2025-on Voge DS625X review: Built-in everything as standard

Despite being less than 10 years old, Voge has quickly established itself as a brand worth paying very close attention to. Created in 2018 by Chinese manufacturing giant Loncin to crack European markets, Voge offers a range of adventurers from the single-cylinder Rally 300 to its flagship DS900X – a bike that shares its 895cc parallel twin with BMW’s F900GS.

Now Voge is filling the space in between with a new middleweight, in the form of this DS625X. Packing a freshly developed 63bhp parallel twin, an extensive standard spec list and an eye-catching £6199 price tag, could this be the bargain of the year?

Our 100-mile initial taste confirms that the Voge DS625X is a spritely, easy to ride, practical and well-rounded road-focused adventurer. It’s not perfect – the brakes, electronics and seating position could all benefit from some fine-tuning.

It seems odd that it doesn’t appear designed to run on regular E10 unleaded petrol too. But all things considered these are relatively minor hiccups, largely offset by the compelling value on offer: it’s £2200 cheaper than Suzuki’s V-Strom 650.

On the basis of these first impressions, the Voge DS625X definitely deserves to be part of any discussion about affordable adventure bikes – and mainstream middleweight manufacturers would be wise to up their game pretty swiftly.

Despite being a ‘middleweight’ in capacity, the DS625X boasts big-bike stature. The tank and bodywork are spread wide, the two-position adjustable screen manages windblast well, and the 835mm seat height sets you further from the floor than Suzuki’s V-Strom 800RE.

Once on the move though, legroom feels a little tight – if anything, the seat height seems low relative to the footpeg and handlebar position, as if it’s slightly out of sync with the rest of the ergonomic triangle.

Chassis components contain a trio of familiar brand names, with fully adjustable KYB suspension, Nissin brakes and Metzeler Tourance tyres. Spoked wheels are tubeless, with the 19in front and 17in rear rims wearing standard adventure-size rubber.

The DS625X steers well, if a little leisurely, with good balance at low speed (aided by an astonishingly light clutch-lever action) and plentiful ground clearance when hurrying along twisty B-roads.

Ride quality is on the firm side though, and the two-pot front brakes could do with more bite and stopping power. They’re backed up by Bosch ABS which, like the traction control, can be switched off quickly and easily if you want to head off-road.

At the heart of the DS625X is a 581cc parallel twin, described by Voge as their ‘third-generation’ middleweight twin. Their first was a Honda CB500 clone; the second was bored and stroked out to 494cc.

This latest version, however, looks close to a complete clean-sheet design: the architecture is much more oversquare, the valvetrain now uses finger followers, and a 270° crankshaft transforms the engine’s feel and exhaust note to mimic that of a 90° V-twin.

Power jumps from 47bhp to 63bhp, with an optional restrictor kit available for riders with A2 licences. That peak, however, is delivered up at 9000rpm, which means revving it way past the redline marked on the dash at just over 8000rpm.

It’s a motor that doesn’t summon huge enthusiasm in the bottom half of its rev range, but from peak torque (42lb·ft at 6500rpm) upwards it’s free-revving, eager and impressively smooth. Unusually though, a sticker on the filler cap reveals it only wants to be run on E5 super-unleaded.

There are two riding modes – Eco and Sport – but not much difference between them. When turned on the DS625X defaults to Eco, which gives a slightly softer throttle response, while selecting Sport dials in a smidge more initial urgency.

There’s traction control too, though in faster riding it can be overly keen to intervene, cutting power sharply before taking a while to get going again.

Naturally, it remains to be seen how the DS625X holds up long-term – and, for now, Voge are such a new brand there’s little for us to go on.

Subjectively the bike looks pretty well put together, with Torx fasteners used in places where you’d be likely to find them on a BMW. And that’s surely no coincidence, given Voge’s parent company Loncin build engines, components and even entire models for BMW, which has to give some reassurance.

As far as ownership experience, support and backup goes, the Voge DS625X comes with a two-year unlimited mileage warranty. Service intervals are every 3750 miles or annually, with a valve clearance check not required until 26,000 miles.

There’s currently a growing network of 60 Voge dealers across the UK, and the importer/distributor is the well-established, family-owned MotoGB in Chorley.

The Voge’s joker card, clearly, is its £6199 otr pricetag. As far as mainstream big-brand rivals go, the riding experience of the DS625X puts it somewhere between Honda’s NX500 (£6899) and Suzuki’s V-Strom 650 (£8399) – and yet it undercuts them both by a healthy margin.

On top of that, the Voge comes with a long list of features and parts that Honda and Suzuki consider optional accessories, raising their prices even higher.

However, the DS625X isn’t just competing against established, big-ticket Japanese brands. There’s now also an eclectic choice of other keenly priced Chinese-built adventurers. Kove’s 510X (£5999) has a similar spec, also boasting KYB suspension, Nissin brakes and Metzeler tyres, but it’s a much steadier ride, squeezing just 47bhp from its smaller motor.

The Voge splits the difference between Benelli’s TRK502X (£5699) and TRK702X (£6999), both on power and pricetags. Similarly, the DS625X is less off-road capable than CFMoto’s 450MT (£5699), but more adventurey than their 700MT (£6299), so isn’t really a direct rival to either.

That leaves perhaps its closest alternative as Moto Morini’s X-Cape 650, which currently costs just £5999 with spoked wheels. Despite the Italian badge it’s also built in China, powered by a clone of Kawasaki’s ER-6 parallel twin. With a claimed 59bhp and 40lb·ft, it’s very close to the DS625X’s output.

As standard the DS625X comes with all the hardware shown in the pictures including crash bars, handguards, a metal bash plate, LED foglights, a rear luggage rack and a centrestand.

There’s also a healthy smattering of hi-tech treats, from tyre pressure monitors, to backlit switchgear, to a huge 7-inch colour TFT dash, and even a 1080p dashcam integrated into the bike’s nose – again, all included as standard for the Voge’s £6199 otr pricetag.

If you like to keep your personal gadgets powered up while you ride, you’ll find both a 12-volt accessory socket on the left of the dash and a USB socket to the right.

There’s no cruise control or quickshifter (and no option for either), but if you want heated grips or a heated seat then Voge say these will soon be available as options. A full thee-piece set of aluminium luggage can also be fitted, adding just £699 to the price.