Baby ’Strom and Gixxer headline Chinese show

Suzuki has taken its uninspiring Inazuma 250 and transformed it into a pair of much more rousing offerings in the form of the GSX-250R and DL250 V-Strom.

Due to be officially revealed at the EICMA show in Milan, the two bikes were previewed at the recent CIMA event in China.

We’ve already seen the GSX250R’s styling when we got our hands on official designs from Suzuki, and the finished machine looks exactly the same. Underneath lies an updated version of the Inazuma engine, sharing the same bore, stroke and compression ratio. That means power is lower than rivals like Honda’s CBR250RR with 18.4kW at 8000rpm, although its torque – 23.4Nm at a low 6500rpm – is on a par with other 250cc machines.

The chassis also appears to be Inazuma-based, with similar-looking suspension components. Despite the fairing, the riding position, like its contemporaries, is upright.

Note that the bike’s name, GSX-250R, stops short of being a GSX-R title. That leaves the door open for Suzuki to create a more convincing 250cc-class sportsbike, which is something the new Supersports 300 race series supporting WSBK next year will encourage.

The DL250 V-Strom is arguably more interesting. Technically it appears to use the same frame as the Inazuma. Its power and torque are the same as the GSX-250R at 18.4kW and 23.4Nm, and weight is claimed to be 192kg. It won’t be a fireball with figures like that but, as an adventure-style machine, speed isn’t what it’s meant for. See it instead as a commuter machine that riffs on popular adventure bike themes while promising easy handling and low insurance premiums. On that basis, it’ll not only steal some limelight from BMW’s forthcoming G310GS, but Suzuki just might have a hit on its hands.

By Ben Purvis