V-Strom thought, experiences and opinions? 2016+

[shortSteve]

Ok, I have a sports tourer, and I have a dirt bike. Loving the dirty more and more every day, disliking the road more and more every day....seems every time I go out there is drama, cops, jerk drivers, dash cams etc. I love the bike and it's comfort/cruisability, but can't give it crap anywhere on the road for fear of ramifications. I am getting older, body is slowing down, joints are bad, just wear and tear stuff, but can't do "sporty" for much longer.
So, thoughts are to replace a sports tourer with a dirt-capable tourer. The 650 in the weestrom is a great road engine, enough poke to be interesting, and you can use it all quite often without the threat of hoon laws. The 1000 vstrom seems just more of the same, but in bigger doses. More power (yay), more weight, more height (boo), don't want a full endure ktm or gs, tiger is pricey for what it is, cb500x doesn't interest me (not much more grunt than my drz), bigger crossrunner/tourer is more weighty, less dirt-capable (lower ground clearance, less stroke, more $$) so have come to the decision a vstrom 650 could be a good "getting old but not giving up just yet" bike.

Thoughts, experiences, opinions from those that know these things?

Oh, and try to keep the laughter down...


sS

[Fireblade 954]

Ok, I have a sports tourer, and I have a dirt bike. Loving the dirty more and more every day, disliking the road more and more every day....seems every time I go out there is drama, cops, jerk drivers, dash cams etc. I love the bike and it's comfort/cruisability, but can't give it crap anywhere on the road for fear of ramifications. I am getting older, body is slowing down, joints are bad, just wear and tear stuff, but can't do "sporty" for much longer.
So, thoughts are to replace a sports tourer with a dirt-capable tourer. The 650 in the weestrom is a great road engine, enough poke to be interesting, and you can use it all quite often without the threat of hoon laws. The 1000 vstrom seems just more of the same, but in bigger doses. More power (yay), more weight, more height (boo), don't want a full endure ktm or gs, tiger is pricey for what it is, cb500x doesn't interest me (not much more grunt than my drz), bigger crossrunner/tourer is more weighty, less dirt-capable (lower ground clearance, less stroke, more $$) so have come to the decision a vstrom 650 could be a good "getting old but not giving up just yet" bike.

Thoughts, experiences, opinions from those that know these things?

Oh, and try to keep the laughter down...


sS

Hi mate i have three bikes a bmw tourer a fireblade and a 650 v strom
If i had obtained the v strom before the others i think i would still only have one bike

[Crim]

Might be a very practical all-rounder but it's been well & truly smacked by the ugly stick, IMO.

[Gim]

Do yourself a favour and test out a Multistrada. May be a little pricy but comfort + and not to short on the power side of things either.



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[Heretic]

As some feedback, I did it, i went from fireblade to 636 then to a v-strom 650, same thoughts, same reasons. I was after a one bike does all with some dirt ability.

The 650 engine is a cracker, as you say, just enough to keep it interesting on the road. Comfy, they should have wide screen tv as an option, cheap to run with surprising hard pack offroad ability. The new 1000 is a midrange rollon beast.

Overall a great bike, A couple of things i found a bit disconcerting with the 2012 wee.

Flickability side to side - it was like tacking a large yacht, probably the wheelbase fork angle and larger front tyre but it didnt like changing direction but held a line well.

Wind buffeting - when riding in a cross wind or following traffic at speed, like setting up to pass, the bike was unstable and sometimes in trafic would weave when following in slipstream. Its a known issue. The answer was to ride faster.

Top heavy - theres a lot of weight high up that transfers with the soft suspension and fork dive and quite a high seating position. They arent good in soft sand.

The vstrom forum is like a conversation where The Amish farmers are discussing pitchforks............

The high muffler makes slinging luggage troublesome.

Having ridden the little honda cb500xa i thought it was surprisingly comparable in a lot of ways

A guy turned up at my house with a multistrada one day to buy some stuff, i was extremely jelous as it was a bewtiful machine. Then it didnt start........... for quite some time.......

BrotherPaul did something similar with going to a vstrom

[Hillz]

africa twin.... best adventure bike at a decent price. the v-strom is a decent bike but not really a capable off road machine

i have been thinking about adventure bikes lately.. but i think i still have 6 years until im old enough to buy one and a set of golf clubs

[BOFH]

I'm looking at getting a new bike in 6 months or so and have pretty much decided on the V-Strom 1000, not for offroad stuff, but as a capable everyday commuter that will last for many years. It's been my "if I can only have one bike" bike choice for a while.

[SilentBob]

you can use it all quite often without the threat of hoon laws

I own a SV650, and I'm much heavier than you are sS. You can still easily receive the hoon law hammer.

[Speed Dealer]

650 and 1000 have same size fuel tank. 650 gets further on a tank so great for touring.

[potato]

shudders at the thort of Ss buying a v-strom

edit:

1198 street fighter with dual porpoise wheels

upright possy with grunt for and mud track or boggy hill !!!!!

[Cbr1k]

V Strom is limited by wheel size and cast wheels offroad except for 2016 model with spoked wheels. Dale Brittons has base model Africa Twin for 13990.

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[shortSteve]

Update, took a half hour test ride of a 650xt, backed straight up with a dl1000gt. First impressions of the wee was unbelievably smooth, I have ridden plenty of sv's and never have they seemed this buttery, suspension was very supple but damping firm enough to prevent any wallow, ergos were super fkn comfy (OMG, that seat was amazing!) and there was almost no wind hitting my upper body, helmet or shoulders, only my forearms copping any weather at all! Felt slow, but a look at the speedo proved I was moving at a reasonable rate, its just there is no "getting faster with revs" type deal, it just goea, from 2-3k rpm up, was effortless and easy, definitely not a bike that you could accidently go 45km/hr over the limit on easily/unknowingly.
Then I rode the 1000....err, lumpy delivery (especially under 3k rpm), fat, harsh midrange and then a flat top end. Rode much harsher in the suspension, seemed over dampened, way too long geared, bad buffeting from adjustable screen at all angles, and due to having to rev it to make a smooth acceleration, always was going 20km/hr faster than I thought I was. Much fatter and flatter seat, no easy place for legs to lock in when standing, and a much higher and wider seat, struggled to get one foot on the ground...
But, with only a few grand difference in $$, brain is saying go the thou. Will test again with a low seat and see if it improves the ride....

[Kristy]

But, with only a few grand difference in $$, brain is saying go the thou. Will test again with a low seat and see if it improves the ride....

Your words are saying go the 650...

only positives presented for the 650, all the text about the thou were negative

[SIR sparks a lot]

Take the yamaha triumph bmw and ktm out aswell much better all round bike well i thought so anyway after test riding

[Cbr1k]

Do you want a shaftie ADV bike or chain?

[filbert]

Update, took a half hour test ride of a 650xt, backed straight up with a dl1000gt. First impressions of the wee was unbelievably smooth, I have ridden plenty of sv's and never have they seemed this buttery, suspension was very supple but damping firm enough to prevent any wallow, ergos were super fkn comfy (OMG, that seat was amazing!) and there was almost no wind hitting my upper body, helmet or shoulders, only my forearms copping any weather at all! Felt slow, but a look at the speedo proved I was moving at a reasonable rate, its just there is no "getting faster with revs" type deal, it just goea, from 2-3k rpm up, was effortless and easy, definitely not a bike that you could accidently go 45km/hr over the limit on easily/unknowingly.
Then I rode the 1000....err, lumpy delivery (especially under 3k rpm), fat, harsh midrange and then a flat top end. Rode much harsher in the suspension, seemed over dampened, way too long geared, bad buffeting from adjustable screen at all angles, and due to having to rev it to make a smooth acceleration, always was going 20km/hr faster than I thought I was. Much fatter and flatter seat, no easy place for legs to lock in when standing, and a much higher and wider seat, struggled to get one foot on the ground...
But, with only a few grand difference in $$, brain is saying go the thou. Will test again with a low seat and see if it improves the ride....

your brain is saying go the 650, something else is shouting over it

even at nearly twice your physical size and being a power nut offroad i'd be going the 650 if i only had your review to go by.

if i didn't have your review it would be between the 650 and something else entirely because i found the same with the 1000

[stromrider]

While not 2016+, I bought shmoo s VStrom after he had decked it out with all the goods.

It's a good bike, although if I had an off road focus more than 5% of the time, I would certainly choose differently.
Test ride KLR, africa twin and ktm at the least.

I agree that the Tiger aint that good a bike.

[Kristy]

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/f...t-ride-review/

[shortSteve]

Take the yamaha triumph bmw and ktm out aswell much better all round bike well i thought so anyway after test riding

All yamaha ktm and bmw have too tall a seat. Tiger 800xc is ok but fkn pricey. Like, really bad value pricey. Africa twin almost fits the bill but again too tall

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While not 2016+, I bought shmoo s VStrom after he had decked it out with all the goods.

It's a good bike, although if I had an off road focus more than 5% of the time, I would certainly choose differently.
Test ride KLR, africa twin and ktm at the least.

I agree that the Tiger aint that good a bike.

Klr is a pig of a thing and not too dissimilar to the drz. Also to tall.

[SIR sparks a lot]

All yamaha ktm and bmw have too tall a seat. Tiger 800xc is ok but fkn pricey. Like, really bad value pricey. Africa twin almost fits the bill but again too tall

- - - Updated - - -



Klr is a pig of a thing and not too dissimilar to the drz. Also to tall.

First world short guy problems