Suzuki has revealed a café racer styled version of its popular middleweight naked SV650, called the Suzuki SV650X. The SV650X will debut at the Tokyo Motor Show on October 27 nearly a year after the bike was first unveiled as the SV650 Rally concept. The Suzuki SV650X though is still some time away from production, and the bike to be showcased at Tokyo is still a concept. In a statement, Suzuki has said that the company is currently assessing market reaction and customer feedback before confirming production plans.
"The SV650 Rally concept generated a lot of interest at last year's show, with retro-styled machines proving very popular among riders. The SV650X is an evolution of that concept, and shows how that would translate to a production machine. Currently we cannot confirm a production schedule. We will first assess reactions to the SV650X before finalising plans," said Paul de Lusignan, Suzuki GB General Manager.
The Suzuki SV650 is a popular middleweight naked in Europe and the US
Suzuki first launched the SV650 in 1999, and its near two-decade long production run, the SV650 has become a favourite, especially in the European market where it still has a large fan following, as a dependable mid-range commuter motorcycle. The SV650 has seen several upgrades and refreshes over the years, with Suzuki offering it in its traditional naked form, as well as in half and full-faired variants and with chassis upgrades as well as fuel-injection. The 2017 Suzuki SV650 is powered by a 645 cc, four-stroke, liquid-cooled, 90-degree v-twin engine which makes around 75 bhp of power at 8,500 rpm and 64 Nm of peak torque at 8100 rpm. The bike is not offered in India though, and there are no indications of Suzuki introducing this middleweight naked in the Indian market as well.
