V-Strom - Opinions wanted

I saw one of each size in a showroom and they actually look quite nice.
What are your opinions/experience of them for touring or commuting.

TIA

 

Bob Mc emerged from their own little world to say

We have established that they are suitable for vertically challenged bokkers.

Verdigris did a decent review of the 1000 Vstrom here
http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?&rnum=2

He rides a Tiger so gives some good comparisons.

I don't think anyone has bought one though (apart from PK's dad who
wants to sell it)

 

Ah well there's your problem for starters - complete taste bypass. Have
you got Multistrada pictures on your bedroom wall? ;-)

 

Bob, have a look at March 'Bike' for the comments on the DL650 - high praise
indeed, got me interested!

Mick.

 

I'll try and bring my copy of it along tomorrow, assuming you're still
planning on coming over, Bob?

 

I'm giving some serious though to a DL1000... course that'll be typical - no
one has one, then three cnuts all buy them at once

 

Sort of established!

And he's 67. It's really not a ringing endorsement.

 

Without actually having ridden one..... the 1000cc one has been a
commercial disaster, but then any big (ie: over 800cc) trailie is
always going to have to face the two popular ones in this class, the
BMW GS and the Triumph Tiger, which really have this sector sewn up.
Buy one and you might as well throw away thousands of money as its
value is going to topple. Oh, and there's a Kawasaki-badged version as
well.....

The 650 - it's had some good reviews, but it's as ugly as sin, and I
can't see what it really offers compared with the ordinary (and 20mph
faster) SV650, unless you actually want a sit-up-and-beg bike.

I haven't seen one on the road, whereas the pure roadster SV650 is
everywhere, faired or unfaired, which suggests that many people have
come to the same conclusion.

 

There are other differences than just the riding position, but obviously
your point is valid.

And yet to me, that's part of the appeal - having had a pocket rocket which
every second person's got I'd like something 'different' - considering I'm
likely to keep it for a good couple of years I could live with the
depreciation. And it would appear some fun can be had from the 1000 motor...

It is still ugly as sin mind you, but considering I've got a new shape
Megane, perhaps I should continue this unconventional trend... Plus the
owner would then match the bike.

 

<snip>

Yeah, obviously it's re-tuned for more low-down torque, but it's not as
if the original SV was ever considered a peaky bike anyway. There's a
hell of a difference between 130mph (which is what the SV does, give or
take) and 110 (which is what the V-Strom can manage). A top whack of
110 says to me that it's going to be bloody hard work to manage more
than 80mph sometimes.

As for the bigger one, yes, I can see the desire for wanting something
different, and as you say, if you intend to keep it for some time, then
depreciation isn't an issue. More than two years is needed here, IMHO,
though.

 

I tried one when I was buying. I preferred the front end of the Strom to
the Varadero as it felt more solid although I will be stiffening up teh
Vara before I start riding it much this year, the Exhausts also had the
best sound of all the bikes I tried(Tiger, Vara, V Strom and Futura).I
would have been quite happy with one except that SWMBO didn't like the
pillion perch. She said the pegs were too low for her. There is a VStrom
group on Yahoo. http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/VStrom2/

 

Er hang on, are you saying that in a good or a bad way?

True - the thing is 99% of my riding (what little there is at the moment) is
not done on a UKRM "balls out" basis - it's leisure riding on shitty roads
with a vague idea of getting from A-B at reasonable (50-90mph) consistent
pace.

With that in mind, a comfy bike becomes more appealing than a razor sharp
bike [1]- however I do concede there are times where a bit of banzai is
nice - but I'm not sure doing 140mph is either good for me or my licence

[1] like going to France, or going to Snetterton, or lots of other such
things which I find a little impossible on the GSX-R without a long build up
and various medicinal items!

This is a good idea.

 

Ta, mate. Yes I am.

 

Belly gut, thanks.
I read that as mainly positive.
I am not a fast rider anyway - the Savages pegs get in the way,
so the cornering will be better than me = ok.

 

I must admit that I looked at the 1000 more than the 650.

 

<TOG@toil>; <>; <>
wrote in message

matches me

I do. My gut is too big for a crotch rocket.
¦¬}

That is no sales argument for me, otherwise I wouldn't have the Savage,
would I?

 

You might also like to take a look at the forum under
http://vstrom.info/ - they're a friendly and helpful lot there.

I've been riding a KLV1000 (the Kawasaki tango version of the
V-Strom) on a variety of roads since last summer. It even copes
nicely with a Scottish winter, is incredibly comfy and has enough
balls to keep up with anyone who isn't being a complete lunatic. My
commute includes a chunk of motorway into Edinburgh, where filtering
is occasionally difficult, but that's at least as much to do with
the car-bound idiots as the bike's girth (or mine). For the more
open country roads to the north, it's a gem - smooth, fast and
insanely fun without causing cramp in either extremities or the
wallet.

I suspect that if I had known about the commute when I was selecting
a bike, I might have chosen the 650. But then I'd have missed out
on the grunt from the bigger motor and probably wouldn't be as happy
about touring. You pays your money...but it is an ugly beast,
especially in Irn Bru colours.

 

Blimey.. someone that owns one.

Pete, what did you have before the V-Strom (clone) ?

And how tall are you as a matter of interest?

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, dwb

Nor (if truth be told) is 99% of UKRM's riding.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
ZZR1100, Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"

 

Older machines included a Tenere and Super Tenere (seeing a pattern
here?), but my immediately previous bike was a SV650 - fun, but my
height (just under 6 foot) and build (shall we just leave that as
undefined?) made that a tad uncomfortable either in town or long
distance. I've also ridden Honda VF750's, the old XS750 shaft drive
(hard work round the TT course) and a variety of other machines.
Modern sports bikes don't particularly appeal, probably because I'd
kill myself far too quickly trying to establish whether the bike's
capabilities exceeded mine.

The V-Strom/KLV is probably the best all round bike I've owned over
thirty years of riding, just suits me and the Scottish roads fine.
There's little incentive to push too hard, simply because it does
everything relatively effortlessly. There are some annoyances, such
as not being able to turn the lights off, and I can't get the screen
position right, but they are superficial. It feels slightly heavy at
the front with all that plastic but that disappears once it's
moving. Surprisingly, it's lighter than it looks (IIRC, only 207
kg), which helps reduce the strain on stock tyres that aren't as
sticky as they might be.

I'm not particularly evangelistic about the bike, since I know that
not everyone is as lazy as I am when it comes to riding, but I would
suggest that you could do much worse than try one.