This model nameplate was introduced for the 2020 model year as Suzuki’s new-generation large-displacement adventure-tourer. It was presented alongside the standard version of the updated 1050, with the XT designation identifying the more road- and travel-focused variant in the lineup. The bike replaced the earlier V-Strom 1000-era naming and carried Suzuki’s familiar “beak” adventure styling into a more modern, electronically assisted era.
The XT version was positioned as the better-equipped touring variant, distinguished by its wire-spoke wheels and adventure-oriented hardware and accessories. It shared the refreshed 1,037 cc V-twin platform and the broader Suzuki Intelligent Ride System package that defined the 2020 redesign, moving the V-Strom family toward a more polished, long-distance sport-adventure character. In Suzuki’s own model-history materials, the 2020 launch is the start of this exact nameplate.
For 2021 and 2022, Suzuki continued to list the model in its global motorcycle archive and product pages, reflecting its continuation as a distinct nameplate during those model years. In 2022 Suzuki revised the V-Strom 1050 line by introducing the 1050DE and updating the core 1050, after which the XT nameplate no longer appears as a separate global model designation. As a result, this exact nameplate is best treated as a single production run that began in 2020 and ended with the 2022 model year.
Enthusiast interest in the model comes from its place in the V-Strom evolution: it bridges the older V-Strom 1000/XT generation and the later 1050DE-era bikes, while preserving the classic big-bore Suzuki adventure-tourer identity in a more refined, electronically managed package.