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2020–2022 · Adventure · Buyer's Guide
Quietly Reliable Mile Eater
The 1050 is built around a 1037 cc 90-degree V-twin making 107 hp at 8,500 rpm and 74 lb-ft at 6,000 rpm, fed by ride-by-wire electronic throttle bodies and managed through the Suzuki Drive Mode Selector. ABS, traction control and ride modes are standard. A TFT dash, cruise control and a quickshifter are not, and that tells you exactly where Suzuki spent the money. This is an adventure tourer aimed at pavement and the graded roads beyond it, with a 19-inch front wheel, a 5.3 gal tank and 47 mpg doing the long-distance work.
Ridden at a real pace it stays calm rather than nervous, which is the Suzuki trait that matters most on a three-week trip. It is also built to still be working in five years, and that long-haul durability is the real reason to choose it. The honest caveat: 6.3 in of travel at both ends and 520 lb wet put a ceiling on what it will do off pavement. Gravel, forest roads and the occasional rough section are fine. Rocky, rutted backcountry asks more of the suspension than it has. Buy it as a road tourer that can leave the tarmac, not as a dirt bike with bags.
Spec sheets don't ride bikes, but they set the baseline.
| Power | 107 hp (79 kW) @ 8,500 rpm |
|---|---|
| Torque | 74 lb-ft (100 Nm) @ 6,000 rpm |
| Displacement | 1037 cc |
| Engine | 90° V-twin |
| Cooling | Liquid-cooled |
| Gearbox | 6-speed |
| Final drive | Chain |
| Front tire | 110/80R19 |
| Rear tire | 150/70R17 |
| Ground clearance | 6.5 in (165 mm) |
| Front travel | 6.3 in (160 mm) |
| Rear travel | 6.3 in (160 mm) |
| Seat height | 33.7 in (855 mm) |
| Wet weight | 520 lb (236 kg) |
| Fuel capacity | 5.3 gal (20 L) |
| Fuel economy | 47 mpg (US) |
Equipment check
Chassis
Comfort
Connectivity
Lighting
Safety
The named systems that set this bike apart — and what each one does for you.
Fueling
The first things you register are the seat height and the width of the bars. At 33.7 in you sit up and above the bike, arms out wide, and the riding triangle is roomy enough that a tall rider is not folded into it. Pull it off the sidestand and 520 lb is real weight in your wrists, though it vanishes the moment you are rolling. The V-twin sends a low, uneven pulse through the pegs and the tank at town speeds, more texture than vibration, and it smooths as the revs climb. Switchgear sits where your thumbs already are, so a mode change happens without looking down. At an honest highway pace what you hear is engine and wind rather than buzz, and your hands stay quiet on the grips. You settle into this bike inside the first few miles.
None of this comes out of my own logbook. It is what I have picked up over the years standing around in paddocks, talking with owners at club nights, and reading the steady stream of emails and messages from riders putting real mileage on this thing. For the V-Strom 1050, the chatter keeps landing in the same place: what the bike does not cost them, in money or in trouble.
Durability leads by a wide margin. Owners point to a V-twin with two decades behind it and no pattern of chronic mechanical failures, and it is usually the first thing they raise, not the last.
Price is the other constant. Riders put the base 1050 ahead of comparably equipped rivals on what you actually get for the outlay, and they describe it as a full-size adventure bike without the full-size bill. Running costs get the same read. Owners report around 47 mpg in ordinary riding and better than 200 miles between fill-ups, which is the number that surfaces whenever the conversation turns to long days.
Excessive high beam headlight output (recall)
The headlamp assembly does not meet FMVSS 108 — upper-beam output exceeds the legal maximum and can impair the vision of the rider and of oncoming traffic. Suzuki recalled certain 2020-2022 V-Strom 1050 machines (NHTSA 25V505, Suzuki campaign 3A06/3A07) and replaces the headlamp assembly free of charge; owner letters went out on November 7, 2025. On a used bike, confirm the work was done.
Rear shock absorber leaking oil
Oil weeping from the rear shock combined with loss of preload adjustability. Some owners have had the unit replaced under warranty.
Speedometer glitch – briefly locks at 91-93 mph
The speedometer briefly locks at 91-93 mph (146-149 km/h) regardless of actual speed, then returns to normal. Observed at various road speeds; cause unknown.
Gear position sensor erratic reading
The gear indicator randomly shows the wrong gear (e.g. flickering between 1 and 2) or fails to register correctly. Often intermittent and difficult to reproduce at the dealer.
Where this Suzuki V-Strom 1050 pulls ahead of — or falls behind — its rivals on the numbers, and the typical bike in its class on character.
Power
Torque
Displacement
Wet weight
Seat height
Forget spec-sheet bragging. Here's who the V-Strom 1050 is actually built for.
Good roads and long daylight hours suit it well. It carries speed calmly and stays comfortable, though it sits taller and heavier than a road-only tourer and has no cruise control for the straights in between.
Made for Black Hills · Blue Ridge Parkway · Cherohala Skyway
Two-up, loaded, weeks at a time: this is where the bike makes the most sense. The 5.3 gal tank, the luggage capacity and the reliability do the real work. Plan around the missing cruise control.
Made for Beartooth Highway · Blue Ridge Parkway · Going-to-the-Sun Road
The 19-inch front and the range help on long gravel days. But 520 lb and 6.3 in of travel make the rough BDR sections work rather than fun. Choose it for the miles between them.
Made for AZBDR — Arizona Backcountry Discovery Route · California BDR South · COBDR — Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route
If you're cross-shopping the older generation, here's what changed.
Previous generation · 2014–2016
The V-Twin That Overdelivers
Compare to the previous model →If this one isn't quite the fit, these are the bikes worth riding back-to-back against it.
Any price note compares both bikes at the same age — the youngest age both have on the used market — against this Suzuki V-Strom 1050. “cheaper/pricier” is what that bike costs second-hand, not how worn it is.
