making a sacrafice 80% of the time so that you can have an advantage 20% of the time.

I'd just rather have a nice comfy sports tourer like the old VFR800 or a Triumph ST in Thailand. If you're touring Laos or Cambodia or something then I can see the point but a bad road in Thailand isn't really that bad. Just a few potholes or maybe the occasional unpaved road with some deep puddles. If it gets really rough then these bikes are way too heavy to be any use off road anyway.

The Honda VFR was always a beautiful bike -

For Honda to take the esteemed VFR and turn it into this incredibly ugly, overweight and overpriced "Crossrunner" seems like a bad joke:

As I mentioned before- the new Honda Crossrunner goes for £9075 in the UK which is more expensive than the BMW F800GS (£7950) and Triumph Tiger XC ABS (£8349) or Kawasaki Versys ABS (£6899)! So again I ask: Who the heck is going to buy this thing?!

[BigBikeBKK]

Perhaps a smaller version of the Crossrunner would do well in Thailand.

Not exactly a mini-version but will this one do?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDhNIZog_TM&feature=related

Wow, never heard of it, but seems this Honda XRE 300 could do quite well in Thailand-

Apparently it's sold mainly in South America?

I'd take one of these "what you see is what you get" go anywhere bikes over Honda's new wanna be sport bike thumper CB"r" 250 any day!

Very impressive!

Seems to me like Honda's motorcycle business is becoming more and more like General Motors' automotive business... Building mediocre bikes no one wants in developed markets but selling some pretty cool kit in some developing markets that people might actually want to buy but can't get in the developed markets...

[ttakata]

The Gladius is a butt ugly bike, why would Suzuki take cues from that?

I had hoped organic / Aliens styling had died in the 1990s.

The older SVs are better looking.

For the past 5 years the entire Honda/Acura group's styling has lost my attention.

This Crossrunner is over-styled, there are way too many surfaces and lines, cluttered.

It looks like a turkey about to throw up.

I like this XRE300, it looks like Woody Woodpecker doing mach 10.

If they made a 250cc version, I think it would sell well all over rural SE Asia.

[dave_boo]

Perhaps I was a bit exaggerating when I stated that Honda hasn't released any class leaders in the last 2 decades, but from what I remember from reviews (and my memory could be faulty) it was the overall packaging that won Honda its accolades; not any specific attribute. Feel free to correct me!

The bikes mentioned have outputs ranging from 63 (Versys) to 85 (F800GS) to 95 (Tiger XC) compared to the Honda's 100. So you end up paying 109 GBP/HP (Versys), 101 GBP/HP (F800GS-don't forget that ABS is a 660 GBP option), 88 GBP/HP (Tiger XC), or 90 GBP/HP for the Honda. Not that bad (only bike that is comprable is the Triumph and isn't that produced in GB?) and certainly a better price/power outing than Team Green shows in the 250cc range.

On the other hand if this is to be an adventure bike than there is obviously much more to the bike than raw output; having said that I would imagine that Honda has the suspension sorted out quite nicely by now. I'd also imagine, as others in this thread have done, that few owners are actually going to take their bikes off road much of any at all; from the thread that Tony started even the 206 kg Versys is a handful so I doubt that a 20% heavier bike (even though it has 158% of the power) would be any more fun...

As far as looks go, why wouldn't you be able to simply purchase some VFR fairings since by the looks it's the same-same frame? Not sure how much that would run from the dealers, but a kit could get knocked out pretty quickly.

[RED21]

Wow, never heard of it, but seems this Honda XRE 300 could do quite well in Thailand-

Was crossing my fingers for something like this to come out, when the release of a new Honda 250 was still a rumor... The XRE would suit Thai roads well...

Edited June 29, 2011 by RED21

[RED21]

XRunner test ride...

I see duct tape!

BTW, isn't the exhaust a bit low for an adventure bike?

Edited June 29, 2011 by RED21

[BigBikeBKK]

Perhaps I was a bit exaggerating when I stated that Honda hasn't released any class leaders in the last 2 decades, but from what I remember from reviews (and my memory could be faulty) it was the overall packaging that won Honda its accolades; not any specific attribute. Feel free to correct me!

The bikes mentioned have outputs ranging from 63 (Versys) to 85 (F800GS) to 95 (Tiger XC) compared to the Honda's 100. So you end up paying 109 GBP/HP (Versys), 101 GBP/HP (F800GS-don't forget that ABS is a 660 GBP option), 88 GBP/HP (Tiger XC), or 90 GBP/HP for the Honda. Not that bad (only bike that is comprable is the Triumph and isn't that produced in GB?) and certainly a better price/power outing than Team Green shows in the 250cc range.

On the other hand if this is to be an adventure bike than there is obviously much more to the bike than raw output; having said that I would imagine that Honda has the suspension sorted out quite nicely by now. I'd also imagine, as others in this thread have done, that few owners are actually going to take their bikes off road much of any at all; from the thread that Tony started even the 206 kg Versys is a handful so I doubt that a 20% heavier bike (even though it has 158% of the power) would be any more fun...

As far as looks go, why wouldn't you be able to simply purchase some VFR fairings since by the looks it's the same-same frame? Not sure how much that would run from the dealers, but a kit could get knocked out pretty quickly.

Why on earth would you buy a fugly ovepriced Crossrunner and then spend more money to give it a facelift with VFR fairings when you you can just buy a VFR (aka Interceptor) in the first place???

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-2009-Honda-VFR800A9-ABS-Interceptor-/140568005606?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item20ba818be6