The Suzuki V-Strom 800DE (2025) is an adventure bike with 63 kW and a wet weight of 230 kg. That’s 274 kW per tonne, in the middleweight tier. MT-07s, Ténérés, big cruisers and tourers. Radial road tyres earn their keep here.
274kW/t
Not LAMS. Over 150 kW/t (or 25 kW for an electric bike), so learners and most provisional riders can't ride it. LAMS rules
For a mild, wet climate, ridden solo.
Touring & long trips
Adventure bikes need tyres in 19- and 21-inch sizes. A road-biased adventure tyre is the closest thing to a sport-touring tyre in those sizes.
Gravel roads
For mostly sealed roads with some graded gravel, a road-biased adventure tyre gives car-like confidence on bitumen and enough bite on dirt.
Also consider: if the gravel gets serious, adventure 50/50.
Serious dirt
For real dirt, a block tread's grip on loose surfaces matters more than anything a road-biased tyre can offer.
Also consider: if most kilometres are sealed, adventure road.
Your owner’s manual, or the tyre sticker on the swingarm or chain guard, is the authority on sizes, load index and speed rating.
Adventure road (90/10): character
Fit a matched pair
Run the same make and model front and rear. Tyres are designed as a pair, and mixing them changes how the bike steers and where it lets go. Rears usually wear out first; if you replace only the rear, match the front's model.
Scrub new tyres in
New tyres are slippery until the release agent wears off. Take the first 100–150 km gently, building lean angle gradually, and be extra careful in the wet and on painted lines.
Check pressures weekly, cold
Bike tyres lose air faster than car tyres and pressure changes the handling more. Check them cold, before you ride, against your owner's manual or the swingarm sticker, and add the pillion figure when two-up.
Replace by age as well as tread
Rubber hardens with age even when there's tread left. Check the DOT date code and replace tyres older than about five years, sooner if they're cracked.
274 kW per tonne (367 hp per tonne), from 63 kW and a 230 kg wet weight. With a 75 kg rider aboard it's 207 kW/t. That puts it in ratio's Middleweight tier for motorbikes.
90/90-21 front and 150/70 R17 rear as standard. Check your owner's manual or the tyre sticker on the swingarm for your exact bike, including the load index and speed rating, and never fit lower.
For touring & long trips, adventure road (90/10) tyres. Good options include the Pirelli Scorpion Trail III, Michelin Anakee Road, Continental ContiTrailAttack 3. Fit the same model front and rear.
No. It's well over the LAMS limits, so learner and most provisional riders can't ride it.