Rumours abound all over the internet about Suzuki supposedly looking to bring back the DR Big nameplate with a DL1000 based motorcycle. But how much should we really believe the hype?
The rumours about the return of one of Suzuki’s all-time great adventurers - the DR Big have been long lasting and often, nothing but rumours, but this month a stir was caused after a Spanish website quoted "sources" within Suzuki claming that the legendary Dakar Rally based nameplate would be making a return.
Now, we need to take this with a grain of salt as with all ‘internet rumours’ as due to the sheer lack of evidence other than a tantalising rendering from a couple of years ago and claims regarding “sources at the Japanese brand” – but damn if we’re not keen on this.
After all, Suzuki did something eerily similar when it came to the revival of the Katana nameplate in the last year, so a new DR-Big isn’t such a far fetched idea.
The 2020 DR Big – if the rumours emanating out of Spanish e-zine TRAIL RIDERS are to be believed – will be based on the DL1000X with a new subframe, revised bodywork, engine armour and of course knobbly shod wire wheels. If the bike is to live up to the DR-BIG name it'll also need longer travel suspension and a huge fuel range. Thankfully the DL already has the range to live up to the DR's legacy - and with its most recent update, it has the visual appearance of the predecessor of the Adventure bike scene already down-pat.
It all sounds quite enticing, but one thing does have us a little conflicted, and that’s the name. The DR big was, of course, an oversized, adventurised version of the DR-Z400 and DR650 bred specifically from the trials of the Dakar Rally.
So we're picking that maybe a name change to DL Big or perhaps the DR Big’s original ‘Desert Express’ would be more appropriate… It's no DR if it has more than one cylinder, after all.