Twenty-seven years and still going strong, Suzuki’s venerable 650 V-twin is powering another model.

There are a number of motorcycle engines that manufacturers have gotten right the first time around. They are efficient, produce good power, and they don’t need much improvement — sometimes for decades. The Suzuki SV650 engine is one of those venerable engines. Suzuki has produced more than half a million of the 645-cc liquid-cooled V-twins since 1999, and it has utilized it to power multiple variations of the SV650, as well as the Gladius, and the V-Strom 650. It has proven to be a versatile, reliable performer, having been toured, commuted and raced by hundreds of thousands of riders over millions of kilometres. That’s a pretty good record. So, why mess with a good thing? Well, Suzuki hasn’t messed with it, but rather has put it into a new model: The 2027 SV-7GX. Suzuki invited us to the south of France to ride this latest SV-powered model. 

The SV-7GX is a middleweight sport-tourer based on the current SV650 platform. Suzuki is calling it a “crossover” because it sits between the SV650 naked roadster and the V-Strom adventure bike. If you were to look at the bike from the side and visualize a horizontal line across its midsection, you’d find that what’s below the line is mostly the current generation SV650, and what’s above the line is all new. 

Its angular styling mimics the bigger GSX-S1000GX, and includes a pointy, frame-mounted fairing that sports a single projector-beam LED headlight and a windscreen that has a 50-mm adjustment range via mounting points (you need an Allen wrench to adjust it). The fairing, fuel tank and rear section make the bike look tall from the side, but the seat, which has 10 mm more foam than the SV650 seat for improved comfort, is just 795 mm from the ground. 

Updating the 90-degree V-twin

The current SV650 has what can be considered a partial ride-by-wire system. It has two throttle valves in each throttle body; one is controlled directly by the throttle grip via a cable, while the other is controlled by the ECU via a servo. The SV-7GX is the first SV650 engine to get full ride-by-wire throttle operation, a change that has enabled the addition of adjustable traction control, as well as a bi-directional quick shifter, both of which are standard. There are three levels of traction control, and it can be turned off. And kudos to Suzuki for deciding to retain the selected TC settings — including turning it off — after the bike is turned off and then on again. 

The exhaust system now incorporates oxygen sensors — one upstream and one downstream of the catalytic converter…