ROAD NEWS
SR75 DL800 BUILD HINTS AT SUZUKI RALLY FUTURE
Suzuki isn ’ t really a brand we think of when it comes to the Rally world these days , but that could be about to change with the SR75 World Team Suzuki getting their hands on a DL800DE V-Strom and setting to work on getting some racing potential out of Suzuki ’ s most capable adventure platform . The UK-based team is known primarily for competing in the world of supercross and arenacross , with multiple Arenacross UK titles and championships in France and Denmark , plus appearances in the AMA Supercross Championship and the FIM World Supercross Championship but they ’ re not just about single cylinder Suzukis . With Rally the obvious format that a racing V-Strom could compete in , the SR75 team have started developing the DL800DE into a Rally Edition ready to tackle tough terrain at pace . That means the SR75 World Team ’ s 800DE “ Rally Edition ” isn ’ t destined to be a garage queen and is expected to get down and dirty racing later this season .
Previously the SR75 World Team Suzuki has applied its off-road racing experience and expertise to building up a DL650 V-Strom into a more off-road focused machine , and with the 800 already being a step above in terms of offroad ability out of the box , it ’ s fair to say their latest effort is sure to be a bit of a weapon when it gets let loose on a Rally stage . “ Racing RM-Zs around the world might be our bread and butter , but we ’ re also always up for a project build like this ,” explained SR75 Suzuki team owner , Geoff Walker . “ We produced the SR75 V-Strom 650XT a couple of years ago , and as soon as the 800DE was launched , we were always keen to get our hands on one . This is really stage one of the build and we will make some more modifications before we go racing , but we think we ’ ve taken what was already a solid base package for an adventure bike you could ride hard off-road or into town for a coffee – it ’ s that versatile and usable – and turned it into a bike that can hold its own in a competitive rally .”
KIWI RIDER 19